U.S. Policy
With the reintroduction of the Medical Supplies for Pandemics Act in the Senate last week, U.S. Sens. Thom Tillis (R-NC) and Michael Bennet (D-CO) sought to more tightly link the federal government and medical product distributors to strengthen domestic manufacturing and refill the Strategic... Read More »
U.S. Sens. Susan Collins (R-ME) and Angus King (I-ME) joined U.S. Reps. Chellie Pingree (D-ME) and Jared Golden (D-ME) in urging President Joe Biden not to reduce the number of Navy Destroyers the Department of Defense will request.
Typically, the DOD requests two DDG-51 Flight III destroyers.... Read More »
U.S. Sens. Jerry Moran (R-KS) and Tim Kaine (D-VA) recently introduced a legislative amendment in support of sharing excess COVID-19 vaccines with countries in need.
The Endless Frontier Act amendment seeks to spur U.S. Department of State action in conjunction with the coordination Department... Read More »
In the wake of a pandemic response that had been hobbled initially by a lack of domestic medical supplies and an overreliance on foreign supply chains, Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee Chairman Gary Peters (D-MI) held an oversight hearing with supply chain,... Read More »
U.S. Sen. Ben Sasse (R-NE) called on the Senate to double the funding for the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) through his amendment to the Endless Frontiers Act.
Sasse said increasing DARPA’s funding to $7 billion a year for the next five years would allow America to compete... Read More »
Reps. John Katko (R-NY), ranking member of the House Committee on Homeland Security, and Bennie G. Thompson (D-MS), chairman of the House Committee on Homeland Security, are encouraging the Biden administration to develop and maintain an economic restoration plan under the National Defense... Read More »
House Committee on Homeland Security members said the body has advanced seven bills designed to bolster cybersecurity.
“As many Americans witnessed just last week, cyber-attacks have the potential to disrupt our daily lives and impact our economic and national security,” Rep. John Katko... Read More »
The top two executives of Emergent BioSolutions Inc. on Wednesday promised to provide additional documentation requested by congressional lawmakers who are investigating the Maryland-based biopharmaceutical company’s failure to manufacture usable coronavirus vaccines under a contract with the... Read More »
U.S. Reps. Emanual Cleaver, II (D-MO), Bennie Thompson (D-MS), John Katko (R-NY), and 12 other members of the Committee on Homeland Security re-introduced legislation to secure pipelines and pipeline facilities.
The legislation would address cyberattacks, terrorist attacks, and other efforts to... Read More »
Reps. Vern Buchanan (R-FL) and Chris Pappas (D-NH) introduced this week a measure designed to help reduce synthetic drug access.
The Federal Initiative to Guarantee Health by Targeting (FIGHT) Fentanyl Act seeks to make permanent the current, temporary classification of fentanyl-related... Read More »
U.S. Reps Bennie G. Thompson (D-MS), chair of the Committee on Homeland Security, and John Katko (R-NY), the committee’s ranking member, on Friday introduced legislation to form a bipartisan, independent commission to investigate the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol.
The legislation,... Read More »
U.S. Sens. Marco Rubio (R-FL), Bob Menendez (D-NJ) and Tim Kaine (D-VA) are encouraging the Biden administration to devise a plan enabling any surplus COVID-19 vaccine to be forwarded to Latin America and the Caribbean.
The legislators sent correspondence to President Joe Biden regarding the... Read More »
After consulting with the Intelligence Community and law enforcement partners, Department of Homeland Security (DHS) officials said the agency has issued a National Terrorism Advisory System (NTAS) Bulletin.
“Today’s terrorism-related threat landscape is more complex, more dynamic, and more... Read More »
U.S. Rep. Bill Pascrell, Jr. (D-N.J.), co-chair of the Congressional Law Enforcement Caucus, urged Congress to support a bill that would increase the benefits to first responders who die or are injured in the line of duty.
The bill, H.R. 2936, or the Protecting America’s First Responders Act... Read More »
Sens. Rob Portman (R-OH) and Martin Heinrich (D-NM) introduced this week two pieces of legislation designed to bolster the government’s artificial intelligence (AI) readiness and long-term investments support in ethics and safety research.
The Artificial Intelligence Capabilities and... Read More »
U.S. Reps. John Katko (R-NY) and Andrew Garbarino (R-NY) recently issued a statement regarding the Biden Administration’s release of the Executive Order (EO), which the Administration said seeks to bolster national cybersecurity.
Katko, ranking member of the House Committee on Homeland... Read More »
U.S. Sens. Roger Wicker (R-MS) and Ben Cardin (D-MD) reintroduced legislation this week to counter politically motivated abuse of INTERPOL by authoritarian regimes.
The Transnational Repression Accountability and Prevention (TRAP) Act establishes domestic priorities for responding to INTERPOL... Read More »
U.S. Sens. Mark R. Warner (D-VA) and Michael Bennet (D-CO) recently forwarded correspondence to President Joe Biden, seeking a review of the U.S. Space Command relocation decision process.
The senators are encouraging Biden to consider how the Trump Administration’s decision to relocate U.S.... Read More »
Senate legislation meant to provide resources and enhance coordination for major cyberattacks, such as the one recently experienced in the Colonial Pipeline attack, has unanimously advanced out of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee.
The bill, which will now face the... Read More »
Seven U.S. representatives introduced the State and Local Cybersecurity Improvement Act this week, which seeks to authorize a new Department of Homeland Security (DHS) grant program to fund local and state cybersecurity efforts.
In all, the program would benefit from $500 million in funding to... Read More »
U.S. Reps. Don Bacon (R-NE), Bill Johnson (R-OH), and Steve Stivers (R-OH) joined Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX) Tuesday to introduce legislation that would give greater protections to federally funded public service officers.
The Back the Blue Act creates new criminal provisions for killing,... Read More »
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) recently initiated a new Center for Prevention Programs and Partnerships (CP3) to address domestic violent extremism.
DHS Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro N. Mayorkas stated that the initiative would enhance the agency's ability to combat... Read More »
The Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee recently convened a hearing with senior federal cybersecurity personnel to examine present and future cybersecurity breaches.
The hearing was convened by Sen. Gary Peters (D-MI), chairman of the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs... Read More »
Following the recent ransomware attack on the Colonial Pipeline Company, U.S. Rep. John Katko (R-NY) is urging the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) for great investment into the Pipeline Security Initiative public-private partnership.
The Pipeline Cybersecurity Initiative... Read More »
Leaders of the House Energy and Commerce Committee and subcommittees wrote to Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Xavier Becerra this week urging a reversal of a Trump administration policy that stripped Food and Drug Administration (FDA) authority over COVID-19 lab-developed tests (LDTs).... Read More »
Emergent BioSolutions Inc., a multinational biopharmaceutical company, on Wednesday said it is on track to meet federal COVID-19 vaccine manufacturing standards and executives will testify during a congressional hearing next week on the company’s progress since a batch of the coronavirus vaccine... Read More »
Rep. John Katko (R-NY) led this week a group of House colleagues in encouraging the social media platform TikTok to address cartel activity amid an escalating crisis on the southwest border.
“We are deeply troubled by media reports that cartels are brazenly recruiting people to conduct... Read More »
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced Monday that the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine is now authorized for emergency use among adolescents ages 12 through 15.
While children have seemingly been less susceptible to COVID-19 at large, they can still be carriers, and plenty have... Read More »
America’s historically underfunded public health system played a major role in the nation’s laggard COVID-19 response, according to a new report released by the Trust for America’s Health (TFAH).
And while it’s too soon to calculate with precision, it is likely that the United States... Read More »
Immigration and Customs Enforcement's (ICE) officials said a California man has been arrested on federal charges, alleging he fraudulently obtained approximately $5 million in Payment Protection Program (PPP) loans.
Authorities noted Mustafa Qadiri, 38, of Irvine, was named in a returned federal... Read More »
U.S. Reps. Joe Wilson (R-SC) and Andy Kim (D-NJ) introduced legislation last week to strengthen the nation’s cybersecurity by enabling governors to decide how the National Guard responds to cybersecurity threats.
The National Guard Cybersecurity Support Act would enhance states' readiness and... Read More »
The World Health Organization (WHO) added the Sinopharm COVID-19 vaccine produced by Beijing Bio-Institute of Biological Products Co Ltd. to the list of vaccines approved for emergency use worldwide last week, giving a potential new source and new boost for efforts by the COVAX... Read More »
A new report by the General Accountability Office (GAO) found that most of the U.S. nuclear triad is nearing or past their planned end-of-life dates and that the Departments of Defense and Energy must plan their replacements carefully.
The report found that most of the nuclear triad, three... Read More »
The Bipartisan Wildfire Caucus is encouraging Congress to fund Interior and Environment Appropriations Bill programming supporting nationwide enhanced wildfire preparedness, mitigation, and response.
U.S. Reps. John Curtis (R-UT) and Joe Neguse (D-CO) are leading Caucus members in urging the... Read More »
A group of lawmakers recently requested that the Biden administration keep regulatory controls in place over three-dimensional (3-D) printable firearms and prevent online sales.
U.S. Rep. Grace Meng (D-NY) and Sen. Edward J. Markey (D-MA) spearheaded the correspondence effort, which stems from a... Read More »
