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More than 200 bomb technicians and first responders from five states and Canada came together this week to participate in what has become the biggest explosive public safety bomb squad training exercise in the world.
Held in New York, the state with the highest risk of terrorism in the nation,... Read More »
U.S. Rep. John Katko (R-NY) called upon the U.S. Senate on Tuesday to take action on his bipartisan TSA PreCheck Expansion Act, H.R. 2843, in order to address long security lines affecting many of the nation’s airports.
The TSA PreCheck program is a risk-based security model that provides... Read More »
Many U.S. mid-cap companies are struggling to defend themselves against cyber attacks, begging the question of what is the appropriate role the federal government should play in getting the private sector cyber ready, according to Michael Balboni, president of RedLand Strategies, Inc., a business... Read More »
The U.S. House of Representatives passed the National Cybersecurity Preparedness Consortium Act, H.R. 4743, on Monday in an effort to strengthen the nation’s cyber defenses and keep critical infrastructure intact in the face of cyber threats.
The bill, authored by U.S. Rep. Joaquin Castro... Read More »
The U.S. Transportation Security Administration (TSA) called upon Congress on Monday to pass emergency legislation funding the hiring of more than 6,000 new full-time screeners to alleviate long security lines at the nation’s airports.
“These additional TSOs will at least begin to address... Read More »
U.S. House Homeland Security Committee Chairman Michael McCaul (R-TX) returned to the United States last week after visiting Egyptian leaders to discuss the growing presence of ISIS in the region and efforts to combat terrorist groups throughout North Africa.
“ISIS may be losing some ground... Read More »
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Office of the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response (ASPR) on Monday agreed to sponsor a new point-of-care anthrax diagnostic test.
The 18-month, $2.5 million agreement is through ASPR’s Biomedical Advanced Research and... Read More »
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced on Monday that one of the nation’s Centers for Innovation in Advanced Development and Manufacturing (CIADM) will support the development of NasoShield, a second-generation anthrax vaccine.
“Anthrax remains a material threat to... Read More »
The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) on Friday exercised an option for RiVax, Soligenix, Inc.’s new heat-stable ricin vaccine.
Terms of the agreement are to advance the development of Soligenix’s thermostabilization technology, ThermoVax, combined with the... Read More »
House Homeland Security Chairman Michael McCaul (R-TX) led a bipartisan Congressional delegation on Wednesday to the Sinai Peninsula in Egypt to visit the Multinational Force and Observers (MFO) North Camp.
The delegation was sent to observe hundreds of U.S. troops working with other nations as... Read More »
A new study commissioned by the Aerospace Industries Association (AIA) from business information firm IHS, Inc., was released on Monday highlighting the positive impact that the aerospace and defense industry has on the American economy.
“This new study demonstrates definitively that... Read More »
U.S. Rep. Vern Buchanan (R-FL) called for Congress on Monday to fully fund efforts to eradicate the emerging Zika virus.
Buchanan said that he supported an additional $1.9 billion in funding requested by the government to contain and eradicate the virus. His supports follows the rapid spread of... Read More »
U.S. Sens. Tom Carper (D-DE) and Ron Johnson (R-WI) sent a letter to Shaun Donovan, director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), on Wednesday requesting an update on efforts to complete and issue revisions to Circular A-130.
Circular A-130 establishes OMB’s official policy on... Read More »
U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) reported a new milestone on Thursday for the automated commercial environment (ACE) system, with more than 75 percent of all cargo imported into the United States now being processed by the system.
The system is also now successfully processing 97 percent... Read More »
A coalition of Congressional Republicans sent a letter on Thursday to the Obama administration pushing back against a plan to shift funding from the BioShield special reserve fund (SRF) to help combat the emerging Zika virus.
The coalition was led by House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman... Read More »
The Security Industry Association (SIA) applauded the Senate Commerce Committee on Wednesday for passing the Developing Innovation and Growing Internet of Things (DIGIT) Act.
The legislation directs the secretary of commerce to convene a governmental working group to address the federal... Read More »
Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) Director General Ahmet Üzümcü met with Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation Sergey Lavrov on Tuesday to discuss a wide variety of issues pertaining to chemical weapons.
One of the main topics for discussion was the... Read More »
The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation released its annual assessment of health security and preparedness on Monday, which showed improvement for the United States.
The report, entitled the “2016 National Health Security Preparedness Index,” showed that the United States scored a 6.7 on a... Read More »
The U.S. is woefully underprepared for potential bioterrorist attacks or naturally occurring pandemics like the Zika virus, and the federal government must do more to partner with the private sector in order to combat those threats, U.S. Rep. Susan Brooks (R-IN) warned this week.
“The answers... Read More »
The House Judiciary Committee on Friday announced the release of a roadmap intended to identify solutions to the ongoing debate surrounding encryption.
Members of the working group include U.S. Reps. Jim Sensenbrenner (R-WI), Darrell Issa (R-CA), Zoe Lofgren (D-CA), Suzan DelBene (D-WA), Bill... Read More »
The First Responder Network Authority (FirstNet) will continue to accept proposals from private partners for deployment of an innovative nationwide public safety broadband network until May 31, with the goal of making an award Nov. 1, the agency recently said.
“FirstNet is going to really... Read More »
The House Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations held a hearing on Wednesday regarding strengthening oversight of high-containment laboratories.
“Sweeping improvements and policy changes only work if the policies are effective,” Subcommittee Chairman Rep. Tim Murphy (R-PA) said.... Read More »
The Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations held a hearing on Monday entitled, “Deciphering the Debate Over Encryption: Industry and Law Enforcement Perspectives.”
Members weighed the benefits and vulnerabilities of strong encryption and the needs of law enforcement, with officials... Read More »
The House Armed Services Committee (HASC) Subcommittee for Emerging Threats and Capabilities (ETC) held a markup of its proposals for the Fiscal Year 2017 National Defense Authorization (NDAA) on Thursday.
“[O]ur oversight often involves reviewing sensitive Department of Defense (DoD)... Read More »
House Judiciary Chairman Bob Goodlatte (R-VA) on Monday pressed Department of Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson about possible retaliation against the head of the border patrol union regarding recent testimony he gave.
Brandon Judd, president of the American Federation of Government... Read More »
A survey released on Wednesday by the Alliance for Biosecurity, the Blue Ribbon Study Panel on Biodefense and the Trust for America’s Health found that the American public is concerned about biosecurity threats and believes that the government should invest more in preparedness.
“The... Read More »
Speaker of the House Paul Ryan (R-WI) signed S. 2512 on Friday as companion legislation to H.R. 4400, a proposal introduced earlier this year by U.S. Reps. G.K. Butterfield (D-NC) and Susan Brooks (R-IN) to add the Zika virus to the Tropical Disease Priority Review Voucher Program.
“Our... Read More »
The United States House of Representatives passed U.S. Rep. Candice Miller’s (R-MI) Border and Maritime Coordination Improvement Act, H.R. 3568, on Thursday.
The bills seeks to streamline the logistics and coordination of the Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) diverse operational... Read More »
Emergent BioSolutions, Inc., submitted a supplemental Biologics License Application (sBLA) to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on Monday for the approval of the manufacture of BioThrax (Anthrax Vaccine Adsorbed) in the company’s large scale Building 55 manufacturing... Read More »
The Subcommittee on Economic Development, Public Buildings and Emergency Management, chaired by U.S. Rep. Lou Barletta (R-PA), held a hearing entitled “Blackout! Are We Prepared to Manage the Aftermath of a Cyber-Attack or Other Failure of the Electrical Grid?” on Thursday to examine the... Read More »
The U.S. House of Representatives passed the States and High-Risk Urban Area Working Group Act, H.R. 4509, on Wednesday.
The legislations requires decision makers involved in disaster response planning to work together to gain a complete understanding of a community’s vulnerabilities so that... Read More »
U.S. Sen. Ron Johnson (R-WI) chaired a Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee hearing on Thursday to address the federal perspective on the state of U.S. biodefense preparedness.
“Today, we look forward to learning the perspective of federal agencies on the state of our... Read More »
President Barack Obama signed the Integrated Public Alert and Warning System (IPAWS) Modernization Act of 2015, S.1180, into law on Monday to modernize the nation’s public alert and warning system.
The bipartisan legislation was introduced by U.S. Sens. Ron Johnson (R-WI) and Claire McCaskill... Read More »
The U.S. House of Representatives passed legislation on Tuesday to add the Zika virus to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) Priority Review Voucher Program.
The legislation, the Adding Zika Virus to the FDA Priority Review Voucher Program Act, S. 2512, would add Zika virus to the... Read More »
Founded in 2001 to train professionals in biosecurity and disaster preparedness, the Institute for Biosecurity at Saint Louis University’s College for Public Health and Social Justice recently told Homeland Preparedness News that the United States needs to continuously improve on its... Read More »
