Threats
Energy sector physical and cyber security projects focus of $70M federal funding opportunity
The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE)’s Office of Cybersecurity, Energy Security and Emergency Response (CESER) last week announced up to $70 million would be made available for projects working to improve the energy sector’s security. The security improvements, addressing both physical and... Read More »
Colorado delegation urges FEMA to increase support for those assisting migrant arrivals
With more than 32,000 migrant arrivals in the city of Denver alone as of December 2023, federal Democratic lawmakers from Colorado have called on the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to increase support for cities and nonprofits assisting those migrants. In a letter, the lawmakers –... Read More »
Massachusetts delegation urges President Biden to remove Cuba from terrorism sponsor list
In a letter to President Joe Biden at the beginning of this year, senators and representatives from Massachusetts called on President Joe Biden to strike Cuba from the State Sponsor of Terrorism List, in a rebuke of Trump-era decisions. While President Barack Obama removed Cuba from that list... Read More »
DoD opens Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification program to feedback
The U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) this week published a proposed rule for the Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification (CMMC) program, designed to keep defense contractors compliant with information protection requirements and the protection of sensitive data. Applicable to both contractors... Read More »
BARDA awards $117M contract for clinical trial of three ARDS novel therapeutics
A $117 million contract for the simultaneous evaluation of three novel therapeutics to treat hospitalized adult patients with acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) went to PPD Development, LP, care of the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA) last week. BARDA, as... Read More »
FEMA announces second, $150M funding opportunity for natural hazards-focused capitalization grants
With funding from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law in-hand, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) announced a second funding opportunity for its Safeguarding Tomorrow Revolving Loan Fund (RLF) to provide capitalization grants to disaster-vulnerable communities. Meant to help... Read More »
Senate bill proposes new reporting requirements for attacks on law enforcement
With the introduction of the Improving Law Enforcement Officer Safety and Wellness Through Data Act this week, five senators sought to increase the information that can be supplied about anti-police attacks and explore their impacts on officers’ mental health. According to the group, it would... Read More »
Sen. Peters calls out cumbersome terrorist screening practices, recommends changes for civil liberties
A new report released by U.S. Sen. Gary Peters (D-MI), chairman of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, called out cumbersome traveler screening among federal agencies and insufficient oversight of discrimination. The report was looking into the terrorist watchlist... Read More »
TSA partners with Amtrak, Transport Canada for international exercise on cross-border system threats
In a first for the Transportation Security Administration (TSA), the agency joined an exercise in Canada with Amtrak and Transport Canada last week to address surface and critical infrastructure threats to cross border systems. They held an exercise scenario developed by TSA’s Surface... Read More »
Congress authorizes speedy transfer of seven C-130 aircraft to help California fight wildfires
After significant lobbying by the Newsom administration, Congress last week authorized and hastened the transfer of seven United States Coast Guard-owned C-130 aircraft to CAL FIRE, for California’s use in fighting wildfires. “These are aircraft that can mobilize quickly and attack... Read More »
Treasury Department sanctions Malas Mañas organization over human smuggling, drugs trafficking
In response to a report by Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), the Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) sanctioned the Malas Mañas transnational criminal organization (TCO) over its human smuggling and drug trafficking at the southwest border. The action... Read More »
Sens. Peters, Cornyn introduce bill to keep Countering Weapons of Mass Destruction Office open
With a looming sunset date for the Countering Weapons of Mass Destruction Office (CWMD) at the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), U.S. Sens. Gary Peters (D-MI) and John Cornyn (R-TX) introduced a bill this week to keep the agency open for another two years. At stake, according to Peters, is... Read More »
Justice Department releases reporting, storage models for states to consider for gun safety
The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) this week published two models for states to consider in terms of legislation to address gun violence and improve gun safety. The first model would lock in requirements for securing firearms in residences and vehicles to prevent their acquisition by... Read More »
FEMA awards $22.4M grant to help Philadelphia hire 72 firefighters
Through its SAFER grant program, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) awarded more than $22.4 million this week to the city of Philadelphia, to reopen three city fire stations and staff them with firefighters for three years. As a result, the city will hire and provide benefits to 72... Read More »
New bill would block American genetic data from access by companies tied to foreign adversaries
With the introduction of the Safeguarding American Genetic Data Act of 2023 last week, U.S. Sen. Gary Peters (D-MI) sought to prevent biotechnology companies with ties to foreign adversaries from accessing American genetic data and personal health information. “Every day, Americans get blood... Read More »
BAE Systems, U.S. Department of Commerce research non-binding preliminary agreement for new national security project
The Biden administration, through the U.S. Department of Commerce, reached a non-binding preliminary agreement with BAE Systems Electronic Systems to provide approximately $35 million in federal incentives for its new Microelectronics Center in Nashua, N.H. By the end of the project, the... Read More »
Funding for 9/11 health care included in FY24 National Defense Authorization Act
Among the items that were included in the final version of the fiscal year 2024 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) last week was $676 million in funding for the World Trade Center Health Program (WTCHP), providing millions in coverage support for responders to the 9/11 aftermath. The... Read More »
Republican senators introduce Iran China Accountability Act
U.S. Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN), together with seven Republican colleagues, reintroduced the Iran China Accountability Act this week in a push to weaken Iran’s relationship with communist China and ensure that the United States not move forward with any nuclear agreement without congressional... Read More »
CISA sets physical security performance goals for faith-based organizations
The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), a part of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS), this week released a new set of physical security performance goals for faith-based organizations. Partially in response to the ongoing conflict between Israel and Palestinians,... Read More »
Congress advances TRANQ Research Act in bid to understand, counter synthetic opioids
Opioids have remained a major focus for Congress in recent years, given the scope of their spread across the United States, and this came to a head once more this week with the House’s passage of the TRANQ Research Act (H.R.1734), which now heads to President Joe Biden. If approved, the bill... Read More »
FEMA’s 12th annual National Preparedness Report reveals challenges of rising costs, climate change-related disasters
Climate change is causing increased frequency and severity of disasters across the country, leading to rising costs that represent a collective challenge for all levels of government, according to the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s (FEMA) latest National Preparedness Report. “As the... Read More »
GAO warns some federal agencies fail to meet requirements for cybersecurity incident response
Over the years, federal agencies worked to improve their abilities to detect, analyze and handle cybersecurity incidents, according to the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO), but some have failed to meet requirements surrounding the tracking of incidents. Responses to ransomware... Read More »
U.S. Senate Republicans press Biden administration for details on Iran sanctions waiver
Led by U.S. Sen. Tim Scott (R-SC), a group of 25 Republican senators wrote to secretaries within the Biden administration and pressed them for answers to the lack of a unified strategy on Iran, the country’s long-time adversary in the Middle East. Particularly grating to the lawmakers was the... Read More »
Law enforcement organizations call for FEND Off Fentanyl Act’s inclusion in National Defense Authorization Act
In letters to Congressional leadership last week, groups including the Fraternal Order of Police (FOP), National Association of Police Officers (NAPO), and Federal Law Enforcement Officers Association (FLEOA) called for U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH)’s FEND Off Fentanyl Act (S. 1271) to be... Read More »
Bicameral Federal Cybersecurity Workforce Expansion Act seeks to strengthen U.S. cyber system through training programs
Last week, a new bill introduced in both chambers of Congress – the Federal Cybersecurity Workforce Expansion Act – proposed improving U.S. cyber defenses and its cybersecurity workforce through two new federal training programs. “There is a crippling shortage of cybersecurity workers that... Read More »
Traveler Privacy Protection Act would ban collection of biometric data by TSA
Under legislation recently proposed by a collection of six senators – the Traveler Privacy Protection Act – the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) would be banned from using facial recognition technology and collecting facial biometric data at airports in the United States.... Read More »
Senators push for National Defense Authorization Act to get tough on outbound investment screening
In a letter to the chairman and ranking members of the Senate and House Armed Services Committees, a group of federal lawmakers this week urged strong language be added to the 2024 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) to keep sensitive technologies from American adversaries. “There is... Read More »
DHS S&T awarded patent for HExCAT hazardous modeling system
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Science and Technology Directorate (S&T) earned a U.S. patent this week for its Homeland Explosive Consequence Assessment Tool (HExCAT), which offers a unique modeling system for emergency managers. “With the HExCAT, response planners are now... Read More »
Sen. Brown urges passage of legislation sanctioning wide-reaching illicit fentanyl supply chain
While the Fentanyl Eradication and Narcotics Deterrence (FEND) Off Fentanyl Act has made it into the National Defense bill, U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH) this week publicly pressed for its enactment and called on the Biden administration for more resources to counter illicit drugs. FEND Off... Read More »
U.S., U.K. security agencies release joint guidelines for secure AI development
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) and the U.K. National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) recently released joint guidelines for secure AI system development. These guidelines were targeted at developers of any systems that use... Read More »
U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Legare returns from nearly 10-week deployment securing maritime borders
After 73 days on patrol, the U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Legare returned to Virginia last week, concluding a mission that took it from oil discharge response to interdictions of unlawful migrant vessels. In ranging from the Windward Passage to the South Florida Straits, the vessel covered more than... Read More »
Infectious Diseases Society of America awards excellence designation to 14 institutions
A total of 14 organizations earned the Infectious Diseases Society of America’s (IDSA) Antimicrobial Stewardship Centers of Excellence designation last week, for programs advancing science to better fight antimicrobial resistance. The program emphasized these institutions’ abilities to... Read More »
Sen. Cotton introduces No ICBMS or Drones for Iran Act to hit Iran with new sanctions
Seeking to halt aerial development, U.S. Sen. Tom Cotton (R-AK), echoed by U.S. Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-NY) in the House, introduced the No ICBMS or Drones for Iran Act last week, brandishing the legislative threat of additional sanctions for the long-time American adversary. The bill was... Read More »
House intelligence committee report calls for reauthorization, reform of Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act Section 702
Without action from Congress, Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) will soon expire, and in a report released last week by the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, lawmakers called for its swift reformation and reauthorization. Section 702 authorizes... Read More »