U.S. Policy
Senate lawmakers have approved a measure making the 9/11 Victim Compensation Fund permanent and it will now go to the president’s desk to be signed into law.
Sens. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), Cory Gardner (R-CO), Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer (D-NY) and Reps. Carolyn B. Maloney... Read More »
U.S. Sens. Marco Rubio (R-FL) and Dan Sullivan (R-AK) introduced legislation to reduce the maintenance backlog for the U.S. Coast Guard.
The Coast Guard Shore Infrastructure Improvement Act (S. 2212) would implement recommendations from a recent Government Accountability Office to better manage... Read More »
U.S. and Guatemalan government officials said the nations are making continual progress regarding efforts to craft a regional approach to address irregular migration patterns.
Authorities said there has been collaboration on a series of initiatives designed to reduce the flow of irregular... Read More »
Bipartisan legislation recently introduced in the Senate would better prepare Junior Reserve Officers’ Training Corps (JROTC) students for careers in cybersecurity and computer science.
The JROTC Cyber Training Act directs the Secretary of Defense to create cooperative research opportunities,... Read More »
Legislation that would crack down on addiction-driven human trafficking was introduced this week in the U.S. Senate.
The Protecting Rights of Those Exploited by Coercive Trafficking (PROTECT) Act would seek to prevent the use of drugs to facilitate human trafficking. Human traffickers often... Read More »
Department of Homeland Security (DHS) officials have reissued the National Terrorism Advisory System (NTAS) Bulletin, which maintains a focus on domestic terror threats.
DHS began using the report in 2015 as a means of highlight continuing terror threats in America. Officials noted that the... Read More »
Shelby Pierson has been appointed to serve as the newly established Intelligence Community (IC) Election Threats Executive (ETE).
Director of National Intelligence (DNI) Daniel R. Coats said the ETE is responsible for serving as the DNI’s principal adviser on threats to elections and matters... Read More »
U.S. Rep. Michael McCaul (R-TX) is stepping up calls for more U.S. action to prevent a global Ebola outbreak, following last week’s announcement from the World Health Organization (WHO) designating the Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) as a Public Health Emergency of... Read More »
Two bills recently reintroduced in the Senate are seeking to bolster cybersecurity protections in vehicles and airplanes in the age of the Internet of Things.
The Security and Privacy in Your Car Act would establish a rating system that informs consumers about how well vehicles protect... Read More »
A bill designed to expand the use of unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) and maritime patrol aircraft (MPA) by the U.S. Coast Guard to identify and interdict illicit drugs coming into the country was introduced in the Senate last week.
The Coast Guard has actionable intelligence on over 80 percent... Read More »
The U.S. Senate advanced legislation last week that would make it a federal crime to hack voting systems.
The Defending the Integrity of Voting Systems Act would give the Department of Justice the ability to investigate and prosecute those who seek to manipulate elections systems equipment.... Read More »
Sen. John Hoeven (R-ND) recently met with Secretary of Defense nominee Mark Esper to emphasize the importance of North Dakota’s nuclear and unmanned aerial systems (UAS) missions to national defense.
Hoeven, a member of the Senate Defense Appropriations Committee, also expressed the need to... Read More »
Bipartisan legislation introduced Wednesday would establish an interagency working group tasked with developing accountability metrics to enhance cybersecurity protocols and protecting federally-funded research and development activities from foreign interference, espionage, and exfiltration.... Read More »
A bill that would require the FBI to collect data on suicides and attempted suicides by police officers was introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives this week.
The FBI tracks police and law enforcement personnel deaths in the line of duty, but there is no such effort to track suicides or... Read More »
A legislative amendment introduced by Reps. Abigail Spanberger (D-VA) and Will Hurd (R-TX) has been incorporated into the Intelligence Authorization Act as a means of addressing trafficking and smuggling networks.
The amendment directs the intelligence community to prioritize efforts to combat... Read More »
U.S. Rep. Diana DeGette (D-CO), chairwoman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee’s Oversight and Investigations panel, said Tuesday that there needs to be a national fentanyl-response strategy to combat a rising number of opioid-related deaths.
Fentanyl is an extremely potent synthetic... Read More »
A bill that would prohibit the removal of Chinese telecom company Huawei from the Commerce Department Entity List without an act of Congress was introduced in the U.S. Senate Tuesday.
The Entity List identifies entities reasonably believed to be involved in activities contrary to the national... Read More »
The Department of Defense (DOD) recently released Digital Modernization Strategy, which replaces the 2014 Resources Management Strategic Plan and outlines the department’s implementation of information technologies.
The strategy addresses artificial intelligence, cybersecurity, the cloud, and... Read More »
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Science and Technology Directorate (S&T) is committing $35 million for a new DHS Center of Excellence for Terrorism Prevention and Counterterrorism Research (TPCR).
Colleges and universities in the United States are invited to submit proposals to serve... Read More »
A new amendment advanced by the House last week will require the Inspector General of the Department of Defense (DOD) to investigate claims that the DOD weaponized Lyme disease in ticks and other insects from 1950 to 1975.
The amendment was introduced by U.S. Rep. Chris Smith (R-NJ), who has... Read More »
House and Senate lawmakers have approved a measure restoring grant funding for law enforcement support services, enabling the establishment of suicide-prevention programs and mental health services.
The Supporting and Treating Officers in Crisis Act was co-sponsored by Sen. Martha McSally... Read More »
Rep. Susan W. Brooks (R-IN) recently expressed her support of the Senate’s version of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), citing its ability to prioritize national security and provide military readiness funding increases.
She had previously voted against the House edition NDAA and... Read More »
The U.S. government is planning to invest additional funding in F-35 Lightning II fighter jets, President Donald Trump announced last week during a visit to Derco, a Milwaukee-based aircraft supplier.
"From here in Milwaukee, you are supporting magnificent aircraft, and soon you'll support the... Read More »
House legislators have adopted an amendment prohibiting U.S. sales of nuclear power equipment to Saudi Arabia without safeguards preventing nuclear weapon development.
Officials said the House adopted the language as an amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act, which is expected to... Read More »
Citing the disabling of smuggling and trafficking as a national intelligence priority, Reps. Will Hurd (R-TX) and Abigail Spanberger (D-VA) introduced last week a measure to address the matters along the border.
The Trafficking and Smuggling Intelligence Act of 2019 ensures the intelligence... Read More »
A bill was introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives last week to establish a task force at the Department of Homeland Security to stop the inflow of fentanyl and other opioids into the U.S.
The bill – the Joint Task Force to Combat Opioid Trafficking Act – is sponsored by Reps. Jim... Read More »
An effort similar to the Manhattan Project — in which American-led R&D produced the first nuclear weapons during World War II — is needed now in defense against the growing global threats posed by infectious diseases and bioterrorism, sources said Thursday during a Blue Ribbon Study Panel on... Read More »
The Office of the Inspector General (OIG) maintains a recently completed audit determined the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) lacks contract management policy and guidance.
The OIG said DHS components did not always properly solicit, award, and manage contracts according to federal and... Read More »
Reps. Paul Cook (R-CA) and Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) introduced Wednesday a National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) amendment as a means of aiding military bases sustaining recent earthquake damage.
The amendment includes damages sustained at Edwards Air Force Base, Fort Irwin, and Naval Air... Read More »
The House this week advanced a measure introduced by U.S. Rep. John Ratcliffe (R-TX), following similar successful efforts in the Senate, and raising the potential to prosecute the possession of biological toxins.
The Effective Prosecution of Possession of Biological Toxins and Agents Act of... Read More »
The Supporting and Treating Officers in Crisis (STOIC) Act, which would improve mental health treatment and support for our nation’s law enforcement officers, now heads to the president’s desk for signature.
The bill highlights the need for suicide prevention. Law enforcement officers are... Read More »
U.S. Rep. Jim Langevin (D-RI) criticized the Trump Administration for its refusal to provide Congress with copies of National Security Presidential Memoranda (NSPM) regarding Department of Defense cyberspace operations.
Langevin, the co-chair of the Congressional Cybersecurity Caucus and... Read More »
The Coast Guard released this week a best practices Safety Alert in the wake of what is categorized as a growing cybersecurity threat landscape amid expanded reliance on technology to support vessels.
The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) is encouraging vessel and facility... Read More »
U.S. Rep. Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC) proposed legislation to give the District of Columbia home-rule authority over the D.C. National Guard.
This bill -- filed as an amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act for fiscal year 2020 -- would give the D.C. mayor the same authority that... Read More »
U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) seized 20 tons of cocaine last month at the Port of Philadelphia and seized the vessel July 4.
The U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania issued a seizure warrant for the vessel, MSC Gayane, after an application was filed by the U.S.... Read More »
