International Policy
U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) has joined nine colleagues in introducing a resolution encouraging the Biden administration to facilitate transferring aircraft that include MiG-29s to aid Ukraine's air defense systems.
The resolution supports continued efforts by members of the North Atlantic... Read More »
U.S. Sens. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA), Jacky Rosen (D-NV), and Mike Rounds (R-SD) joined 19 colleagues in sending correspondence to Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, seeking information regarding agency efforts to protect the nation from Russian... Read More »
A group of 49 Republican Senators recently expressed to President Joe Biden they are not in favor of the revived Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action with Iran.
“According to press reports, the Biden Administration may soon conclude an agreement with Iran to provide substantial sanctions relief... Read More »
The U.S. Department of Justice said a recent collaboration of U.S. and Mexican law enforcement resulted in an enforcement operation dismantling a transnational human smuggling organization in Nogales, Sonora.
“The Attorney General established Joint Task Force Alpha (JTFA) to address the threat... Read More »
According to the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI), its effort to produce safe and effective vaccines within 100 days of an identified epidemic or pandemic threat has garnered $1.535 billion from world governments and organizations.
The 100 Days Mission is a five-year plan... Read More »
A bipartisan group of legislators recently introduced a Senate resolution calling for Russian President Vladimir Putin and members of his regime to be held accountable for various war crimes in the wake of the nation's Ukraine invasion.
U.S. Sens. Jerry Moran (R-KS) and Roger Marshall (R-KS)... Read More »
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has established security agreements with the Government of Israel and private sector partners to collaborate on varied joint security issues.
“DHS is proud to continue to strengthen the bilateral relationship between the United States and Israel... Read More »
Reckoning with a world still navigating a pandemic and the changing diplomatic realities a war in Ukraine has wrought, United States Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-IL) this week called for increased COVID-19 aid abroad to counter Russian and Chinese influence.
“As Russian tanks roll into Ukraine... Read More »
A group of lawmakers is encouraging President Joe Biden to gain authorization from Congress before involving domestic armed forces in the Russia-Ukraine conflict.
U.S. Reps. Peter DeFazio (D-OR) and Warren Davidson (R-OH) joined 43 colleagues in signing off on the letter, which seeks the... Read More »
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and the Israel – U.S. Binational Industrial Research and Development (BIRD) Homeland Security (HLS) program indicated they are seeking advanced technology project proposals.
The 2022 Call for Proposals focuses on mission-critical homeland... Read More »
More than 160 House Republicans sent a letter to the Biden administration last week, denouncing the Obama-era nuclear agreement with Iran and demanding that any future agreement make a greater role for Congressional insight and approval.
"The Iranian regime brutally represses, persecutes,... Read More »
With worries of a Russian incursion into Ukraine ongoing, U.S. Reps. Marc Veasey (D-TX), Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-IL), and Mike Turner (R-OH) today introduce the Supplying Ukraine with Provisions to Protect against Ongoing Russian Threats (SUPPORT) Act to guarantee support to the latter.
For the... Read More »
A group of lawmakers recently introduced legislation that sanctions Russia for present and potential future aggression against Ukraine.
U.S. Sens. John Kennedy (R-LA) and Jim Risch (R-ID) recently joined over 30 other Republican colleagues in presenting the Never Yielding Europe’s Territory... Read More »
U.S. Sen. Joni Ernst (R-IA) recently joined nine colleagues seeking enforcement action regarding a growing fleet of Iranian oil tankers evading domestic sanctions.
Ernst and her colleagues forwarded correspondence to President Joe Biden to also address the issue of entities purchasing Iranian... Read More »
A group of lawmakers recently introduced legislation that seeks to protect vulnerable civilian populations from a Russian military invasion.
U.S. Sens. John Cornyn (R-TX), Ben Cardin (D-MD), Roger Wicker (R-MS), Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH), Lindsey Graham (R-SC), and Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) said the... Read More »
U.S. Reps. Ann Wagner (R-MO), Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-WA), Dan Crenshaw (R-TX) introduced this week legislation that seeks to reduce demand for sex trafficking worldwide.
The Sex Trafficking Demand Reduction Act would amend the Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000 to reflect the need to... Read More »
U.S. Sens. Rob Portman (R-OH), Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH), Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), Kevin Cramer (R-ND), Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), Chris Murphy (D-CT), and Roger Wicker (R-MS) met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy Tuesday as part of their bipartisan Congressional Delegation to Ukraine.
The... Read More »
Under a long-term agreement with the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) announced this week, Merck and Ridgeback Biotherapeutics have agreed to provide 3 million courses of COVID-19 oral antiviral molnupiravir for use in low and middle-income countries.
Distribution will occur throughout... Read More »
The Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI) and Institut Pasteur de Dakar (IPD) recently collaborated to advance COVID-19 vaccine manufacturing in Africa.
CEPI seeks to develop vaccines against future epidemics, while IPD is a non-profit public interest foundation located in... Read More »
Following requests from U.S. authorities, the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) arrested members of the REvil ransomware gang and shut their operations, which in the last few years have struck American ventures such as the Colonial Pipeline, JBS Foods, and Kaseya.
The Russian-based group... Read More »
U.S. Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) joined U.S. Reps. Brian Higgins (D-NY) and Chris Jacobs (R-NY) in urging the U.S. Department of Homeland Security to keep the U.S.-Canada border open for vaccinated individuals.
Citing the economic livelihoods of New York businesses, as well as supply chain... Read More »
U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) recently sent correspondence to Department of Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin advocating Brazil bilateral security cooperation expansion.
Rubio indicated the effort would counter growing Chinese Communist Party influence (CCP) in the Western Hemisphere.
“Brazil... Read More »
Former U.S. Sen. Sam Nunn (D-GA) and Former Secretary of Energy under the Obama administration Ernest J. Moniz, co-founders of the Nuclear Threat Initiative, said they applaud the position of world leaders that a nuclear war “cannot be won,” in a statement Monday.
The statement comes in... Read More »
U.S. Sens. Rob Portman (R-OH) and Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH) announced the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative has been extended through 2022 as part of the FY 2022 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA).
The funding was increased from $250 million to $300 million per year, with at least $75... Read More »
The Independent Allocation of Vaccines Group (IAVG), a manager of needs-based allocations for the global COVAX initiative, criticized rich nations last week for hoarding COVID-19 vaccines and issued steps to achieve a new goal of 70 percent immunization coverage by mid-2022.
“As the overall... Read More »
U.S. Sens. Marco Rubio (R-FL) and Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) urged the U.S. Department of Defense to address the DOD’s overreliance on pharmaceuticals produced abroad in a letter on Friday.
The letter, to Gregory Kausner, acting Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition and Sustainment, said... Read More »
An investigation by the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Homeland Security Investigation’s (HSI) Washington D.C. Field Office and Defense Criminal Investigative Service’s (DCIS) Mid-Atlantic Field Office has led to the seizure of Iranian arms from vessels in the Arabian Sea.... Read More »
The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) announced Monday it was creating a new whole-of-government effort, the Initiative for Global Vaccine Access (Global VAX), to accelerate efforts worldwide to provide COVID-19 shots and overcome access barriers to vaccines, with a priority on... Read More »
The U.S. Marines, Navy, and Army will join Japan Ground Self-Defense Force (JGSDF) members for a bilateral training exercise in multiple training locations across Japan.
Resolute Dragon 2021 involves almost 2,650 Marines from across III MEF, representing all functions of the Fleet Marine Force.... Read More »
Last week, the board of Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, approved an initial investment of $155.7 million to support the introduction, acquisition, and delivery of malaria vaccines throughout eligible nations in sub-Saharan Africa between 2022 and 2025.
The public-private health organization hopes... Read More »
This week, the World Health Assembly announced that it intends to jumpstart a process to draft and negotiate a global agreement to strengthen pandemic prevention, preparedness, and response.
The decision came with the ongoing -- and evolving -- COVID-19 pandemic firmly in mind and will utilize... Read More »
As the world continues to realign its approach and expectations in the wake of the emergence of the Omicron variant of COVID-19 in South Africa last week, U.S. Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-IL) took the opportunity to renew calls for expanding U.S. vaccine aid to other nations.
“The emergence of... Read More »
The World Health Organization (WHO) COVID-19 Technology Access Pool (C-TAP) and the Medicines Patent Pool (MPP) recently reached a joint licensing agreement with the Spanish National Research Council (CSIC) for a non-exclusive COVID-19 serological antibody test.
The CSIC-developed test, to be... Read More »
In facing down a future of potential biological dangers, a new report from authors at NTI | bio recommended concrete action at the national and international level, from new oversight agencies to process overhauls and funding, to improve prevention and response.
In “Strengthening Global... Read More »
U.S. Sen. Todd Young (R-IN) recently responded to a report alleging the Chinese Communist Party is expressing opposition to his bill he said seeks to invest in technologies aiding in outcompeting China.
Young's rebuttal stemmed from a Reuters report alleging that the Chinese Embassy is... Read More »
