Tag: United States Senate
Government funding bill includes $2.5M for U.S. Senate home security
December 20, 2022Ken Showers, Managing Editor
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Congress will be voting on the federal government's $1.7 trillion funding bill, the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2023, and among its many expenditures is $2.5 million toward residential security for U.S. Senate members.
On page 1,137 of the nearly 4,200-page document, bill writers stated that, “For expenses of the Office of the Sergeant at Arms and Doorkeeper of the Senate, $171,844,000, of which $160,144,000 shall remain available until...
Senate Judiciary Committee to hear testimony on Twitter security failings
September 12, 2022Ken Showers, Managing Editor
WASHINGTON – On Tuesday, Sept. 13, the Senate Judiciary Committee held a hearing discussing a whistleblower's claims that were made against Twitter earlier this year.
Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL) and Senator Chuck Grassley (R-IA) announced in late August that they would be holding a full committee hearing to examine allegations made in July by Twitter ex-security chief Peiter “Mudge” Zatko of that company’s alleged security failures.
“Mr. Zatko’s...
What does the Ryan-Murray deal do for integrators?
March 5, 2014Leif Kothe
WASHINGTON—Hailed in some corners as a rare example of political compromise, the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2013, known as the Ryan-Murray agreement, could also be the near-term fiscal solution integrators are looking for.
Jake Parker, government relations director at the Security Industry Association, said two DHS-funded grant programs—the Port Security Grant Program and the Transportation Security Grant Program—are likely to be less hampered by the sequester in 2014 and 2015....
Boxer is SIA's Legislator of the Year
December 19, 2013SSN Staff
SILVER SPRING, Md.—The Security Industry Association has named Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., its 2013 Legislator of the Year for “her tireless dedication to school safety,” according to a news release.
SIA presented Boxer with the award in a ceremony on Capitol Hill on Dec. 18.
The SIA award honors Boxer's efforts to enact the School Safety Enhancements Act of 2013, which would fund the federal Secure Our Schools grants program, providing resources for schools to install...
Border security looms large for SIA
August 14, 2013Leif Kothe
WASHINGTON—Weeks into the legislative lull of August, the Security Industry Association is gearing up for Congress to return to session in September, when lawmakers in the House will tackle immigration reform.
The association's approach remains less ideological than informational, Marcus Dunn, director of government relations for SIA, told Security Systems News. The focus is fixed squarely on border security, which is likely to be a major component of any immigration legislation, whether...
Senate immigration bill includes major security measures
July 10, 2013Leif Kothe
WASHINGTON—A major security-focused amendment to the Senate immigration bill, proposed by a pair of Senators one day before the legislation passed 68-32, might have played a critical role in making the overhaul more palatable to several more Senate Republicans.
Proposed by Sens. Bob Corker, R-Tenn., and John Hoeven, R-N.D., the amendment package would devote more than $40 billion over the next ten years to bolstering security and ramping up enforcement on the nation's southern border....
Senate Immigration Bill: On to the House
July 9, 2013Leif Kothe
Fifteen days after the Senate passed S. 744—the Border Security, Economic Opportunity and Immigration Modernization Act—the House Republican caucus will hold a meeting to discuss immigration, just as the House prepares to tackle its own legislation, should it follow through on Speaker John Boehner's plans to scrap the Senate bill. The meeting, which will be private, is slated for Wednesday, July 10.
The Senate bill, which passed 68-32 on June 27, would earmark about $46 million...
SIA: Biometric ID cards 'sound policy' for immigration
June 12, 2013Rich Miller
WASHINGTON—With immigration reform gaining momentum in Congress, the Security Industry Association is calling on lawmakers to approve biometrics on identity cards to ensure the highest level of security at U.S. entry points.
A hearing on S. 744, the Border Security, Economic Opportunity and Immigration Modernization Act, was scheduled this week in the Senate. If the bill passes it would then go to the House, where the debate over immigration reform has been more fractious.
�Marcus Dunn,...
'Doomsday' averted, but security industry still wary of sequestration
March 20, 2013Rich Miller
WASHINGTON—Sequestration hit on March 1 with more of a whimper than a bang, but the uncertainty it has caused continues to affect security companies that count on federal funding for initiatives in the field.
As the mandatory budget cuts are phased in this year, anxiety is likely to rise when it comes to planning for contracts and expenditures, said Marcus Dunn, director of government relations for the Security Industry Association. Through March, however, the impact hadn't been as painful...
SIA: Biometrics can cut fraud in Medicare, Medicaid
July 3, 2012SSN Staff
SILVER SPRING, Md.—Biometrics can reduce fraud in Medicare and Medicaid programs and provide assurance that patient information is protected, the Security Industry Association told the Senate Finance Committee on June 29.
SIA, responding to a open letter from the panel to combat the “multibillion-dollar problem of waste, fraud and abuse” in the federal health care programs, issued a white paper stating that the use of biometrics in identification and authentication would meet...