U.S. Policy
House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-WI) maintains the nation’s military needs to be rebuilt.
“Almost a decade under the Obama administration, during which the military was simply not a top priority, left major gaps in the readiness of our Armed Forces,” Ryan said. “Funding for modernizing the... Read More »
Four individuals were arrested recently and charged with the alleged sale of counterfeit male enhancement pills, weight loss pills, condoms, and cosmetics.
Carlos Enrique Velázquez-Gines, Mayra Evelise Gines-Otero, Noriam Ivette Flores-Deleon, and Vanessa Marrero-Hernández were charged with... Read More »
Bipartisan legislation introduced in the U.S. Senate on Monday would direct the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) to consider opioid diversion, public health, and overdose deaths when setting opioid production quotas to help address the nationwide opioid epidemic.
The DEA currently... Read More »
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced the formation of an Executive Steering Committee on Monday that will oversee the department’s school security efforts, ensure that funding and resources are best leveraged, and support state and local efforts.
DHS also highlighted year-round... Read More »
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Science and Technology Directorate (S&T) recently described its role in providing security for 52nd Super Bowl in Minneapolis, Minnesota, this February.
DHS S&T efforts enabled liability protections for providers of security technologies, analytics for... Read More »
In testimony before a Senate panel on March 6, Defence Intelligence Agency (DIA) Director Robert P. Ashley, Jr. discussed North Korea’s nuclear weapons program, China’s military modernization program and Russia’s goal to exert a “sphere of influence” over the United States.
Ashley... Read More »
A joint operation led by the Arizona Department of Public Safety and U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) recently resulted in more than 60 pounds of narcotics and five AK-47s being seized in three separate traffic stops on Interstate 10 in Arizona.
The arrests were the result of Operation... Read More »
The House Committee on Homeland Security has approved a bill designed to improve vigilance in the wake of growing terrorist attacks using vehicles.
The Vehicular Terrorism Prevention Act, authored by Rep. Bob Latta (R-OH), received an amendment from Rep. Dan Donovan (R-NY) that aided committee... Read More »
Customs and Border Protection (CBP) agriculture specialists at Washington Dulles International Airport (Dulles) and Baltimore Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport (BWI) recently intercepted Khapra beetles, one of the world’s most destructive insect pests, in passenger... Read More »
An Alabama man, who allegedly distributed ISIS propaganda, researched how to produce explosive materials, and met with an undercover agent posing as a member of ISIS, pleaded guilty to one count of attempting to provide services and personnel to a terrorist organization on Thursday.
Aziz Ihab... Read More »
Bipartisan members of the Senate Armed Service Committee urged President Donald Trump to advance a national cyber deterrence strategy on Thursday, noting that lack of clearly articulated consequence has served as “an open invitation” for cyber attacks against the United States.
The group,... Read More »
Rep. Martha McSally (R-AZ) recently introduced a pair of bills authorizing two programs that are part of the Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) efforts to extend the border far from American shores.
McSally said the bills would codify the Office of Biometric Identity Management (OBIM),... Read More »
Citing Russian efforts to meddle in U.S. elections, U.S. Rep. Stephen Lynch (D-MA) called on the State Department on Tuesday to use $120 million allocated by Congress to counter foreign propaganda and disinformation since 2016.
The State Department’s Global Engagement Center (GEC) hasn’t... Read More »
The first-ever Department of Homeland Security (DHS) reauthorization bill cleared the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee on Wednesday with bipartisan support.
The Department of Homeland Security Reauthorization Act, H.R. 2825, would establish a framework for regular DHS... Read More »
Nuclear experts recently met on Capitol Hill for a panel discussion on the Trump Administration’s recently released Nuclear Posture Review (NPR).
The panel compared the NPR to past U.S. nuclear policy and expressed concerns about the future of the nuclear relationship between the United... Read More »
U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) took to the U.S. Senate floor on Tuesday to outline steps that he’s taken or supported to curb gun violence in the wake of the mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, that left 17 people dead on Feb. 14.
Rubio co-sponsored the... Read More »
A Terror Threat Snapshot released by the House Homeland Security Committee on Tuesday notes that State Department has designated seven ISIS-affiliated groups to its Foreign Terrorist Organizations (FTO) and that ISIS fighters returning to their home countries continue to pose security threats.... Read More »
A bipartisan bill introduced in the U.S. Senate on Monday would require federal authorities to alert state officials when attempted gun purchases are denied because individuals don’t have legal rights to possess a firearm in an effort to better enforce existing gun laws.
Currently, federal... Read More »
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Science and Technology Directorate (S&T) requested feedback on Monday on its Next Generation First Responder Integration Handbook, which it released in February.
The handbook serves as a guide for industry and public safety agencies on the development,... Read More »
The Department of Justice (DoJ) would be able to award grants that support training that helps students, teachers and law enforcers recognize early warning signs of violence and intervene under a bipartisan bill introduced in the U.S. Senate on Thursday.
U.S. Sens. Orrin Hatch (R-UT) and Amy... Read More »
A bipartisan coalition of senators raised questions on Monday about the use of Vietnam-era Huey helicopters to patrol intercontinental ballistic missile sites across the country, noting that replacement helicopters for a handful of Air Force bases were recently delayed.
In a letter to Air Force... Read More »
Aviation Week magazine named Raytheon Corp. and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) as the recipients of its Laureate award on Friday for the development of an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) that can gather life-saving data during hurricanes in near real-time.
The Raytheon... Read More »
Advances in medicine have meant many lives saved over the years, but it also has led to weakened immune systems that would leave people vulnerable to the resurrection of an older, incredibly deadly disease: smallpox.
Professor Raina MacIntyre of the University of New South Wales (UNSW) is... Read More »
Dr. Robert Kadlec, Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response (ASPR) at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) will present the keynote address during a March 7 seminar in Brussels for members of the European Parliament and will discuss “CBRN — An Invisible Risk. Is... Read More »
Researchers at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles (CHLA) recently published a study that found that the United States is unprepared for the surge in pediatric patients that an infectious disease pandemic could cause.
The paper, which was published in the American Journal of Disaster Medicine,... Read More »
Citing the Las Vegas mass shooting that left 58 concert goers dead in October, Nevada lawmakers called on the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to reconfigure the funding formula for its Urban Area Security Initiative (UASI) grant program on Friday.
In a letter to Homeland Security Kirstjen... Read More »
Warning that the United States is engaged in or at the brink of cyber war, U.S. Sen. Angus King (I-ME) called for a national doctrine of cyber deterrence during two separate hearings on Thursday.
King spoke about the importance of a national cybersecurity policy during a Senate Armed Services... Read More »
A bipartisan bill announced in the U.S. Senate on Thursday would enable law enforcers and family members to petition courts to temporarily restrict access to firearms for those who are deemed an imminent threat to themselves or others.
U.S. Sens. Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) and Lindsey Graham... Read More »
U.S. Rep. Susan Brooks (R-IN) this week maintained her laser focus on improving the preparedness of the United States to respond to a pandemic or chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear (CBRN) threats via formation of the new bipartisan Congressional Biodefense Caucus.
Rep. Brooks and... Read More »
A new bill being considered by the Senate seeks to formulate a concrete strategy against antibiotic resistance and lower the inappropriate use of antibiotics which is fueling the condition’s rise.
The legislation comes from U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH) and has been dubbed the Strategies to... Read More »
A Government Accountability Office (GAO) report released on Wednesday found that the Department of Defense (DoD) has implemented some — but not all — of statutory requirements outlined in the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) to address organizational challenges.
The DoD drafted an... Read More »
U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) detailed its progress regarding the Trade Facilitation and Trade Enforcement Act of 2015 (TFTEA) in a recent press release marking the two-year anniversary of the Act.
TFTEA aims to reshape, strengthen and modernize how CBP accomplishes its trade mission... Read More »
The Nuclear Threat Initiative (NTI) and Emory University recently hosted a workshop on radiological security in Atlanta, Georgia.
Workshop participants included representatives from the Center for Disease Control (CDC), the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA), the Federal Bureau of... Read More »
A bipartisan resolution introduced in the Senate on Wednesday calls for the withdrawal of U.S. forces from conflict in Yemen between a Saudi-led coalition and the Houthis movement that emerged there in the 1990s.
The Obama Administration deployed U.S. military forces to Yemen in 2015 without... Read More »
An effort to ban the sale, transfer, manufacture, and importation of military-style assault weapons and high capacity ammunition magazines alike has been introduced to the U.S. Senate, and Democrats appear to be aligning behind the effort.
Introduced by U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.),... Read More »
