Budget

U.S. Border Protection agency to hire 11,000 in 2009
CBP launches National Career Day around the United States to announce CBP’s goal for hiring approximately 11,000 frontline and mission and operations support positions in 2009
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Napolitano issues first action directives
On her first day in office, new DHS secretary issues five action directives centering on protection of critical infrastructure, transportation, and on better intelligence sharing among federal, state, and local levels of government
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States, localities are slow to repair poorly maintained levees
Two years ago the U.S. government identified 122 levees as too poorly maintained to be reliable in major floods; only forty-five of them had necessary repairs; people living behind the unrepaired levees should be concerned
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DHS announces grant applications
DHS began to distribute applications for state agencies in two categories: $48.6 million for the implementation of the Real ID Act, and $34 million for emergency operations centers
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Getting the coming investment in infrastructure right
America 2050 issues blueprint for infrastructure investment; guiding principles: Fix, Phase, Green, Train, Count
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Increased Pentagon role in U.S. domestic security
The U.S. Department of Defense will have an increased role in domestic U.S. security; a Pentagon plan calls for up to 20,000 uniformed troops inside the United States by 2011 trained to help state and local officials respond to a nuclear terrorist attack or other domestic catastrophe
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Scholarships, guaranteed jobs for cyber security students
State University of New York at Buffalo uses $868,000 Federal CyberService Award from the National Science Foundation (NSF) to award undergraduate, graduate scholarships
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Security alliance calls financial incentives for cyber security
The Internet Security Alliance calls for the incoming Obama administration and Congress to give information technology companies financial incentives for improving cybersecurity defenses, including providing funding in research and development and shielding them from liability caused by cyberattacks
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Briefly noted
Pentagon to ask Obama for $581 billion budget for next fiscal year… Security requirements for private aircraft arriving and departing the United States
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Continued growth for aerospace, defense despite economic slowdown
Revenues for electronics /C4ISR companies in the U.S. defense market are projected to be worth $298 billion in 2015; Europe and the United States account for more than 80 percent of the world’s aerospace and defense revenues
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Anti-bioterror programs may make U.S. more vulnerable
There are 14 BSL-4 labs in the United States (6 already in operation; 3 completed but not yet operational; 5 under construction), and 15,000 scientists authorized to work with deadly pathogens; critics argue that by vastly increasing the number of researchers and labs authorized to handle deadly substances, the government has made the U.S. more vulnerable to bioterror attacks
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U.K. local authorities lack intelligence for effective counter-terrorism
A government study finds that government counter-terrorism funding to local authorities and neighborhood policing over the last two years has yet to translate into a coherent strategy to stop people from becoming terrorists or supporting violent extremists
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DHS releases FY2009 guidance for $3 billion worth of grants
FEMA requests applications for 14 programs for which it has allocated $3 billion; funded programs concentrate on state and local governments and strengthening community preparedness
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The priorities of DHS's Science and Technology Directorate
DHS’s Science and Technology Directorate is known for its restless, entrepreneurial spirit; it has a $830 million dollar budget, and 250 projects under development at any one time
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U.S. debates creating domestic intelligence agency
A new RAND study examines the benefits of creating a domestic intelligence agency; research group offers a break-even analysis of the various counterterrorism organizational options
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