Security

October 16, 2009 -- WASHINGTON, D.C. - Congresswoman Loretta Sanchez (CA-47) today participated in a special cybersecurity industry roundtable discussion entitled "Cybersecurity: State of Play and Recommendations for Moving Forward." Industry officials and policy makers from both the private and public sectors were invited to assess the current state of cyberspace security and discuss the future of cybersecurity policy.

Rep. Sanchez, who was invited to address the twenty-person panel of experts, delivered the following statement as prepared:

"Good morning! Thank you all for having me here at this critical event to discuss the way forward on cyber security issues.    » read more »

October 16, 2009, WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Rep. Bart Gordon’s bill to ban imports of nuclear waste got a boost today when an official from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission confirmed the agency currently lacks the power and authority to stop imports and disposal of foreign-generated radioactive waste in the United States.    » read more »

Failed Riverdale Bomb Plot Contributes To Added Funding in the Homeland Security Appropriations

10/15/09 -- Washington, D.C.-- Congressman Eliot Engel voted today to approve the FY 2010 Homeland Security Appropriations bill, which included $19 million in federal funds to help protect civil, religious and community institutions from terrorist attacks. The funding will be part of the Urban Area Security Initiative (UASI) Non-Profit program.    » read more »

October 15, 2009 - WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Congressman John P. Murtha, Chairman of the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Defense, announced today that the U.S. House of Representatives has passed a $42.8 billion fiscal year 2010 Homeland Security Appropriations Bill that includes funding for the Westmoreland County Alternate Emergency Operations Center (EOC).

The House and Senate conferenced this bill, which must now be passed by the full Senate before heading to the President for his signature. The House passed the bill 307-114.    » read more »

House Passes the Homeland Security Appropriations Act

October 15, 2009 -- Washington, DC – Today, U.S. Rep. John Hall (D-Dover) helped the House pass crucial investments in priority homeland security programs. The Homeland Security Appropriations Act (H.R. 2892), which passed the House of Representatives today with broad bipartisan support, increases federal funding for securing America's borders, ports and airports.    » read more »

House approves $42.7 billion for Homeland Security, including provisions inserted by Giffords

October 15, 2009 -- WASHINGTON – A provision by U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords to improve and extend operation of an employee verification system was part of a $42.7 billion national security appropriation bill approved today by the House of Representatives.

“Employers must be held responsible if they knowingly hire illegal immigrants,” Giffords said. “But employers must also be able to rely on the federal government to provide a reliable system for determining a potential employee’s legal status.”    » read more »

WASHINGTON, DC -- Congressman Bobby Bright supported the Conference Report on the Homeland Security Appropriations Act today. H.R. 2892 funds the Department of Homeland Security for fiscal year 2010, which includes the Border Patrol, FEMA, air and port security agencies, and grants for first responders. The bipartisan bill passed by a bi-partisan 307-114 margin. Upon Senate passage, the bill goes to the President to be signed into law.    » read more »

October 14, 2009 -- Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Janet Napolitano today announced $88 million in American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) funding for Non-Intrusive Inspection (NII) equipment—enhancing border security by expanding U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) capabilities to scan commercial traffic for contraband through X-ray and other imaging technologies.

"These cutting-edge technologies will help us better detect threats at our nation's borders while expediting legitimate travel and trade," said Secretary Napolitano. "The Recovery Act has infused critical resources into local economies across the country while strengthening our nation's security."    » read more »

Call for Stricter Guidelines

14 October 2009 -- In October 2006, the military affairs journal Jane's Intelligence Weekly reported that U.S. Army officials detected a “sudden decline” in the effectiveness of some its spy satellites throughout the fall as they passed over China.

Before receiving an explanation from the Chinese military, initial fears were that the country had intentionally aimed ground-based lasers at the U.S. satellites to temporally disrupt their ability to collect information, or worse, materially damage them.

Was this a hostile attempt by the Chinese to test its laser anti-satellite (ASAT) weapons, obstructing U.S. military reconnaissance missions in Low Earth Orbit?    » read more »

10/14/2009 -- WASHINGTON, D.C.– Today at a joint press availability, Senate Foreign Relations Chairman John Kerry, House Foreign Relations Chairman Howard L. Berman and Pakistani Foreign Minister Qureshi announced the release of a joint explanatory statement to accompany Senate Bill 1707, the Enhanced Partnership with Pakistan Act of 2009.

Chairman Kerry made the following remarks at today’s press availability:    » read more »

PITTSBURGH, PA and CHALFONT ST. GILES, UK, 12 October, 2009 -- In an effort to bolster U.S. biosecurity, the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (UPMC) and GE Healthcare, a unit of General Electric Company (NYSE: GE), today announced a collaboration aimed at the construction of an advanced development and production facility for the manufacture of vaccines and therapeutics to counter a range of biological threats.    » read more »

Major Boost For High Threat Areas, Transit, And Ports; House and Senate Set to Approve DHS Funding Bill Next Weeks

October 9, 2009 -- (New York, NY) – In light of Najibullah Zazi’s efforts to stage a terrorist attack against New York City's mass transit system, U.S. Representative Joseph Crowley and U.S. Senator Charles E. Schumer announced today that New York City is in line to receive millions in additional security funding to protect our city against terrorist attacks.    » read more »

October 8, 2009 -- Because it will be difficult to prevent cyber attacks on critical civilian and military computer networks by threatening to punish attackers, the United States must focus its efforts on defending these networks from cyber attack, according to a new RAND Corporation study.

The study finds that the United States and other nations that rely on externally accessible computer networks—such as ones used for electric power, telephone service, banking, and military command and control—as a foundation for their military and economic power are subject to cyber attack.    » read more »

Vancouver, British Columbia - 10/08/2009 - Major shifts in fisheries distribution due to climate change will affect food security in tropical regions most adversely, according to a study led by the Sea Around Us Project at The University of British Columbia.

In the first major study to examine the effects of climate change on ocean fisheries, a team of researchers from UBC and Princeton University finds that climate change will produce major shifts in productivity of the world’s fisheries, affecting ocean food supply throughout the world. The study is published today in the journal Global Change Biology.    » read more »

October 7, 2009 -- Washington, D.C. - House and Senate negotiators today reached agreement on the Fiscal Year 2010 Homeland Security Appropriations bill, paving the way for its final approval and delivery to the President for his signature. As the Chairman of the House Homeland Security Appropriations Subcommittee, Congressman David Price (D-NC) was responsible for drafting and shepherding the bill through the House of Representatives and was one of the lead negotiators at today’s conference committee.

Today’s agreement resolved the remaining differences between the versions of the bill passed in the House and Senate.    » read more »