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House subcommittee approves $334 million funding bump for CISA

The House Homeland Security appropriations subcommittee on Thursday approved a budget of $2.9 billion for the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), $417 million higher than the White House’s original budget request for the agency and $334 million above its fiscal year 2022 allotment.

“Among the biggest threats to our national security is the threat of cyber-attacks and intrusions,” said Chair Rosa DeLauro (D-Conn.) in her opening statement. 

“As our world moves increasingly online and threats to our democracy grow, this bill responds by protecting our critical cyber infrastructure and communications systems with dramatically increased funding,” she added. 

The funding will be allocated into various categories including cybersecurity, infrastructure security, emergency communications and risk management, among others. 

Over the last few years, CISA has seen an increase in funding each year as the government has expanded its investment in cybersecurity across various sectors. 

For instance, the Department of Energy announced in April that it would invest $12 million in cybersecurity innovations intended to protect critical infrastructure, including the energy sector.

The investment would fund six university-led projects that will focus on the research, development and demonstrations of new cyber technology.

The agency also concurrently introduced a legislation that would create a grant within the Department of Energy that would fund graduate students and postdoctoral researchers studying cybersecurity and energy infrastructure. 

The war in Ukraine has also expedited investments in cybersecurity as the U.S. and other Western countries have warned against Russian cyberattacks.

Source: TEST FEED1

Biden nominates Derek Chauvin prosecutor as federal judge

President Biden nominated one of the attorneys who prosecuted former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin for the murder of George Floyd as a federal judge on Wednesday.

Biden nominated Jerry Blackwell to the U.S. District Court for the District of Minnesota. The White House did not mention Blackwell’s role in the Chauvin case in the announcement of the nomination.

Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison (D) appointed Blackwell to serve as a special assistant attorney general during the trial, which resulted in Chauvin’s conviction for second-degree murder, third-degree murder and manslaughter.

Chauvin is currently serving a 22 ½ year prison sentence. He appealed the conviction in April.

Blackwell spoke during the prosecution’s opening and closing statements during Chauvin’s trial, arguing that the former officer “betrayed” his badge.

During the prosecution’s final closing statement, Blackwell contested the argument that Floyd died due to an enlarged heart.

“You were told, for example, Mr. Floyd died because his heart was too big,” Blackwell told the jury. “You heard that testimony. And now having seen all the evidence and having heard all the evidence, you know the truth. And the truth of the matter is, that the reason George Floyd is dead, is because Mr. Chauvin’s heart was too small.”

Blackwell is a founding partner of law firm Blackwell Burke. He received law and bachelor’s degrees from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Sens. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) and Tina Smith (D-Minn.) applauded Blackwell’s nomination in a joint statement, saying he was unanimously supported by a judicial selection committee they convened to make recommendations.

“With more than three decades of legal experience, Jerry Blackwell is exceptionally well-qualified to be a U.S. District Court Judge,” said Smith. “I am confident that his experience and commitment to equal justice will make him an excellent federal judge.”

Klobuchar echoed similar sentiments.

“His extensive trial experience – including the successful prosecution of the murder of George Floyd – makes him an excellent choice to be a U.S. District Court Judge,” said Klobuchar. “As a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, I look forward to working with my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to confirm him.”

Source: TEST FEED1

Congress can help fight the opioid crisis by passing upcoming mental health package

The opioid crisis has ravaged every corner of our country, and it has only worsened over time. Each of us has been touched by this tragic epidemic, whether it was the death of a family member or friend, a neighbor in our community, or a fellow classmate of our children. There are far too many funerals caused by this preventable public health threat. 

Every year, we think we’ve reached a new high of drug overdose deaths in the United States only to see an increase again the following year. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, over 107,000 Americans lost their lives due to a drug overdose during 2021 — a 15 percent increase from the previous year and a 123 percent increase from January of 2015. 

What is especially troubling is the increase of synthetic opioids, like fentanyl in those deaths:  nearly two-thirds of overdose deaths — over 70,000 — were linked to fentanyl. Our home states of Arkansas and Michigan saw an increase of 20.23 percent and 9.31 percent, respectively, in drug overdoses. These statistics are frightening, and it is our duty as members of Congress to work in a bipartisan manner on solutions to combat the opioid crisis head on and put the number of deaths on a downward trend.

Combating the opioid crisis requires a multi-pronged approach at all levels of government. One approach that states, including Arkansas, have successfully undertaken is requiring the co-prescribing of an opioid overdose reversal drug when an opioid is prescribed. Seeing progress at the state level inspired us to bring that practice to the national level by introducing the bipartisan Preventing Overdoses and Saving Lives Act 2.0. Our bill re-authorizes two Public Health Service Act grant programs to combat the opioid crisis and encourages co-prescribing of opioid overdose reversal drugs and increases access to opioid overdose reversal drugs.

According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse, “Some research suggests that when clinicians prescribe naloxone along with prescription opioids, the risk of an opioid overdose decreases even if the naloxone prescription does not get filled. The naloxone prescription appears to serve as an important educational strategy.” To date, 12 states, including Arkansas, have enacted successful co-prescribing laws, and with our bill, we hope to bring the success we’ve seen at the state level to the national level. 

The two grant programs re-authorized in the Preventing Overdoses and Saving Lives Act 2.0 will play a vital role in helping stem the tide of opioid overdoses by providing funding to states and localities to establish programs to prescribe opioid overdose reversal drugs, train and provide resources for health care providers and pharmacists on the prescribing of opioid reversal drugs, offset co-payments and other cost sharing associated with opioid overdose reversal drugs, and establish protocols that connect patients who have overdosed with appropriate treatment.

Our bipartisan bill was recently included as part of a broader mental health package, the Restoring Hope and Mental Health and Well-Being Act, which passed out of the House Committee on Energy and Commerce in May. That package is now one step closer to receiving consideration on the floor of the U.S. House of Representatives. We urge our colleagues to prioritize this bipartisan bill that not only empowers states and localities to combat the opioid crisis in a holistic way, but also promotes vital access to behavioral health care services.

Too many families have been devastated because of a drug overdose. The more than 107,000 Americans who died last year are more than just a statistic. They were mothers and fathers, children, grandparents, friends, neighbors, and loved ones. While our bill is an arrow in the quiver of multiple proposals put forth, it’s important for Congress to come together and act quickly on behalf of all Americans. The time to act and save lives is now.

Hill represents the 2nd District of Arkansas. Dingell represents the 12th District of Michigan and is a member of the Energy and Commerce Committee.

Source: TEST FEED1

Eastman sought pardon after Jan. 6 attack

John Eastman, the lawyer advising former President Trump on a plan to overturn the 2020 election, sought a pardon in the days after last year’s attack on the Capitol, the House Jan. 6 committee revealed on Thursday.

“I’ve decided I should be on the pardon list, if that is still in the works,” Eastman said in an email to Rudy Giuliani that was quoted during the select committee’s third public hearing on Thursday.

Trump’s legal adviser received much of the panel’s spotlight during the hearing, which included testimony from White House officials and aides to former Vice President Mike Pence.

Eastman sought to provide the legal justification for pressuring Pence into obstructing Congress’s certification of the 2020 results despite privately acknowledging that such a plan would be rejected by the courts.

Eric Herschmann, a Trump White House lawyer, said in recorded testimony shown Thursday that Eastman called him the day after the Capitol attack to talk about some sort of legal issue related to an election challenge in Georgia.

Herschmann said he told Eastman, “I only want to hear two words coming out of your mouth from now on: orderly transition.”

“Now I’m going to give you the best free legal advice you’re ever getting in your life: Get a great f’ing criminal defense lawyer. You’re going to need it.”

According to the select committee, Eastman sent the pardon request to Giuliani just days later.

A lawyer representing Eastman did not immediately respond when asked for comment.

A federal judge has ordered Eastman to hand over troves of documents to the select committee after the lawyer sued to challenge a congressional subpoena.

The judge, David O. Carter, sided with the committee in March, ruling that Eastman and Trump likely engaged in a criminal effort to overturn the election – a finding that helped undermine the lawyer’s claim of attorney-client privilege.

“The illegality of the plan was obvious,” Carter wrote at the time. “Our nation was founded on the peaceful transition of power, epitomized by George Washington laying down his sword to make way for democratic elections. Ignoring this history, President Trump vigorously campaigned for the Vice President to single-handedly determine the results of the 2020 election.”

Source: TEST FEED1

DeSantis: no state resources for giving COVID shots to kids under 5

Florida will not dedicate any state resources to vaccinating young children against COVID-19, Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) said Thursday.

Responding to a question following a press conference about an annual python hunt in the Everglades, DeSantis said infants and toddlers “are at practically zero risk of anything with COVID,” so the state will recommend against getting those kids vaccinated.

“There is not going to be any state programs that are going to be trying to get COVID jabs to infants and toddlers, and newborns,” DeSantis said to applause from the crowd on hand. “That’s not something that we think is appropriate and so that’s not where we are going to be utilizing our resources.”

DeSantis said the trial data on the vaccines is “abysmal” and suggested they have not been through enough testing to ensure they are safe for use in kids.

“Our Department of Health has been very clear, the risk outweighs the benefits and we recommend against it. That’s not the same as banning it. People can access it if they want to,” DeSantis said.

But DeSantis also said parents don’t have any reason to worry about their kids getting infected with COVID-19, and blamed “media hysteria” for any alarm.

At least 442 children under 5 have died due to COVID-19 through the end of May, exceeding the number or deaths typically seen from flu or other vaccine-preventable illnesses, Peter Marks, the FDA’s top vaccine regulator, said Wednesday.

The governor’s comments come a day after the state confirmed it will not be pre-ordering any vaccines to allow providers to start administering shots for the youngest kids once regulators give the green light, which is expected this weekend. 

The move ratchets up tensions between the Republican governor with presidential aspirations and the White House. DeSantis and the Biden administration have clashed repeatedly about the governor’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

“By being the only state not-pre-ordering, pediatricians for example in Florida will not have immediate-ready access to vaccines,” White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said during Thursday’s daily briefing. “Some pharmacies and community health centers in the state get access through federal distribution channels, but those options are limited for parents.”

The White House initially made 10 million vaccines for young children available for states, tribes and other jurisdictions to pre-order in anticipation of authorization.

The state Department of Health pushed back on that claim, telling The Hill in a statement there will be no delay in providers getting doses should they want any. 

“The only difference is that the Florida Department of Health is not going to be the federal government’s storage and distribution facility,” the Department said. 

Florida in March became the first state to recommend against vaccinating healthy kids and teenagers ages 5 to 17. The state issued guidance saying those kids “may not benefit from receiving the currently available COVID-19 vaccine,” and that parents who have children with underlying conditions should discuss the risks and benefits with their doctor.

The Department of Health is led by Surgeon General Joe Ladapo, a DeSantis appointee who has openly questioned the safety and benefit of the COVID-19 vaccines.

Source: TEST FEED1

Average acreage burned in wildfires doubled since 1991

The average acreage burned by wildfires more than doubled between 1991 and 2021, according to a report published Thursday by the Congressional Budget Office (CBO). 

During the period covered by the report, the number of annual wildfires is down slightly but the acreage burned has soared.

Between 1991 and 2021, the total number fell from some 76,000 to about 59,000. However, about 7 million acres burned in 2021, compared to 3 million acres in 1991. The 2021 acreage was still lower than the previous year, which saw about 10 million acres burned. 

The report also found that between 2016 and 2020, federal spending on wildfire suppression came to $2.5 billion in 2020 dollars. 

During the 30-year period covered by the report, the majority of acreage burned was federal land for all but five years, between 50 and 70 percent in most cases, although more individual fires were on non-federal lands. Fires on federal lands are typically bigger than those on privately-owned land or land owned by state or local governments.  

The CBO attributed much of this disparity to the fact that fires on public lands are often in remote, sparsely-populated areas that are considered less of a priority to extinguish.

Of the 495,000 fires on federal lands between 1991 and 2021, the average size was 225 acres, compared to an average of 45 acres for the 1.8 million fires on other lands during the same period. Both categories of fire grew in size on average during those three decades, with those on federal lands nearly quadrupling in acreage, compared to a smaller growth of about two times for other lands. 

The majority of fires bigger than 40,000 acres were in the western U.S., according to the CBO. Since 2010, the acreage burned has been smaller for plains and Mountain West states than for those along the West Coast.

Meanwhile, while southern states are less likely to see bigger fires, those fires in southern states that exceeded 40,000 acres burned more than Pacific and Mountain West states combined in 2011. The CBO attributed this phenomenon to an unusually dry spring in the South that year, as well as a number of large fires in South Texas.  

Increasing temperatures have been a major factor in the overall upward trend, according to the CBO. Since 1990, temperatures have topped the historical average across the continent nearly every year, and the area west of the Rocky Mountains has seen atypically dry conditions for much of the year for most of the last two years. 

Source: TEST FEED1

DOJ: Jan. 6 committee's refusal to share transcripts 'complicates' investigation

Justice Department officials this week renewed their demands for the House Jan. 6 committee’s interview transcripts, saying the panel’s refusal to share its work has hindered federal prosecutors’ own investigation into last year’s attack on the Capitol.

Department leaders sent a letter on Wednesday to Timothy Heaphy, the Jan. 6 select committee’s chief investigative counsel, expressing frustration over the panel’s refusal to grant access to its trove of witness interviews, according to documents filed in federal court Thursday. 

“The Select Committee’s failure to grant the Department access to these transcripts complicates the Department’s ability to investigate and prosecute those who engaged in criminal conduct in relation to the January 6 attack on the Capitol,” the letter reads. “Accordingly, we renew our request that the Select Committee provide us with copies of the transcripts of all the interviews it has conducted to date.”

The letter was signed by Kenneth Polite, the head of the DOJ’s Criminal Division; Matthew Olsen, who leads the department’s National Security Division; and U.S. Attorney Matthew Graves.

A select committee spokesman did not immediately respond when asked for comment.

The letter indicates a growing tension between the parallel investigations amid the select committee’s series of public hearings.

Federal prosecutors on Thursday agreed to delay the trial of a group of Proud Boys leaders charged with seditious conspiracy over the Jan. 6 attack. The defendants had asked to push back the August trial date due to the media attention generated by the congressional hearings and the fact that the committee has yet to release transcripts that could be relevant to the case.

DOJ lawyers said in a court filing on Thursday that they agreed with the defendants’ assessment, attaching their letter as an exhibit to the filing.

“The timing of the anticipated release will prejudice the ability of all parties to prepare for trial because the parties are currently unable to account for the content of those transcripts with respect to their respective cases,” prosecutors wrote in the filing.

Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.), the select committee’s chairman, said last month the panel is unwilling to give the executive branch complete access to its work product.

“If they want to come in and say we want to look at something, that’s fine. But my understanding is they want to have access to our work product. And we told them no, we’re not giving that to anybody,” Thompson said.

“I mean, the reality is, we are conducting our own investigation. And obviously if they want to come and talk they’re perfectly welcome to come and talk and we have talked to them on other situations, but we can’t give them full access to our product. That would be premature at this point, because we haven’t completed our work.”

Source: TEST FEED1

The nature of war is not changing in Ukraine

During his commencement speech at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Mark Milley was blunt about the future of warfare. In addition to describing an increasingly unstable world, he reminded the graduating class that “the nature of war is not going to change — it’s immutable.” Since Russia’s February incursion, the world has watched in awe as the Ukrainian Army pushed back its invaders with western-furnished anti-tank missiles, Starlink satellite support and Turkish drones. To some, this remarkable feat suggests that the nature of war is somehow changing, but the opposite is likely true.  

In its simplest form, the nature of war involves the use of politically sanctioned violence to generate policy concessions from a human opponent. The means employed to drive these concessions represent the changing character of warfare, but tanks and algorithms do not concede anything, the leaders employing them do. Military thinkers from Thucydides to Carl von Clausewitz have therefore characterized war as a fundamentally human endeavor driven by emotion, necessity and innovation. The world needs to be reminded of this truism occasionally because it is not accepted wisdom, especially in an age when exquisite technologies paint fanciful visions of tomorrow’s battlefields. But the battlefields of today tell a different story. 

At a Pentagon press briefing in late May, when asked what type of security assistance had been most effective in Ukraine, Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin responded: “Long range missiles, tanks…and some [drones]…the fight is really shaped by artillery in this phase.” His comments echo those of an adviser to Ukraine’s senior defense official Gen. Valery Zaluzhnyi, who explained that drones and Javelin missiles were useful, but it was artillery that broke Russia’s advances. 

The Russo-Ukrainian war is not a signpost of military revolution. It is an example of a smaller but capable power benefitting from sound leadership and unprecedented materiel support. The most recent aid package approved by Congress had a price tag of $40 billion — more than a quarter of Ukraine’s GDP before the war began. After Russia’s invasion, the U.S. Army spearheaded a coalition planning cell that combined the efforts of 20 countries in support of Ukraine’s defense. When paired with aid from all supporting nations, including Harpoon anti-ship missiles from Denmark, security assistance to Ukraine could soon equal or exceed its GDP. This aid, however, would be useless if not employed properly.  

Ukrainian defenders are applying principles of intelligence and combined arms warfare that have worked for generations while their opponent ignores them. The problem for the Russian army is not that it failed to keep pace with the future, but rather that it lost sight of the past. There is no shortage of innovation on display in the form of loitering munitions and the skillful exploitation of open-source intelligence. But innovation is part of war’s nature. From blown bridges that leave armored vehicles exposed on main roads to small kill teams patrolling the forest, battlefield conditions in Ukraine are remarkably similar to those of the previous century. Take the destruction of an entire Russian battalion at a river crossing in Donbas as an example.  

First-hand accounts attributed the early May operation’s success to superior human reconnaissance, predictive intelligence and accurate artillery strikes enabled by rather simple drone feeds. At its core, the artillery technology employed by the Ukrainian army has existed for more than a century — that is, beyond line-of-sight precision indirect fire systems. Only recently did Ukraine receive the more sophisticated American M777 Howitzers and French self-propelled Caesar cannons. Still, none of this is particularly revolutionary.  

In 1970, author Alvin Toffler predicted that the 21st century would experience a sort of “future shock” as civilizations were exposed to new technologies too rapidly. Russia’s war on Ukraine has had the opposite effect, resulting in something akin to past shock as the modern European landscape is reacquainted with old horrors. As geopolitical analyst Peter Zeihan stated recently during a presentation at Fort Benning, Georgia, “there’s nothing that says progress is one way.” This distinction between war’s nature and character is an important consideration for policymakers.  

Confusing the two can result in flawed assumptions related to deterrence and conflict termination, giving public officials an inflated sense of control over war’s conditions. Despite the incessant coverage of military hardware in Ukraine, nothing has captured the world’s attention like Russia’s atrocities, and for good reason. These potential war crimes unite NATO, but they also generate political pressure on western officials to offer Moscow “off ramps” that might put an end to the suffering.

Henry Kissinger’s suggestion that Ukraine concede land to Russia is one example. Rather than producing favorable outcomes, it is more likely that such painful concessions would only spread the “germs of another war,” as British officer Sir B. H. Liddell Hart wrote in 1954. Hart referred to this fallacy as mistaking the military aim for the national object — in other words, mistaking war’s character for its nature. The Kremlin has sacrificed too much to be content with a meager détente negotiated in the interest of the very enemy it uses to justify its invasion.  

Even with all the modern weapons money can buy, abstract changes to war’s character are not destroying Russian battalions. Properly trained and equipped Ukrainians willing to die defending their country are doing that. This is true in Ukraine now and it will be true for the United States in any potential future war. Congress would do well to keep this in mind as it establishes priorities for the next National Defense Authorization Act amid competing innovation demands and the lowest propensity for military service on record.  

The war in Ukraine will have far reaching implications for everything from global energy diversification to supply chain management. But no matter how badly some onlookers want to frame the conflict as a crystal ball into a futuristic battlefield, the mass graves in Bucha and Mariupol pull us back to reality. There may come a time when advanced technologies alter the brutal realities of armed conflict, but that time is not now. War’s terrible nature is not changing in Ukraine — it is being confirmed there. 

Capt. Michael P. Ferguson is an officer in the U.S. Army with decades of operational experience throughout Iraq, Afghanistan, Europe and Africa. He is co-author of a forthcoming book on the military legacy of Alexander the Great (Routledge, 2023).  

The views expressed are those of the author and do not reflect the policies or positions of the U.S. Army, the U.S. Department of Defense or the U.S. government. 

Source: TEST FEED1

Scientists struggling to find common bee species in California 

Scientists in California have had a hard time tracking down several native species of bumble bees, a sign that the insects’ population might be struggling in the state.   

Researchers from the University of California, Riverside noticed the species were missing as they worked to craft a statewide census of the pollinators, something that has not been done in 40 years.   

To update the data, a team of UCR researchers led by entomologist Hollis Woodard collected bees from 17 locations representing six different ecosystems known to host a variety of bumble bee species.  

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But at four of the sites in Southern California, researchers were not able to locate and collect more than 10 bees during the visits. Researchers were able to collect a total of 17 bumble bee species which represents only 68 percent of the types of bumble bees previously known to live in the state.  

“Although we found that relative to other sites the mountains are home to the most diverse bumble bee populations, even at those sites we also failed to find some species that used to be there,” Woodard said in a statement.  

Woodard’s team had a tough time finding what was previously one of the most common bumble bee species in California, the western bumble bee.  

“We didn’t find it even once,” Woodard said. “If it was okay, we should have seen it,” Woodard added.  

The western bumble bee is one of four bee species that is now included under the state’s endangered species list after California’s Third Appellate District Court of Appeal issued a strange ruling last month that bees could be protected since they meet the legal definition of fish.  

None of the four species of bumble bee were found by Woodard’s team during their census work.  

Woodard and her team’s findings were published in the scientific journal Ecology and Evolution.  

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