U.S. Policy
Under an agreement reached with global biopharmaceutical companies Sanofi and GSK, the U.S. government will pay as much as $2.1 billion for development and delivery of 100 million doses of a vaccine to combat COVID-19.
It’s the largest agreement yet negotiated by Operation Warp Speed and it... Read More »
The U.S. House Foreign Affairs Committee approved a bill this week that would authorize U.S. participation in the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI), a public-private partnership developing vaccines for coronavirus and other infectious pathogens.
The legislation, the Securing... Read More »
A trio of lawmakers have introduced a measure reversing the Trump administration’s directive regarding hospitals withholding coronavirus pandemic data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
Sens. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA), Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) and Jack Reed (D-RI) said... Read More »
As COVID-19 caused deaths in the United States have crossed 150,000, the Center for Health Security has released a report noting policy actions and data reporting needed at all levels of government to effectively turn the tide against the pandemic.
“Unlike many countries in the world, the... Read More »
The Air Force has awarded a contract worth up to a combined $240 million to Airborne Tactical Advantage Company (ATAC) for adversary air live training.
Air Force officials said the award to ATAC, part of the Textron Systems segment of Textron Inc., is via the Combat Air Forces (CAF) Contracted... Read More »
A pair of lawmakers recently released a requested Government Accountability Office (GAO) analysis regarding potential national security threats resulting from climate change impacts.
Sens. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) and Jack Reed (D-RI) sought to examine climate change impact on defense contractors... Read More »
The Department of Energy (DOE), U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), and Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) are working together to share health data as well as research and expertise to aid in the fight against COVID-19.
The initiative between these three government agencies is... Read More »
The Curtiss-Wright Corp. has secured a U.S. Navy contract in excess of $220 million to support a series of naval defense platforms.
The initiative includes providing propulsion valves, pumps and advanced instrumentation and control systems for the Navy’s Virginia-class nuclear powered attack... Read More »
A proposed COVID-19 appropriations bill released on Monday by U.S. Senate Republicans takes solid steps toward providing urgently needed relief and resources, but it also falls short of necessary responses, according to the Infectious Diseases Society of America (IDSA) and the HIV Medicine... Read More »
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security will lift its ban on the Trusted Traveler Program (TTP) for New York residents.
The ban, in place since February, was lifted after New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo and the state legislature amended the law that prevents sharing of information to federal law... Read More »
A group of lawmakers have introduced a bill that would establish a coronavirus commission to examine the nation’s response to the pandemic.
Sens. Bob Casey (D-PA), Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) and Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) recently joined 13 colleagues in presenting the National Commission on the... Read More »
Scientists from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) published a framework in the New England Journal of Medicine this week for efforts to increase the number, quality and type of daily tests for SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, to 6 million by the end of 2020.
This has taken the... Read More »
The U.S. Senate’s 2021 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) includes legislation that
would help the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) warn the owners and operators of critical infrastructure computer systems that it is vulnerable to cyberattacks.
The bill gives... Read More »
The House of Representatives’ recent unanimous vote to extend the Chemical Facility Anti-Terrorism Standards program (CFATS) has garnered plaudits from lawmakers and chemical industry organizations.
CFATS is the nation’s first regulatory program focusing specifically on security at high-risk... Read More »
A federal grand jury in Spokane, Wash., indicted two hackers from the People’s Republic of China for alleged cyberattacks on hundreds of computer systems of companies, governments, non-governmental organizations, and individuals in the United States and abroad.
Officials alleged the global... Read More »
U.S. Reps. Jim Langevin (D-RI) and Mike Gallagher (R-WI), commissioners of the Cyberspace Solarium, applauded the inclusion of budget amendments to the 2021 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) that implement recommendations from the Solarium Commission’s report.
The Cyberspace Solarium... Read More »
Republican committee leaders in the U.S. House of Representatives are urging the Trump administration to impose consequences on China-linked hackers who have targeted U.S. institutions, including sanctions.
“We applaud your administration’s work to ramp up the investigation and prosecution... Read More »
Sens. Mike Enzi (R-WY) and Maggie Hassan (D-NH) introduced Monday legislation targeting potentially harmful counterfeit medical products while also protecting patients from such dangers.
The Safeguarding Therapeutics Act would empower the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to seize and destroy... Read More »
Several biopharmaceutical companies are working in unprecedented fashion to develop, manufacture and deliver a safe and effective vaccine to combat COVID-19 as soon as is humanly possible.
Executives from five companies developing COVID-19 vaccine candidates — AstraZeneca, Pfizer, Johnson &... Read More »
The United States was just as dangerously unprepared to combat a coronavirus pandemic in 2020 as it was back in 2015, former U.S. Sen. Joe Lieberman noted in the opening remarks of the Bipartisan Commission on Biodefense’s virtual meeting on Tuesday, setting the tone for a critical examination of... Read More »
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) reissued an emergency use authorization (EUA) to Quest Diagnostics for its COVID-19 test.
The Quest test is the first COVID-19 diagnostic test to be authorized for use with pooled samples containing up to four individual swab specimens collected under... Read More »
A group of U.S. Senators recently called on Congress to provide at least $5.6 billion in federal funding to support the COVID-19 vaccine infrastructure.
The funding -- needed to boost the country’s vaccine supply and distribution system -- should be included in the next coronavirus relief... Read More »
Sen. Cory Gardner (R-CO) forwarded correspondence last week to Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) personnel, urging efforts to bolster cybersecurity infrastructure against Russia and China threats.
Gardner maintains the advocacy... Read More »
A group of Florida lawmakers recently forwarded correspondence to the Department of Health and Human Services as a means of increasing the state’s COVID-19 drug allotment.
Reps. Donna Shalala (D-FL) and Charlie Crist (D-FL) joined Sens. Marco Rubio (R-FL) and Rick Scott (R-FL) in leading the... Read More »
With news that appropriations bills aimed at addressing the COVID-19 pandemic had passed out of House committees this week, the Infectious Diseases Society of America (IDSA) examined and declared the bills to provide critical resources, albeit with significant gaps and inadequate funding.
This... Read More »
A trio of lawmakers have introduced a bill they said requires the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) to conduct a trial program to check passenger temperatures before advancing through airport security.
Reps. Ralph Norman (R-SC), Ted Budd (R-NC) and John Larson (D-CT) said the TSA... Read More »
Looking to inform decision making during a pandemic, COVID-Local has created a policy mapping tool and database for communities, giving them a way to measure the effects of their COVID-19-related actions against specific policies.
COVID Analysis and Mapping of Policies is meant to identify... Read More »
The Infectious Diseases Society of America (IDSA), along with other infectious disease associations, are opposed to the Trump Administration’s decision to withdraw the United States from the World Health Organization (WHO).
The decision will weaken the nation’s ability to control the... Read More »
Rep. Dan Kildee (D-MI) has introduced a measure that ensures military firefighters exposed to toxic per and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) chemicals receive Department of Veterans’ Affairs (VA) healthcare.
Currently, military firefighters exposed to firefighting foam containing PFAS are not... Read More »
The U.S. House Energy and Commerce Committee approved legislation on Wednesday to strengthen public health security by bolstering the Strategic National Stockpile (SNS) and boosting the domestic manufacturing of medical supplies to fight the COVID-19 pandemic.
The bipartisan Strengthening... Read More »
U.S. Sen. Steve Daines (R-MT) is requesting more funding for potential COVID-19 vaccines in any new coronavirus relief package.
“As you continue your work on critical legislation to respond to the COVID-19 crisis, I write to you today to urge your support for robust funding that will help... Read More »
U.S. Rep. Sean Casten (D-IL) introduced legislation designed to reduce emissions and increase use of clean energy sources for the Department of Defense (DoD).
The National Security Resiliency and Sustainability Act (H.R. 7417) would enact Obama-era standards, which were revoked in 2018. The DoD... Read More »
A New York lawmaker has introduced a trio of measures he said are designed to enhance national cybersecurity while bolstering stability in leadership positions, funding, and resources.
Rep. John Katko (R-NY) said the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency Director and Assistant... Read More »
While an effective COVID-19 vaccine is still being pursued, Senate Democrats released a white paper this week full of proposals to guarantee such vaccines would be provided safely, efficiently and free, while ensuring a distribution wide enough to counter the pandemic.
In all, the paper --... Read More »
U.S. Rep. Abigail Spanberger (D-VA) is sponsoring a bill that would establish limits on the 2001 Authorization for Use of Military Force (AUMF).
The 2001 AUMF — which passed in response to the September 11th terrorist attacks — has been used by presidential administrations to deploy American... Read More »
