U.S. Policy
An amendment to the fiscal year 2019 Defense Appropriations bill would transfer $40 million to the U.S. Department of State for the Global Engagement Center (GEC) to expose and counter foreign influence and propaganda.
The $40 million was allotted for fiscal year 2018 and has yet to be... Read More »
The U.S. Department of Defense, along with the U.S. Air Force and Navy, completed a series of flight demonstrations last week of the Miniature Air Launched Decoy (MALD-X) missile.
The MALD-X missile is an air-launched decoy that mimics "friendly" aircraft to confuse enemy defensive systems. ... Read More »
Operation Darkness Falls, a joint operation targeting fentanyl and other drug distributors over the dark net, has resulted in several arrests associated to such bad actor behavior, including the most recent arrest of MH4Life, the fourth most prolific dark net fentanyl vendor in the world and the... Read More »
U.S. Border Patrol recently named Scott Luck as the agency’s new deputy chief.
Luck has been chief of the Law Enforcement Operations Directorate at the Border Patrol Headquarters in Washington, D.C., since 2014 and has served as the acting deputy chief since April 2017.
“I am deeply... Read More »
An amendment to the Defense-Labor-HHS appropriations bill would allow communities to utilize Student Support and Academic Enrichment grants to reinforce school safety infrastructure and technology.
“Americans have become all too familiar with the horror of school shootings,” U.S. Sen. Ted... Read More »
Public Service Electric and Gas Company (PSE&G) obtained SAFETY Act liability protections from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security for the deployment of security measures designed to detect, deter, and recover from acts of terrorism.
The New Jersey-based company is the first public utility... Read More »
An Indiana man has been sentenced to 15 years in prison for his role in a planned terrorist attack as well as distributing information on explosives.
Authorities said Marlonn Hicks, 31, of Crown Point, Indiana, has also been handed down three years of supervised release following his sentence... Read More »
U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) recently entered into a public-private partnership with Southwest Airlines Co. as part of the Donations Acceptance Program.
The program seeks tangible solutions to trade- and travel-enforcement challenges in both infrastructure and intellectual property... Read More »
The Providence Fire Department in Rhode Island recently received a nearly $1 million federal grant award earmarked for the department’s safety and training, according to an announcement made by state and federal lawmakers last week.
Sens. Jack Reed (D-RI) and Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) joined... Read More »
Following an announcement this month that a company called Defense Distributed would begin publishing blueprints for 3D printable firearms online, a group of Democratic senators are urging tech companies to ban publication of firearm blueprints on their platforms.
While the opponents in court... Read More »
Over the last 40 years, the parasite-driven disease Chagas has breached the borders of what was once its traditional territory, spreading from Latin America into the United States and Europe, according to a new report from the American Heart Association (AHA).
There are an estimated 300,000... Read More »
AT&T has been actively deploying Band 14 spectrum as part of the First Responder Network Authority (FirstNet) build, bringing a much-needed technology upgrade to the public safety network.
Band 14 is nationwide, high-quality spectrum set aside by the federal government for FirstNet that will... Read More »
The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency’s (DARPA) review of its Robotic Servicing of Geosynchronous Satellites (RSGS) program showed that it is on track to fulfill its mission of servicing at least 20 commercial and government spacecraft in geosynchronous orbit (GEO).
There are... Read More »
U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) agriculture specialists at Washington Dulles International Airport recently discovered pork sausage links concealed in an El Salvadoran woman’s baby formula cans.
Swine meat from El Salvador is not allowed to enter the United States because of the... Read More »
Funding from the Department of Homeland Security’s Assistance in Firefighters Grant (AFG) program is bringing more than $100,000 to fire departments in two New York counties.
The Richville Volunteer Fire Department in St. Lawrence County and the Whitesboro Fire Department in Oneida County... Read More »
The Department of Defense (DoD) recently selected defense contractor SAP Concur to develop a business travel system prototype to replace the aging Defense Travel System.
Annually, the DoD spends $9 billion on travel. Approximately 70 percent of all department travel vouchers is temporary duty... Read More »
The Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security, Global Health Council, NTI Bio, and PATH hosted a simulation exercise for congressional staffers to demonstrate the need for congressional support and action to prevent infectious disease threats.
The exercise, called Clade X: A Global Health... Read More »
Tucson Sector Border Patrol personnel recently touted the benefits of UH-60 Blackhawk helicopters toward the effort to bolster border security.
Officials said the detail was deployed last month to assist in Operation Guardian Support, aiding transport capabilities in remote areas of southern... Read More »
With concerns over security for the midterms persisting, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) hosted a three-day exercise meant to help various agencies identify ways to improve cybersecurity, preparedness, identification, response, and recovery during elections.
The program, called... Read More »
President Donald Trump recently signed into law the NIST Small Business Cybersecurity Act, which requires the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) to develop and provide resources to protect small businesses’ digital assets from cybersecurity threats.
According to the bill,... Read More »
U.S. Rep. Jeff Denham (R-CA) hosted Wednesday a roundtable with local community leaders, law enforcement officials, and the leaders of Uber, among others, to discuss how to combat human trafficking.
The meeting, held at the Modesto Police Department in California, gave attendees an opportunity... Read More »
Last month the Uniform Law Commission (ULC) considered a proposed nationwide law change reflecting the impact of unmanned aerial vehicles, or drones.
A ULC committee considered the Tort Law Relating to Drones Act for adoption by state governments. The effort, which provoked controversy across... Read More »
Though President Donald Trump signed an executive order in 2017 to restrict the issuance of visas and instigate changes to nonimmigrant visa (NIV) screening and vetting, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) recently found that 90 percent of visas remained unaffected by this change.
Of the... Read More »
The First Responder Network Authority’s board of directors, an independent authority within the U.S. Department of Commerce, recently approved an $81 million budget for operations in fiscal year 2019.
The budget will be used for the focus on the deployment of the nationwide public safety... Read More »
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Science and Technology Directorate has developed new technology that will assist federal agents in investigating human smuggling.
The data analytics software program, called Igloo, is already in use by select units of U.S. Immigration and Customs... Read More »
The U.S. Air Force awarded this week a contract to Lockheed Martin Missiles & Fire Control for the development of a second hypersonic weapon prototype.
The weapon’s review, testing, and production readiness support will all be provided by Lockheed Martin, as part of the Air Force’s... Read More »
Gen. John Hyten, commander of U.S. Strategic Command (StratCom), recently spoke at the 2018 Department of Defense Intelligence Information System Worldwide Conference on integrated command relationships and the role of information and intelligence to combatant commands.
Without intelligence... Read More »
A group of lawmakers recently gathered at a military installation to witness President Trump sign the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for Fiscal Year 2019 into law.
The bill supports $716 billion in funding for national defense for fiscal year 2019, per officials, and provides service... Read More »
Federal law enforcement officials said an accused domestic terrorist who spent 12 years on the run is now in custody and slated to face charges in three states.
Officials said Joseph Mahmoud Dibee, 50, of Seattle, Washington, was recently apprehended after authorities learned he was traveling... Read More »
U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen toured the Grand Sky Technology Park in North Dakota last week and participated in a roundtable discussion with unmanned aerial systems (UAS) industry leaders.
Grand Sky Technology Park, located at Grand Forks Air Force Base,... Read More »
For the first time since he took office as the United States Secretary of Defense, James Mattis traveled to South America to solidify the Department's strong defense ties with Brazil, Argentina, Chile and Colombia.
"These relationships are critical to a collaborative, prosperous and secure... Read More »
Researchers are still a decade away from seeing a Valley Fever vaccine realized for humans, who are in recent years being infected at a greater degree with the fungal spores that cause the disease. The illness primarily affects people living in the Southwestern United States.
Federal officials... Read More »
Warning of the potential danger presented by attackers targeting hazardous chemical facilities, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) is urging the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to share more information with first responders who may need to respond to security incidents.... Read More »
Warning that the cyber threats to the United States are not going away, and in fact continue to grow, House Homeland Security Committee Chairman Michael McCaul (R-TX) has urged the Senate to take action.
To make his case, McCaul pointed to three separate bills the House has already advanced on... Read More »
U.S. Rep. Jeff Denham (R-CA) recently completed a multiday, congressional delegation visit to the California-Mexico border. During the trip, the Congress members visited a U.S. Naval Air Station and tunnel site, a U.S. Border Patrol station, the San Ysidro Port of Entry, and the Otay Mesa Detention... Read More »
