Policy
Senate advances bills to overhaul, expand U.S. weather radio system and alerts
With the U.S. Senate voting unanimously last week to pass the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Weather Radio Modernization Act (S.1416) and the National Weather Service Communications Improvement Act (S.1414), the House holds the future of the nation’s weather radio network... Read More »
South Dakota lawmakers call on Interior Secretary to coordinate on resources for tribal law enforcement
Following up on a letter from June that requested additional support for tribal law enforcement agencies in South Dakota, federal lawmakers from the state last week urged Interior Secretary Deb Haaland to coordinate those resource issues with other federal departments. U.S. Sens. Mike Rounds... Read More »
FEMA announces second, $150M funding opportunity for natural hazards-focused capitalization grants
With funding from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law in-hand, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) announced a second funding opportunity for its Safeguarding Tomorrow Revolving Loan Fund (RLF) to provide capitalization grants to disaster-vulnerable communities. Meant to help... Read More »
Senate bill proposes new reporting requirements for attacks on law enforcement
With the introduction of the Improving Law Enforcement Officer Safety and Wellness Through Data Act this week, five senators sought to increase the information that can be supplied about anti-police attacks and explore their impacts on officers’ mental health. According to the group, it would... Read More »
Sen. Peters calls out cumbersome terrorist screening practices, recommends changes for civil liberties
A new report released by U.S. Sen. Gary Peters (D-MI), chairman of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, called out cumbersome traveler screening among federal agencies and insufficient oversight of discrimination. The report was looking into the terrorist watchlist... Read More »
Report deems 2022 midterm elections free of foreign compromise by Departments of Justice, Homeland Security
A report on the 2022 United States midterm election was declassified and released jointly by the U.S. Departments of Justice (DOJ) and Homeland Security (DHS) this week, prominently stating that no foreign government-affiliated actor was found to have compromised the integrity of that... Read More »
Congress authorizes speedy transfer of seven C-130 aircraft to help California fight wildfires
After significant lobbying by the Newsom administration, Congress last week authorized and hastened the transfer of seven United States Coast Guard-owned C-130 aircraft to CAL FIRE, for California’s use in fighting wildfires. “These are aircraft that can mobilize quickly and attack... Read More »
Treasury Department sanctions Malas Mañas organization over human smuggling, drugs trafficking
In response to a report by Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), the Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) sanctioned the Malas Mañas transnational criminal organization (TCO) over its human smuggling and drug trafficking at the southwest border. The action... Read More »
Congress passes 2024 defense funding bill
Despite a rocky approval process this year, last week both the U.S. House and Senate passed the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2024, teeing it up for signature by President Joe Biden. It was a rebuke of last minute efforts by the far right to scuttle the bill, as Democrats... Read More »
Sens. Peters, Cornyn introduce bill to keep Countering Weapons of Mass Destruction Office open
With a looming sunset date for the Countering Weapons of Mass Destruction Office (CWMD) at the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), U.S. Sens. Gary Peters (D-MI) and John Cornyn (R-TX) introduced a bill this week to keep the agency open for another two years. At stake, according to Peters, is... Read More »
Justice Department releases reporting, storage models for states to consider for gun safety
The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) this week published two models for states to consider in terms of legislation to address gun violence and improve gun safety. The first model would lock in requirements for securing firearms in residences and vehicles to prevent their acquisition by... Read More »
Federal lawmakers call for fleet leveling to balance active duty Air Force National Guard and Reserve fighters
A group of 49 federal lawmakers – both bipartisan and bicameral – wrote to U.S. Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall this week calling for the use of fleet leveling to balance fighters across active duty squadrons and allow for production capacity to catch up to demand. This attempt to... Read More »
New bill would block American genetic data from access by companies tied to foreign adversaries
With the introduction of the Safeguarding American Genetic Data Act of 2023 last week, U.S. Sen. Gary Peters (D-MI) sought to prevent biotechnology companies with ties to foreign adversaries from accessing American genetic data and personal health information. “Every day, Americans get blood... Read More »
BAE Systems, U.S. Department of Commerce research non-binding preliminary agreement for new national security project
The Biden administration, through the U.S. Department of Commerce, reached a non-binding preliminary agreement with BAE Systems Electronic Systems to provide approximately $35 million in federal incentives for its new Microelectronics Center in Nashua, N.H. By the end of the project, the... Read More »
U.S. Marines place $211M order of Amphibious Combat Vehicles from BAE Systems
An ongoing contract between BAE Systems and the U.S. Marine Corps was modified this week to include an additional $211 million of Amphibious Combat Vehicles (ACVs). As a result, 40 full-rate production ACV Personnel (ACV-P) variants will be procured, and the extra funding will cover both... Read More »
Funding for 9/11 health care included in FY24 National Defense Authorization Act
Among the items that were included in the final version of the fiscal year 2024 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) last week was $676 million in funding for the World Trade Center Health Program (WTCHP), providing millions in coverage support for responders to the 9/11 aftermath. The... Read More »
Republican senators introduce Iran China Accountability Act
U.S. Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN), together with seven Republican colleagues, reintroduced the Iran China Accountability Act this week in a push to weaken Iran’s relationship with communist China and ensure that the United States not move forward with any nuclear agreement without congressional... Read More »
CISA sets physical security performance goals for faith-based organizations
The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), a part of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS), this week released a new set of physical security performance goals for faith-based organizations. Partially in response to the ongoing conflict between Israel and Palestinians,... Read More »
Congress advances TRANQ Research Act in bid to understand, counter synthetic opioids
Opioids have remained a major focus for Congress in recent years, given the scope of their spread across the United States, and this came to a head once more this week with the House’s passage of the TRANQ Research Act (H.R.1734), which now heads to President Joe Biden. If approved, the bill... Read More »
FEMA’s 12th annual National Preparedness Report reveals challenges of rising costs, climate change-related disasters
Climate change is causing increased frequency and severity of disasters across the country, leading to rising costs that represent a collective challenge for all levels of government, according to the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s (FEMA) latest National Preparedness Report. “As the... Read More »
GAO warns some federal agencies fail to meet requirements for cybersecurity incident response
Over the years, federal agencies worked to improve their abilities to detect, analyze and handle cybersecurity incidents, according to the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO), but some have failed to meet requirements surrounding the tracking of incidents. Responses to ransomware... Read More »
RTX wins $8M DARPA contract to improve Department of Defense supply chain resilience
The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) awarded an $8 million contract to address systemic risk surrounding procurement and delivery of supplies to aerospace and defense company RTX and its Raytheon BBN Technologies unit this week. "DARPA has emphasized that supply demand... Read More »
U.S. Senate Republicans press Biden administration for details on Iran sanctions waiver
Led by U.S. Sen. Tim Scott (R-SC), a group of 25 Republican senators wrote to secretaries within the Biden administration and pressed them for answers to the lack of a unified strategy on Iran, the country’s long-time adversary in the Middle East. Particularly grating to the lawmakers was the... Read More »
U.S. Senate bill proposes increased foreign gift reporting requirements among academia
A group of seven U.S. senators introduced the Defending Education Transparency and Ending Rogue Regimes Engaging in Nefarious Transactions (DETERRENT) Act, S.3362, last week to heighten oversight of foreign gift reporting at American colleges and universities. Envisioned by lawmakers as a way... Read More »
Law enforcement organizations call for FEND Off Fentanyl Act’s inclusion in National Defense Authorization Act
In letters to Congressional leadership last week, groups including the Fraternal Order of Police (FOP), National Association of Police Officers (NAPO), and Federal Law Enforcement Officers Association (FLEOA) called for U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH)’s FEND Off Fentanyl Act (S. 1271) to be... Read More »
Bicameral Federal Cybersecurity Workforce Expansion Act seeks to strengthen U.S. cyber system through training programs
Last week, a new bill introduced in both chambers of Congress – the Federal Cybersecurity Workforce Expansion Act – proposed improving U.S. cyber defenses and its cybersecurity workforce through two new federal training programs. “There is a crippling shortage of cybersecurity workers that... Read More »
Traveler Privacy Protection Act would ban collection of biometric data by TSA
Under legislation recently proposed by a collection of six senators – the Traveler Privacy Protection Act – the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) would be banned from using facial recognition technology and collecting facial biometric data at airports in the United States.... Read More »
Senators push for National Defense Authorization Act to get tough on outbound investment screening
In a letter to the chairman and ranking members of the Senate and House Armed Services Committees, a group of federal lawmakers this week urged strong language be added to the 2024 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) to keep sensitive technologies from American adversaries. “There is... Read More »
Sen. Brown urges passage of legislation sanctioning wide-reaching illicit fentanyl supply chain
While the Fentanyl Eradication and Narcotics Deterrence (FEND) Off Fentanyl Act has made it into the National Defense bill, U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH) this week publicly pressed for its enactment and called on the Biden administration for more resources to counter illicit drugs. FEND Off... Read More »
White House Council on Supply Chain Resilience to create federal Supply Chain Resilience Center
As a means to protect the U.S. supply chain, the inaugural meeting of the White House Council on Supply Chain Resilience recently saw the announcement of a new Supply Chain Resilience Center (SCRC) to analyze vulnerabilities and collaborate with the private sector. Primarily, the new... Read More »
U.S., U.K. security agencies release joint guidelines for secure AI development
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) and the U.K. National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) recently released joint guidelines for secure AI system development. These guidelines were targeted at developers of any systems that use... Read More »
Department of Defense holds workshop to better understand manufacturing needs, technology opportunities
Assembling its Manufacturing Innovation Institutes (MII) and stakeholders last month, the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) held a Chicago-based workshop on its efforts to modernize and how the manufacturing innovation ecosystem could support it. "OSD ManTech, through the MIIs, spearheads... Read More »
Federal legislation would reclassify 9-1-1 dispatchers as first responders
In introducing the Supporting Accurate Views of Emergency Services (SAVES) Act this week, U.S. Reps. Brian Fitzpatrick (R-PA) and Norma Torres (D-CA) sought to reclassify 9-1-1 dispatchers as first responders. Otherwise, the bill would not change anything about these dispatchers’ work or the... Read More »
DHS updating language to improve access for limited English speakers
Working with interagency partners, the United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS) last week upgraded its language access plan, promoting improved access to its programs and activities for those with limited English proficiency. Helming the effort was the DHS Office of Civil Rights and... Read More »