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Category: AM-NC

  • MIL-OSI USA: Action Taken by Governor Phil Scott on Legislation – June 9, 2025

    Source: US State of Vermont

    Montpelier, Vt. – Governor Phil Scott announced action on the following bills, passed by the General Assembly.

    On June 9, Governor Scott signed bills of the following titles:

    • S.53, An act relating to certification of community-based perinatal doulas and Medicaid coverage for doula services
    • S.59, An act relating to amendments to Vermont’s Open Meeting Law

    When signing S.53, Governor Scott issued the following statement:

    “While I support greater access to perinatal care in Vermont, I believe outstanding operational concerns must be addressed before we seek to amend our Medicaid plan to allow Medicaid reimbursement for community-based perinatal doulas. We must ensure that community-based perinatal doula professional certification standards are consistent with federal expectations before Medicaid reimbursement is finalized. If this requires further legislation next year, it’s my hope the Legislature will address this area of concern.”

    On June 9, Governor Scott returned without signature and vetoed S.125, An act relating to collective bargaining and sent the following letter to the General Assembly:

    Dear Mr. Bloomer:

    Pursuant to Chapter II, Section 11 of the Vermont Constitution, I am returning S.125, An act relating to collective bargaining, without my signature because of my objections described herein:

    This bill would effectively unionize a group of Judiciary employees with a simple definitional change. I’m concerned that despite unions testifying this was a priority for their organization, employees who would be impacted by this bill were not consulted or asked to testify.

    The Judiciary has advised this change could have a negative impact on the effective management of courthouses and fear a workplace marked by divisiveness and angst were this bill to pass. At a time when our court system is managing a significant backlog, we should be focusing on improving efficiencies within the system.

    Further, this bill seeks to bolster existing unions by significantly increasing the voting threshold for union decertification. This means it will be much more difficult for employees who do not feel well represented to consider their alternatives.  

    I support collective bargaining, but I believe employees should have choices for which union they belong to. This bill seeks to make it harder for employees, if they choose, to seek union representation from other organizations. I believe the threshold to trigger a vote for certification should be the same as decertification.

    Our employees should be heard and respected and for this reason I cannot allow this bill to go into law. 

    Sincerely,

    /s/

    Philip B. Scott

    Governor

    To view a complete list of action on bills passed during the 2025 legislative session, click here.

    ###

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-Evening Report: Some economists have called for a radical ‘global wealth tax’ on billionaires. How would that work?

    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Venkat Narayanan, Senior Lecturer – Accounting and Tax, RMIT University

    Rudy Balasko/Shutterstock

    Earlier this year, I attended a housing conference in Sydney. The event’s opening address centred on the way Australia seems to be becoming like 18th-century England – a country where inheritance largely determines one’s opportunities in life.

    There has been a lot of media coverage of economic inequities in Australian society. Our tax system has been partly blamed for this problem. The case for long-term, visionary tax reform has never been stronger. And one area of tax reform could be a wealth tax.

    First, let’s be clear about one thing. Unlike the superannuation tax reforms currently being debated for those with more than A$3 million in superannuation, the wealth tax we’re talking about would apply to a very different cohort: billionaires.

    A recent article in the Financial Times re-examined a proposal to impose such a tax on the world’s highest-net-worth individuals. It also pointed out these efforts would need to be globally coordinated.

    Such taxes could collect significant sums of money for governments. It’s previously been estimated a billionaire tax could raise US$250 billion (more than A$380 billion) globally if just 2% of the net worth of the world’s billionaires was taxed each year.

    The case for a wealth tax

    Inequality is on the rise and the argument for a wealth tax can’t be ignored – not least here at home. According to the Australia Institute, the wealth of Australia’s richest 200 people has soared as a percentage of our national gross domestic product (GDP) – from 8.4% in 2004 to 23.7% in 2024.

    If that sounds dramatic, the picture is far worse in the United States. So, what would a wealth tax look like in Australia (noting that in reality a globally coordinated effort would be needed)?

    The starting point for this is understanding of why high-net-worth individuals seemingly pay very low taxes.

    High net worth, low tax rate

    Income taxes only take into account any amounts that are received in the hands of the taxpayer – whether that is a company, a person or a trust.

    Most high-net-worth individuals do not receive much income directly but “store” their wealth in companies and other corporate structures.

    In Australia, the maximum applicable tax rate for companies is 30%. Note that the highest tax rate in Australia for individuals is 45% plus the 2% medicare levy, effectively 47%.

    Assets such as real estate may also be held by companies or trusts, and the increase in value of these assets is not taxed until they are sold (through capital gains tax).

    Even then, those gains may not be paid out directly to the high-net-worth individual who owns these entities.

    Unrealised gains

    So, how do we tax wealth that is sitting in various businesses (company structures) or other entities, but isn’t taxed at present because the “income” or “gains” from these are not taxable in the hands of the wealthy individuals who own them?

    This goes into the murky area of taxation of unrealised gains. Here, we need to tread very carefully. But we also need to recognise that we already do this, albeit rather subtly, and most of us are not billionaires.

    In your rates notice from your local council, for example, the increase in value of your residence or investment property is used to calculate your rates.

    The real difficulty, to carry on with this example, is that your residence or investment property is typically held in your name and so the tax can be directly levied on you.

    A luxury residence in Miami Beach, Florida, owned by Jeff Bezos, founder of Amazon. The US is home to the most billionaires of any country in the world.
    Felix Mizioznikov/Shutterstock

    Making tax unavoidable

    As we’ve already explained, the bulk of the assets or net worth of wealthy individuals is not directly attributable to them. Does this mean we should give up altogether?

    Not quite. UNSW professor Chris Evans has pointed out that while we may not be able to effectively tax all the net worth of the wealthy, there are some things we can tax and they can’t avoid it.

    An obvious example is real estate. You can pack your bags and bank accounts and move to a low-tax country, but you can’t move your mansion overlooking Sydney Harbour.

    Real estate, both residential and commercial, provides one clear way in which we could implement a partial wealth tax. This method (which also has fewer valuation issues than value stored in a company in the form of retained profits) also counters the argument that the wealthy will simply move to other jurisdictions that won’t tax them.

    There is plenty of academic research looking at various wealth tax initiatives in other countries. We should learn from these, including the experience in Switzerland and Sweden.

    In Sweden, for instance, research found the behavioural effects of wealth taxation were less pronounced than those of income taxation, but the system had so many loopholes that evasion was an option for some people.

    Change faces headwinds

    In a very uncertain world that features ongoing wars and an unpredictable US president, any change that seeks to address issues of inequity is going to be met with resistance by those who hold power.

    Some billionaires in the US, however, have expressed their support for being taxed more in a letter signed by heirs to the Disney and Rockefeller fortunes. That offers some hope, and suggests the discussion about wealth taxes should not be relegated to the “too hard” basket.

    Some steps towards taxing the uber-rich would be better than the status quo.

    Venkat Narayanan does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

    – ref. Some economists have called for a radical ‘global wealth tax’ on billionaires. How would that work? – https://theconversation.com/some-economists-have-called-for-a-radical-global-wealth-tax-on-billionaires-how-would-that-work-257632

    MIL OSI Analysis – EveningReport.nz –

  • MIL-Evening Report: Fake news and real cannibalism: a cautionary tale from the Dutch Golden Age

    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Garritt C. Van Dyk, Senior Lecturer in History, University of Waikato

    The Corpses of the De Witt Brothers, attributed to Jan de Baen, c. 1672-1675. Rijksmuseum

    The Dutch Golden Age, beginning in 1588, is known for the art of Rembrandt, the invention of the microscope, and the spice trade of the Dutch East India Company. It ended a little under a century later in a frenzy of body parts and mob justice.

    In 1672, enraged by a fake news campaign, rioters killed the recently ousted head of state Johan de Witt and his brother Cornelis. The mob hung them upside down, removed their organs, ate parts of the corpses, and sold fingers and tongues as souvenirs.

    Even in a period characterised by torture and assassination, this grisly act stands out as extreme. But it also stands as a warning from history about what can happen when disinformation is allowed to run rampant.

    The attack on Johan and Cornelis de Witt was fuelled by a relentless flood of malicious propaganda and forgeries claiming the brothers were corrupt, immoral elitists who had conspired with enemies of the Dutch Republic.

    The anonymous authors of the smear campaigns blamed Johan for war with England and “all the bloodshed, killing and injuring, the crippled and mutilated people, including widows and orphans” that allegedly kept him in power.

    According to one pamphlet, the violence was legitimate because the ends justified the means: “Beating to death is not a sin in case it is practised against a tyrant.” The sentiment echoes a quote frequently attributed to Napoleon, recently shared by US President Donald Trump on social media: “He who saves his country does not violate any law.”

    ‘Fight like hell’

    These days, of course, we’ve become accustomed to the dangers fake news (and deepfakes) pose in the promotion of political violence, hate speech, extremism and extrajudicial killings.

    In March, for example, historical footage of war crimes in Syria was manipulated by generative AI to appear as current events. Combined with disinformation in chat rooms and on social media, it incited panic and violence.

    The effects were magnified in a country with no reliable independent media, where informal news is often the only source of information.

    But even in a superpower with an established media culture, similar things happen.
    Before the January 6 insurrection at the US Capitol in 2021, Trump called on thousands of supporters at a “Save America” rally to “fight like hell” or they were “not going to have a country anymore”.

    This was shortly before Congress verified the presidential election result, which Trump alleged was invalid because of voter fraud. Addressing the same crowd, Trump advisor Rudolph Giuliani called for “trial by combat”.

    What happened might not have been as extreme as the events in the Netherlands 350 years earlier, but a violent mob fired up on disinformation still shook the foundations of US democracy.

    Historical echoes: supporters of Donald Trump march through Washington DC to the Capitol Building on January 6, 2021.
    Getty Images

    The ‘disaster year’

    The deeper forces at work in the US were and still are complex – just as they were in the 17th-century Dutch Republic. What brought it down was a volatile mix of power struggles, geopolitical rivalries and oligarchy.

    William of Orange had been excluded from the office of stadtholder, the hereditary head of state, by a secret treaty with England under Oliver Cromwell to end the First Anglo-Dutch War.

    When the English monarchy was restored, however, the treaty became invalid and the Orangists attempted to reinstate William. Johan De Witt represented the States Party, made up of wealthy oligarchs, whereas William was seen as a man of the people.

    The republic had built an impressive navy and merchant fleet but neglected its army. A land invasion by France and allies was supported by the English navy. To prevent the invasion from advancing, land was flooded by opening gates and canals.

    The combination of floods and an occupying army threw the economy into chaos. The Orangists wouldn’t cooperate with the States Party, and the republic was on the brink of collapse. The Dutch referred to 1672 as the Rampjaar, the “disaster year”.

    Historical rhymes

    Satirists, pamphleteers and activists seized on the crises as an opportunity to ramp up their campaign against the de Witt brothers. Political opposition turned into personal attacks, false accusations and calls for violence.

    Johan was assaulted and stabbed in an attempted assassination in June 1672, resigning from his role as head of state two months later. Cornelis was then arrested for treason. When Johan went to visit him in prison, the guards and soldiers disappeared, and a conveniently positioned mob dragged the brothers into the street.

    The rest, as they say, is history. William III was strongly suspected of orchestrating the brothers’ gruesome murder, but this was never confirmed.

    Is there is a moral to the story? Perhaps it is simply that, in a time of crisis, a campaign of disinformation can transform political opposition and rebellion into assassination – and worse.

    Pamphlets – the social media of their day – manipulated public perception and amplified popular anxiety into murderous rage. A golden age of prosperity under a republic headed by oligarchs ended with ritualised political violence and the return of a monarch who promised to keep the people safe.

    They say history doesn’t repeat, but it does rhyme. As ever, the need to separate fact from fiction remains an urgent task.

    Garritt C. Van Dyk has been a recipient of Getty Research Institute funding.

    – ref. Fake news and real cannibalism: a cautionary tale from the Dutch Golden Age – https://theconversation.com/fake-news-and-real-cannibalism-a-cautionary-tale-from-the-dutch-golden-age-257104

    MIL OSI Analysis – EveningReport.nz –

  • MIL-Evening Report: The Racial Discrimination Act at 50: the bumpy, years-long journey to Australia’s first human rights laws

    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Azadeh Dastyari, Director, Research and Policy, Whitlam Institute, Western Sydney University

    On June 11, Australia marks 50 years since the Racial Discrimination Act became law. This important legislation helps make sure people are treated equally no matter their race, skin colour, background, or where they come from.

    But the act didn’t happen overnight. It took nearly ten years for Australia to follow through on the promises it made to the world to fight racism when it signed the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination in 1966.

    When Australia first signed that agreement, it still had laws and attitudes shaped by the White Australia Policy.

    Even after Australia started moving away from the White Australia Policy, federal leaders held off on making anti-racism laws. They weren’t sure it was allowed under the Constitution, worried about the cost, and didn’t want to upset the states. Many also feared that Australians wouldn’t support it.

    It took the courage of Gough Whitlam, Australia’s 21st prime minister, to pass Australia’s first anti-discrimination law. Between 1973 and 1975, Whitlam and his government made four attempts to pass laws against racial discrimination. The act was the result of their fourth try – this time, it worked.

    An uphill battle

    The first time the Racial Discrimination Bill was introduced was in 1973, it was alongside a Human Rights Bill. Together, they were part of a bigger plan to give people in Australia more rights and fair treatment.

    People had mixed feelings about the idea of a law to protect individual rights. Most of the concern was about the Human Rights Bill, but some also doubted whether a Racial Discrimination Act was needed.

    There was debate about whether it would really work or just be a symbolic step, and whether or not it would take away from people’s freedoms.

    In the end, the 1973 bill lapsed and did not become law.

    The Whitlam government reintroduced the bill twice more in 1974, once in April and then again in October.

    The April version added protections for immigrants and focused more on conciliation and education, but it wasn’t debated before an election.

    The bill returned in October with minor updates, mainly to strengthen education efforts and clarify that it used civil, not criminal, enforcement.

    Still, it was withdrawn in early 1975 because of ongoing political instability.

    The 1975 Racial Discrimination Bill was the Whitlam government’s final, and successful, push to make laws tackling racism.

    Familiar debates

    Labor MPs backed the 1975 version of the bill, highlighting its importance for Indigenous people and other marginalised groups.

    But the Liberal–Country Party Coalition, then in opposition, pushed back hard.

    While the opposition claimed to support equality, they questioned the legal basis of the bill, feared it gave too much power to the race relations commissioner and warned it might threaten free speech.

    Some opposition voices, especially in the Senate, went further, downplaying racism altogether. Senator Ian Wood claimed Australia was “singularly free of racial discrimination”.

    Senator Glen Sheil argued immigration was the issue:

    Australia over recent years has adopted an immigration policy that has allowed the immigration into this country of blacks, whites, reds, yellows and browns […] because of these problems, once again created by governments, we are now faced with this Racial Discrimination Bill. In my opinion if this bill is implemented it will create more discrimination, not less.

    The opposition successfully weakened the bill by removing several key parts, including:

    • criminal penalties for inciting racial discrimination

    • the ability of the commissioner to start legal proceedings in court or ask a court to make someone give evidence

    • and criminal penalties for publishing, distributing or expressing racial hostility.

    Despite these setbacks, the Racial Discrimination Act passed.

    Change takes time

    Even with all the compromises, the passing of the act was a major moment in Australian history.

    As Whitlam acknowledged:

    it is of course extraordinarily difficult to define racial discrimination and outlaw it by legislative means. Social attitudes and mental habits do not readily lend themselves to codification and statutory prohibition.

    The act has not erased racial discrimination, nor is it perfect.

    It continues to spark debates and needs to be further strengthened to meet the changing needs of our society.

    However, the laws have been used in real cases to protect people’s rights, shown the federal government does have the power under the Constitution to make laws about human rights, and has sent a strong message that everyone deserves to be safe and free from discrimination, regardless of their race, colour or national or ethnic origin.

    The story of the Racial Discrimination Act is a reminder that real change takes time, resolve and tenacity.

    While the laws finally passed, the Human Rights Bill introduced alongside it in 1973 did not.

    More than 50 years later, Australia still does not have a national Human Rights Act. As more people call for stronger human rights protections in our laws, the Racial Discrimination Act stands as both a reminder of what progress can look like and a challenge to imagine what bold leadership could achieve today.

    A Human Rights Act is now needed more than ever to protect those most at risk. It will take the same political will, moral clarity, and bravery that brought the Racial Discrimination Act to life.

    Azadeh Dastyari does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

    – ref. The Racial Discrimination Act at 50: the bumpy, years-long journey to Australia’s first human rights laws – https://theconversation.com/the-racial-discrimination-act-at-50-the-bumpy-years-long-journey-to-australias-first-human-rights-laws-257245

    MIL OSI Analysis – EveningReport.nz –

  • MIL-Evening Report: For the first time, fossil stomach contents of a sauropod dinosaur reveal what they really ate

    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Stephen Poropat, Research Associate, School of Earth and Planetary Sciences, Curtin University

    Artist’s reconstruction of Judy. Travis Tischler

    Since the late 19th century, sauropod dinosaurs (long-necks like Brontosaurus and Brachiosaurus) have been almost universally regarded as herbivores, or plant eaters.

    However, until recently, no direct evidence – in the form of fossilised gut contents – had been found to support this.

    I was one of the palaeontologists on a dinosaur dig in outback Queensland, Australia, that unearthed “Judy”: an exceptional sauropod specimen with the fossilised remains of its last meal in its abdomen.

    In a new paper published today in Current Biology, we describe these gut contents while also revealing that Judy is the most complete sauropod, and the first with fossilised skin, ever found in Australia.

    Remarkably preserved, Judy helps to shed light on the feeding habits of the largest land-living animals of all time.

    Plant-eating land behemoths

    Sauropod dinosaurs dominated Earth’s landscapes for the entire 130 million years of the Jurassic and Cretaceous periods. Along with many other species, they died out in the mass extinction event at the end of the Cretaceous 66 million years ago.

    Ever since the first reasonably complete sauropod skeletons were found in the 1870s, the hypothesis that they were herbivores has rarely been contested. Simply put, it is hard to envisage sauropods eating anything other than plants.

    Their relatively simple teeth were not adapted for tearing flesh or crushing bone. Their small brains and ponderous pace would have prevented them from outsmarting or outpacing most potential prey.

    And to sustain their huge bodies, sauropods would have had to eat regularly and often, necessitating an abundant and reliable food source – plants.

    Although the general body plan of sauropods seems pretty uniform – stocky, on all fours, with long necks – these behemoths did vary when we look more closely.

    Some had squared-off snouts with tiny, rapidly replaced teeth confined to the front of the mouth. Others had rounded snouts, with much more robust teeth, arranged in a row that extended farther back in the mouth. Neck length varied greatly (with some necks up to 15 metres long), as did neck flexibility. In addition, a few of them had taller shoulders than hips.

    Absolute size varied too – some were less enormous than others. All of these factors would have constrained how high above ground each species could feed and which plants they could reach.

    Food in the belly

    Sauropod discoveries are becoming more regular in outback Queensland, thanks largely to the Australian Age of Dinosaurs Museum in Winton.

    In 2017, I helped the museum unearth a roughly 95-million-year-old sauropod, nicknamed Judy after the museum’s co-founder Judy Elliott.

    We soon realised this find was extraordinary. Besides being the most complete sauropod skeleton and skin ever found in Australia, Judy’s belly region hosted a strange rock layer. It was about two square metres in area and ten centimetres thick on average, chock-full of fossil plants.

    The fact this plant-rich layer was confined to Judy’s abdomen and located on the inside surface of the fossil skin, made us wonder – had we unearthed the remains of Judy’s last meal or meals?

    If so, we knew we had something special on our hands: the first sauropod gut contents ever found.

    Multi-level feeding

    Analysis of Judy’s skeleton, which was prepared out of the surrounding rock by volunteers in the museum’s laboratory, enabled us to classify her as a Diamantinasaurus matildae.

    We scanned portions of Judy’s gut contents with X-rays at the Australian Synchrotron in Melbourne and at CSIRO in Perth, and with neutrons at Australia’s Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation in Sydney.

    This enabled us to digitally visualise the plants – which were preserved as voids within the rock – without destroying them.

    We did destructively sample some small portions of the gut contents to figure out their chemical make-up, along with the skin and surrounding rock.

    This revealed the gut contents were turned to stone by microbes in an acidic environment (stomach juices, perhaps), with minerals likely derived from the decomposition of Judy’s own body tissues.

    Judy’s gut contents confirm that sauropods ate their greens but barely chewed them – their gut flora did most of the digestive work.

    Most importantly, we can tell Judy ate bracts from conifers (relatives of modern monkey puzzle trees and redwoods), seed pods from extinct seed ferns, and leaves from angiosperms (flowering plants) just before she died.

    Conifers then, as now, would have been huge, implying Judy fed well above ground level. By contrast, flowering plants were mostly low-growing in the mid-Cretaceous.

    Based on other specimens (especially teeth), scientists previously thought Diamantinasaurus browsed plants relatively high off the ground. The conifer bracts in Judy’s belly support this.

    However, Judy was not fully grown when she died, and the angiosperms in her belly imply lower-level feeding, as well. It seems likely, then, that the diets of some sauropods changed slightly as they grew. Nevertheless, they were life-long vegetarians.

    Judy’s skin and gut contents are now on display at the Australian Age of Dinosaurs Museum in Winton. I’m not sure how I’d feel about having the remains of my last meal publicly exhibited for all to see posthumously, but if it helped the cause of science, I think I’d be OK with it.

    Stephen Poropat receives funding from the Australian Research Council through an ARC Laureate awarded to Prof. Kliti Grice, “Interpreting the molecular record in extraordinarily preserved fossils”.

    – ref. For the first time, fossil stomach contents of a sauropod dinosaur reveal what they really ate – https://theconversation.com/for-the-first-time-fossil-stomach-contents-of-a-sauropod-dinosaur-reveal-what-they-really-ate-258183

    MIL OSI Analysis – EveningReport.nz –

  • MIL-OSI Canada: Minister Joly and Petrina Gentile to discuss the future of the Canadian auto industry at the 2025 Canada Automotive Summit

    Source: Government of Canada News

    June 9, 2025 – Vaughan, Ontario 

    The Honourable Mélanie Joly, Minister of Industry and Minister responsible for Canada Economic Development for Quebec Regions, will be participating in a discussion with Petrina Gentile, automotive reporter with The Globe and Mail, at the 2025 Canada Automotive Summit.

    Minister Joly will take part in a media scrum following the discussion.

    Date: Tuesday, June 10, 2025

    Time:  4:00 p.m. (ET) fireside chat
                 4:45 p.m. (ET) media scrum

    Location: Vaughan, Ontario

    Members of the media are asked to contact ISED Media Relations at media@ised-isde.gc.ca to receive event location details and confirm their attendance.

    MIL OSI Canada News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Rep. Mike Levin’s Statement on President Trump Deploying Marines to Los Angeles

    Source: United States House of Representatives – Representative Mike Levin (CA-49)

    June 09, 2025

    Washington, D.C. – Today, Rep. Mike Levin (CA-49) released the following statement in response to President Trump deploying Marines to Los Angeles:

    “Donald Trump’s decision to deploy Marines to Los Angeles is an astounding overreach of authoritarian power. The State of California has not requested the National Guard, much less the Marines, but Trump is sending them anyway. Why? Because he wants to inflame the situation and crack down further.

    “I support the right to protest peacefully—it’s essential for a healthy democracy. I also strongly condemn the agitators who are committing acts of violence. Their behavior is unacceptable and they are giving Trump the images he wants.

    “Our state and local authorities have the capacity to handle the protests in Los Angeles. By deploying warfighters to American cities, Trump is escalating and destabilizing a volatile situation. He is putting our service members in an untenable situation where they will be asked to repress civilians.

    “Our Marines are trained for deadly combat, not law enforcement. This politicizes our Armed Forces and it clearly will not end well. If the President truly wants law and order, he must de-escalate, order our service members back to theirs bases, and allow our courageous state and local law enforcement officers to do their jobs.”

    ###

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Remarks at the Roundtable on DeFi and the American Spirit

    Source: Securities and Exchange Commission

    Good afternoon and thank you to the panelists and attendees today for the Commission’s fifth roundtable organized by the Crypto Task Force, entitled “DeFi and the American Spirit.”[1]

    Reflecting on the “American Spirit” brings to mind the expedition of Merriweather Lewis and William Clark. About 220 years ago on May 14, 1804, Lewis and Clark set out to explore the new Louisiana Territory, purchased the prior year by President Thomas Jefferson.[2] The size of the United States had doubled overnight, but there were no reliable maps or established routes through the new land. Despite this daunting challenge, Lewis and Clark entered the wilderness to carry out their mission.

    While perhaps not nearly as fraught with personal danger, the Commission is similarly navigating through challenging new terrain and plunging into the regulatory wilderness under the leadership of Commissioner Peirce and the Crypto Task Force. While the Commission’s tools – such as roundtables, public consultation, and economic analysis – may be different, I am confident that our expedition can succeed in updating our rulebook to open up new opportunities for American investors and businesses.

    The SEC’s treatment of decentralized finance and other emerging technologies over the past four years was not conducive to regulatory transparency and discouraged entrepreneurs and those developing DeFi from engaging with the Commission. However, that approach has recently changed under the Crypto Task Force, which is charged with coordinating the Commission’s effort to find answers to many pressing questions. Thus far, they have changed the SEC’s posture on crypto, embraced difficult regulatory questions, and promoted transparency by engaging with the market participants driving innovation and change.

    This SEC is committed to high quality regulation. High quality regulation takes time and administrative processes matter. For those who are involved in the development of DeFi, please be patient and work with the Commission and its staff towards achieving the best possible outcome.

    Although I am uncertain as to what “perfect regulation” may look like, the path towards it begins with seeking input from the public. This journey towards regulatory clarity will likely be frustrating, and may move in fits and starts. However, by learning from DeFi innovators and advocates, the Commission has a better chance at regulating securities transactions involving DeFi and protecting American investors who utilize decentralized financial services and products.

    Today’s participants will provide knowledge and insight about DeFi’s development and the existing regulatory barriers preventing growth. Such contributions will help the Commission attempt to strike the proper balance between its role as a regulator and its mandate to foster competition, efficiency, and capital formation.

    In DeFi, there is a new landscape of opportunities. People can transact directly with each other without relying on banks or other centralized intermediaries. The Commission should not refrain from engaging in oversight of novel areas simply because it involves thinking outside the existing framework.[3] The legacy regulatory regime under the federal securities laws presupposes the existence and necessity of numerous intermediaries. I look forward to hearing from today’s panelists as to whether such presumptions remain necessary.

    For example:

    1. In which types of situations do DeFi systems and smart contracts potentially eliminate the need for a financial intermediary and how?
    2. In what situations should DeFi systems be deemed to fall outside the scope of the securities laws?
    3. What key safeguards are necessary when the securities laws apply to these arrangements?

    Lewis and Clark’s journey took time to complete and carved out an important path to facilitate westward expansion. In so doing, they provided a valuable contribution to American progress. Today’s roundtable reflects the SEC’s commitment to continued progress and its willingness to consider the role of emerging technologies. As the Commission continues to move through the regulatory wilderness, it should remain true to its mission of protecting investors, maintaining fair, orderly, and efficient markets, and facilitating capital formation in its efforts to respond to market innovation.

    Thank you and I look forward to the conversation.

    [1] My remarks today reflect my views as an individual Commissioner and not necessarily the views of the full Commission or my fellow Commissioners.

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Baldwin Meets with Families Impacted by Milwaukee School Closures Due to Lead Exposure, Lack of Federal Support

    US Senate News:

    Source: United States Senator for Wisconsin Tammy Baldwin

    MILWAUKEE, WI – Today, U.S. Senator Tammy Baldwin (D-WI) visited Milwaukee Public Schools’ (MPS) Frances Starms Discovery Learning Center to meet with parents whose children’s health was at risk and schools were closed this year because of lead hazards.

    “When Milwaukee called for help to keep kids safe and address this lead crisis, their application was denied because RFK, Jr. and Donald Trump fired every single one of the lead experts who could help,” said Senator Baldwin. “Today, I heard firsthand from Milwaukee families whose children have been poisoned by lead and were forced out of the schools they attend, all while they continue to live in fear and think they were left behind. While Donald Trump and RFK, Jr. continue to sit on their hands, I’ll keep showing up, listening to the families, and fighting to hold the Trump administration to account so Milwaukee gets the support it deserves.”

    Baldwin’s visit comes as she continues to hold the Trump Administration accountable for failing to support Milwaukee, firing the entire Childhood Lead Poisoning Prevention Surveillance Branch, and not providing on-the-ground support to keep children safe.

    In early April, the Centers for Disease Control notified MPS that they would not be able to receive on-site help from lead experts because the Trump administration shut down the lead poisoning branch and fired the experts. The crisis has shuttered six schools and displaced 1,800 children in Milwaukee. Senator Baldwin has repeatedly pressed the Administration to reinstate fired experts and approve Milwaukee’s plea for federal assistance. 

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Padilla, Schiff, Schumer Demand Answers from Trump Administration on Arrest and Detention of SEIU Union Labor Leader David Huerta

    US Senate News:

    Source: United States Senator Alex Padilla (D-Calif.)

    Padilla, Schiff, Schumer Demand Answers from Trump Administration on Arrest and Detention of SEIU Union Labor Leader David Huerta

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — Today, U.S. Senators Alex Padilla (D-Calif.), Ranking Member of the Senate Judiciary Immigration Subcommittee, Adam Schiff (D-Calif.), and Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) are demanding answers from top Trump Administration officials regarding the arrest and detention of David Huerta, President of Service Employees International Union (SEIU) California and SEIU-United Service Workers West. Mr. Huerta was injured, arrested, and detained by federal officials in Downtown Los Angeles while exercising his lawful right to observe the conduct of immigration enforcement personnel on Friday, June 6, 2025. He currently remains detained in federal custody. 

    “It is deeply troubling that a U.S. citizen, union leader, and upstanding member of the Los Angeles community continues to be detained by the federal government for exercising his rights to observe immigration enforcement,” wrote the Senators.  

    “As U.S. Senators, we are privileged and proud to represent Americans like Mr. Huerta, who are pillars of their community and stand up for the fundamental rights of all Californians. We have a constitutional duty to conduct oversight of the Department of Homeland Security and the Department of Justice and its components to ensure that the rights of Californians are upheld. As such, we demand a complete and comprehensive response to the following requests regarding this incident by Friday, June 13, 2025,” concluded the Senators. 

    The Senators are voicing their serious concerns to Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem, Attorney General Pam Bondi, and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Acting Director Todd M. Lyons.

    Yesterday, Senator Padilla joined MSNBC’s “The Weekend: Primetime” to condemn the Trump Administration’s ICE raids across Los Angeles and President Trump’s ensuing unprecedented deployment of nearly 2,000 members of California’s National Guard to the region. Padilla also joined Los Angeles outlets KTLA and KNX last night to discuss the fear and chaos the Trump Administration is stoking in Los Angeles and across California. On Friday, Padilla issued a statement condemning the Los Angeles ICE raids.

    Full text of the letter is available here and below:   

    Dear Secretary Noem, Acting Director Lyons, and Attorney General Bondi:

    We write to express our grave concerns regarding the arrest and detention of David Huerta, the President of Service Employees International Union (SEIU) California and SEIU United Service Workers West.

    On Friday, June 6, 2025, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA), and several other federal agencies conducted numerous immigration enforcement actions throughout Southern California. During a workplace enforcement action, Mr. Huerta, a well-known and deeply respected community leader, was exercising his lawful right to observe the conduct of immigration enforcement personnel. In the course of doing so, Mr. Huerta suffered an injury and law enforcement personnel apprehended and subsequently arrested him. It is deeply troubling that a U.S. citizen, union leader, and upstanding member of the Los Angeles community continues to be detained by the federal government for exercising his rights to observe immigration enforcement.

    As U.S. Senators, we are privileged and proud to represent Americans like Mr. Huerta, who are pillars of their community and stand up for the fundamental rights of all Californians. We have a constitutional duty to conduct oversight of the Department of Homeland Security and the Department of Justice and its components to ensure that the rights of Californians are upheld. As such, we demand a complete and comprehensive response to the following requests regarding this incident by Friday, June 13, 2025:

    1. We request that the Department of Homeland Security and the Department of Justice undertake a review to determine which federal agencies and personnel were involved in the actions that resulted in the injuries sustained by Mr. Huerta and what disciplinary actions may be necessary for relevant federal personnel.

    2. We request that the Department of Justice state the legal authority under which Mr. Huerta is currently being detained.

    Thank you for your prompt attention to this urgent matter.

    Sincerely,

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Hickenlooper, Bennet Statement on Secretary Lutnick’s Senate Testimony

    US Senate News:

    Source: United States Senator John Hickenlooper – Colorado

    WASHINGTON – Today, U.S. Senators John Hickenlooper and Michael Bennet released the following statement following the congressional testimony from Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick:

    “Colorado, and the rest of the country, worked for years to create and prepare programs to expand broadband access under the Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) program. These programs are nearly finalized, and delaying them will cost millions of dollars, add unnecessary bureaucratic burdens, and deprive Coloradans of high-speed, affordable internet.

    “Secretary Lutnick’s decision to ask states to reapply for this federal funding betrays the promise Congress made to the American people.”

    Hickenlooper was part of the bipartisan group of 22 senators who negotiated and wrote the $1.2 trillion infrastructure deal, which authorized the BEAD program.

    The BEAD program is the largest broadband investment in American history and invests $42.45 billion to expand high-speed internet access by funding planning, infrastructure deployment, and adoption programs in all 50 states and territories. It prioritizes communities with little to no reliable internet access to make sure unserved and underserved areas aren’t left behind.

    In Colorado, 10 percent of locations are unserved or underserved, and 190,850 households lack access to the internet. In June 2023, the National Telecommunications and Information Administration awarded Colorado over $826 million as part of the program.

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Reps. David Scott, Scanlon, Frost, and Adams Introduce Legislation to Expand Student Access to Music and Arts Education

    Source: United States House of Representatives – Congressman David Scott (GA-13)

    WASHINGTON D.C. — Today, Congressman David Scott (GA-13), alongside Congresswoman Mary Gay Scanlon (PA-05), Congressman Maxwell Frost (FL-10), and Congresswoman Alma Adams (NC-12), announced the introduction of the Reimagining Inclusive Arts Education Act. The bill expands access to music and arts education for students across the nation, particularly in historically underserved and underfunded communities.

    The Reimagining Inclusive Arts Education Act will provide Department of Education grants to support the professional development of arts educators. The bill allows program funding that expands inclusive curricula, innovative adaptation of lesson plans, and unique arts lesson accommodations for a wider variety of students. Importantly, the bill prioritizes funding for Title I schools to ensure educators with fewer resources have access to professional development opportunities.

    “Decades of research show that students who are involved in arts education perform better academically, have improved emotional well-being, and are better prepared for careers in a 21st-century economy,” said Congressman David Scott. “Regardless of their abilities, students deserve equal access to visual Arts, theatre, dance, and music, all of which are all integral components to a well-balanced curriculum. The Reimagining Inclusive Arts Education Act will provide arts educators with the tools needed to make their lessons accessible to all students. The bill has the capacity to push young minds to think critically and socialize—skills that are crucial for students with disabilities who may be left out of other avenues of expression.”

    “Art programs in schools can provide important benefits for intellectual development – especially for young people with disabilities,” said Congresswoman Mary Gay Scanlon. “Unfortunately, many schools lack basic resources and funding to maintain these programs. I’m proud to partner with Reps. Scott, Frost, and Adams on this legislation to help our schools fill the funding gaps, ensure equitable accessibility for students with disabilities, and set up our children for success in the future.”

    “The arts provide a platform for creativity and solidarity, and as someone who attended an arts school growing up, I know how important it is for students to have the space and opportunity to express themselves. By making intentional investments in our arts educators and therapists, we ensure that every student, especially those with disabilities, can harness their creativity and thrive,” said Congressman Maxwell Frost. “I’m proud to cosponsor this Reimagining Inclusive Arts Education Act so we can build a more inclusive, accessible arts education system where every student can experience the power and joy of the arts.”

    “As a former art professor of 40 years, I’ve seen firsthand the profound impact arts have when they’re accessible to everyone,” said Congresswoman Alma Adams. “Every student, no matter ability, should have the opportunity to have arts in their life. I’m proud to support the Inclusive Arts Education Act so we can create inclusive, art-filled classrooms in schools across the country.”

    “The National Association for Music Education (NAfME) stands in strong support of the Reimagining Inclusive Arts Education Act, reintroduced by Congressman David Scott (GA-13)” said NAfME President Deb Confredo. “This bill speaks to the fundamental right of all children to effective arts education. Grants stemming from this bill would fund professional development for arts educators and creative arts therapists in their mission to provide innovative, inclusive, high quality, and accessible arts education experiences for all and, in particular, those children with disabilities. Research demonstrates that the outcomes of systematic and purposeful arts education are highly positive and far-reaching, often fostering growth in social skills, problem solving, creativity, team building, and cooperation, while physical, mental, and emotional health are often fortified. Funds designated through this bill would substantiate that the arts benefit all children, and especially those with disabilities. NAfME urges the 119th Congress to adopt this legislation as an investment in humanity and a demonstration of the belief in unity made more attainable through the arts.”

    “The American Music Therapy Association is very pleased to support the Reimagining Inclusive Arts Education Act,” stated Judy Simpson, Director of Government Relations. “This important legislation will support innovative and inclusive creative arts therapies provided by credentialled music therapists, art therapists, dance/movement therapists, and drama therapists for children with disabilities.  Expanding opportunities for these unique learning interventions will improve students’ ability to successfully access education and achieve academic goals.”

    “The Reimagining Inclusive Arts Education Act opens doors for students with disabilities to engage fully in high-quality arts education,” said Erin Harkey, CEO of Americans for the Arts. “This legislation strengthens mental health, boosts academic success, and nurtures the development of well-rounded individuals. We’re proud to support Congressman Scott’s leadership in advancing professional development for arts educators and creative arts therapists—building more inclusive classrooms where all students can succeed.”

    Endorsing Organizations: American Music Therapy Association, Americans for the Arts, Arkansas Music Education Association, Arts Alliance Illinois, Arts Ed NJ, Arts Education in Maryland Schools, Arts North Carolina, California Music Education Association, Council of Administrators of Special Education, Cure SMA, DC Music Education Association, Delaware Music Educators Association, Education Theatre Association, El Sistema USA, The Feierabend Association for Music Education, Florida Music Education Association, Georgia Music Educators Association, Guitars and Ukes in the Classroom, Hip-Hop Education Center, Ingenuity Inc., JazzSLAM, J.W. Pepper, Kansas Music Educators Association, Kentucky Music Educators Association, Kindermusik International, The Lang Lang International Music Foundation, League of American Orchestras, Maryland Music Educators Association, Massachusetts Music Educators Association, Mental Health Association of Central Florida, Michigan Music Educators Association, Montana Music Educators Association, Music Teachers National Association, Music Travel Consultants, Music Will, National Arts Education Association, National Association for Media Arts Education, National Association for Music Educators, National Center for Learning Disabilities, National Dance Education Organization, National Down Syndrome Congress, National Guild for Community Arts Education, National Music Council of the United States, Nevada Music Educators Association, New Hampshire Music Educators Association, New Jersey Music Educators Association, New York State School Music Association, North Carolina Music Education Association, Ohio Music Educators Association, OPERA America, Oregon Music Educators Association, Pennsylvania Music Educators Association, Percussive Arts Society, Rhode Island Music Educators Association, Save the Music, South Dakota Music Educators Association, Springfield Symphony Orchestra, TASH, Utah Music Educators Association, Vermont Music Educators Association, Vermont Music Educators Association, The Viscardi Center and Henry Viscardi School, Young Audiences Arts for Learning

    Full text of the bill can be found HERE.

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    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: PRESS RELEASE: Democrats Demand Action on Cost-of-living Crisis, Warn That Trump’s One Big Ugly Bill Will Drive Prices Even Higher

    Source: United States House of Representatives – Representative Nanette Diaz Barragán (CA-44)

    Collegeville, PA – Today, the House Democratic Steering and Policy Co-Chairs, Congresswomen Debbie Wasserman Schultz (FL-25), Robin Kelly (IL-02) and Nanette Barragán (CA-44), led a roundtable discussion with local leaders and stakeholders impacted by the Trump Tariffs and Republican threats to cut Medicaid and SNAP. Witnesses warned that the Republican ‘One Big Ugly Bill’ would only exacerbate the cost-of-living crisis for Pennsylvania’s working families.

    Congresswoman Madeleine Dean (PA-04) hosted the committee’s field hearing, and took testimony from community leaders who work directly helping people meet their basic needs to hear how the cost-of-living crisis would worsen with the Republican tax scam to slash Medicaid and food assistance while giving huge new tax breaks to billionaires.

    “At a time when families need stability, President Trump has thrown our economy into turmoil with reckless tariffs that continue to decimate retirement and college savings accounts,” said Dean. “Meanwhile, Trump and Republicans are pushing their ‘Big Ugly Bill,’ which will kick more than 300,000 Pennsylvanians off their healthcare and rip away food assistance from 140,000 of our neighbors. We should be fighting to lower costs for working families — not spiking prices and financing another tax break for the wealthy.”

    “Republicans are not interested in making life more affordable for American families. Trump’s One, Big, Ugly bill will take away food and rental assistance, and life-saving health care from millions of Americans,” said Barragán. “House Republicans have refused to work with Democrats to deliver solutions that support hardworking Americans. Seniors, children, and veterans will bear the burden of higher costs of food, healthcare, and housing while Trump’s billionaire donors get richer.”

    “Grocery checkout lines and the fear of falling ill are still major sources of financial anxiety for families, yet the Republican response is to give the wealthiest Americans a tax break windfall and pay for it by taking affordable health care and food assistance from millions of people. It’s a cruel, deplorable and fiscally irresponsible response, and we heard that message loud and clear today in Pennsylvania,” said Wasserman Schultz. “Far from lowering costs, Trump’s chaotic economic policies are driving recessionary fears, and Republicans’ ‘Big Ugly Bill’ would steal health care from 16 million Americans and deny food assistance to millions more. The net effect makes life even harder for paycheck-to-paycheck workers.”

    “President Trump promised to lower the cost of living on Day One. He lied,” said Kelly. “Instead, Americans are paying the cost of his shortsighted trade war at the checkout counter while Republicans in Congress attack food assistance and healthcare. This is a recipe for a cost-of-living disaster, yet Republicans’ solution is to give more tax breaks to the well-off and well-connected. I, alongside my Democratic colleagues, will continue to travel across the country to hear directly from the American people and bring their concerns back to Washington with real solutions.”

    The Steering and Policy Committee has gone on the road to hear from the American people, convening a town hall in California and a hearing in Virginia exposing the extreme Republican agenda. The Steering and Policy Committee will continue to travel the nation in the months ahead to reach the American people where they live and hear from them directly.

    The full video of today’s hearing can be found here.

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    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Chinese National Pleads Guilty to Acting at the Direction of North Korea to Export Firearms, Ammo, and Technology to North Korea

    Source: US State of California

    An illegal alien from China pleaded guilty today to federal criminal charges for illegally exporting firearms, ammunition and other military items to North Korea by concealing them inside shipping containers that departed from the Port of Long Beach, California, and for committing this crime at the direction of North Korean government officials, who wired him approximately $2 million for his efforts.

    Shenghua Wen, 42, of Ontario, California, pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to violate the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) and one count of acting as an illegal agent of a foreign government. Wen has been in federal custody since his arrest in December 2024.

    According to his plea agreement, Wen is a citizen of the People’s Republic of China who entered the United States in 2012 on a student visa and remained in the U.S. illegally after his student visa expired in December 2013.

    Prior to entering the United States, Wen met with officials from North Korea’s government at a North Korean embassy in China. These government officials directed Wen to procure goods on behalf of North Korea.

    In 2022, two North Korean government officials contacted Wen through an online messaging platform and instructed him to buy and smuggle firearms and other goods – including sensitive technology – from the United States to North Korea via China.

    In 2023, at the direction of North Korean government officials, Wen shipped at least three containers of firearms out of the Port of Long Beach to China en route to their ultimate destination in North Korea. Wen took steps to conceal that he was illegally shipping firearms to North Korea by, among other things, filing false export information regarding the contents of the containers.

    In May 2023, Wen purchased a firearms business in Houston, paid for with money sent through intermediaries by one of Wen’s North Korean contacts. Wen purchased many of the firearms he sent to North Korea in Texas and drove the firearms from Texas to California, where he arranged for them to be shipped.

    In December 2023, one of Wen’s weapons shipments – which falsely reported to U.S. officials that it contained a refrigerator – left the Port of Long Beach and arrived in Hong Kong in January 2024. This weapons shipment was later transported from Hong Kong to Nampo, North Korea.

    In September 2024, Wen – once again acting at the direction of North Korean officials – bought approximately 60,000 rounds of 9mm ammunition that he intended to ship to North Korea.

    In furtherance of the conspiracy and at the direction of North Korean officials, Wen also obtained sensitive technology that he intended to send to North Korea. This technology included a chemical threat identification device and a handheld broadband receiver that detects known, unknown, illegal, disruptive or interfering transmissions.

    Wen also acquired or offered to acquire a civilian airplane engine and a thermal imaging system that could be mounted on a drone, helicopter, or other aircraft, and could be used for reconnaissance and target identification.

    During the scheme, North Korean officials wired approximately $2 million to Wen to procure firearms and other goods for their government.

    Wen admitted that at all relevant times he knew that it was illegal to ship firearms, ammunition, and sensitive technology to North Korea. He also admitted to never having the required licenses to export ammunition, firearms, and the above-described devices to North Korea. He further admitted to acting at the direction of North Korean government officials and that he had not provided notification to the Attorney General of the United States that he was acting in the United States at the direction and control of North Korea as required by law.

    Wen faces a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison on the count of violating the IEEPA and a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison on the count of acting as an illegal agent of a foreign government. Sentencing is scheduled for Aug. 18. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

    Assistant Attorney General for National Security John Eisenberg, U.S. Attorney Bilal A. Essayli for the Central District of California, and Assistant Director Roman Rozhavsky of the FBI Counterintelligence Division made the announcement.

    The FBI, Homeland Security Investigations, Defense Criminal Investigative Service (DCIS), the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), and the Department of Commerce Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) are investigating the case.

    Assistant U.S. Attorney Sarah E. Gerdes for the Central District of California and Trial Attorney Ahmed Almudallal of the National Security Division’s Counterintelligence and Export Control Section are prosecuting the case.

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI Security: ICE Continues to Arrest Vicious Illegal Alien Criminals as Rioters Continue to Disrupt Law Enforcement

    Source: US Department of Homeland Security

    California sanctuary politicians and rioters are defending heinous illegal alien criminals including child pedophiles and other violent criminal illegal aliens at the expense of Americans’ safety

    WASHINGTON – Today, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) released more information about some of the worst of the worst criminal illegal aliens arrested during the ongoing Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) operation in Los Angeles. These arrests occurred on June 8 despite violent riots and assaults on ICE law enforcement. 

    “These heinous criminals, including child abusers and pedophiles, are some of the illegal aliens arrested yesterday in Los Angeles. Why do Governor Newsom and Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass care more about violent criminal illegal aliens than they do about protecting their own citizens?” said Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin. “These rioters in Los Angeles are fighting to keep rapists, murderers, and other violent criminals loose on Los Angeles streets. Instead of rioting, they should be thanking ICE officers who every single day wake up and make our communities safer.”

    Below is a list of some of the violent criminal illegal aliens arrested in ICE’s Los Angeles Operation on Sunday:

    Eswin Uriel Castro

    ICE arrested Eswin Uriel Castro, a previously deported illegal alien. Castro has criminal convictions for child molestation and being armed with a dangerous weapon. He has also been arrested for robbery and domestic violence. 

    Anastacio Enrique Solis-Salinas

    ICE arrested Anastacio Enrique Solis-Salinas, a convicted criminal from Nicaragua. His criminal history includes convictions for domestic violence and hit and run. Additionally, he’s been arrested for willful cruelty to a child.

    Rafael Gamez-Sanchez

    ICE arrested Rafael Gamez-Sanchez, an illegal alien, with a criminal conviction for vehicular manslaughter. 

    Miguel Angel Palafox-Montes

    ICE arrested Miguel Angel Palafox-Montes, an illegal alien, with criminal convictions for grand theft, narcotics violations, and identity theft. He has also been arrested for battery and burglary. Palafox-Montes has previously been voluntarily returned to Mexico twice. 

    Dzhakhar Aslambekov

    ICE arrested Dzhakhar Aslambekov, an illegal alien from Russia. Aslambekov was recently detained for fraud related to Electronic Benefit Transfer (EBT) cards used to access government assistance programs. 

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    MIL Security OSI –

  • MIL-OSI Security: Waterbury Teen Sentenced to 3 Years in Federal Prison for Salem Gun Theft, Trafficking Offenses

    Source: United States Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco Firearms and Explosives (ATF)

    David X. Sullivan, United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, announced that EDUARDO CRUZ, 19, of Waterbury, was sentenced today by U.S. District Judge Michael P. Shea in Hartford to 36 months of imprisonment, followed by three years of supervised release, for offenses related to the theft of firearms from a federally-licensed gun dealer in Salem, and the trafficking of some of the stolen firearms.

    According to court documents and statements made in court, in the early morning of March 15, 2024, Cruz and others drove a car into the entryway doors of Statewide Pawn Shop, a federal firearms licensee in Salem, and stole 21 firearms from the store.  Later that day, law enforcement made a controlled purchase of three of the stolen firearms from Cruz and a juvenile in Waterbury.  On March 18, 2024, investigators purchased another of the stolen firearms from Cruz, who arrived at the meeting location with two juveniles.  Cruz was arrested at that time, and law enforcement recovered two additional stolen firearms, one that was carried by one of the juveniles, and one from Cruz’s vehicle.

    Two of the stolen firearms were also found in the home of one of Cruz’s associates on March 18, 2024.  Thirteen of the stolen firearms are still missing.

    Cruz has been detained since his arrest.  On March 7, 2025, he pleaded guilty to one count of theft of firearms from a licensee and one count of firearms trafficking.

    This matter is being investigated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF), the Connecticut State Police, and the Waterbury, Stamford, and Wolcott Police Departments.

    U.S. Attorney Sullivan thanked the State’s Attorney for the Judicial District of Waterbury and the State’s Attorney for the Judicial District of New London for their cooperation in investigating and prosecuting this matter.

    The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Sean Mahard through Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), a program bringing together all levels of law enforcement and the communities they serve to reduce gun violence and other violent crime, and to make our neighborhoods safer for everyone. For more information about Project Safe Neighborhoods, please visit www.justice.gov/psn.

    MIL Security OSI –

  • MIL-OSI Security: Harrison County Man Admits to Methamphetamine Charge

    Source: United States Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco Firearms and Explosives (ATF)

    CLARKSBURG, WEST VIRGINIA – James Leonard Bailey, III, age 41, of Stonewood, West Virginia, has admitted to conspiring to possess with the intent to distribute five grams or more of methamphetamine.  

    According to court documents, Bailey was found with 32 grams of methamphetamine and a firearm in Harrison County.

    Bailey is facing at least five and up to 40 years in prison. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

    Assistant U.S. Attorney Christie Utt is prosecuting the case on behalf of the government.

    The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and the Stonewood Police Department investigated.

    U.S. Magistrate Judge Michael John Aloi presided.

    MIL Security OSI –

  • MIL-OSI Security: Founder of Orange County Based Non-Profit Charged in 15-Count Indictment Alleging He Bribed County Supervisor in $12 Million Scheme

    Source: US FBI

    SANTA ANA, California – The founder of a now-shuttered non-profit organization has been indicted on federal charges alleging he bribed then-Orange County Supervisor Andrew Hoang Do to obtain approximately $12 million in COVID-19 pandemic-related funds, pocketed the bulk of that money, then laundered it to avoid detection by law enforcement, the Justice Department announced today.

    Peter Anh Pham, 65, of Garden Grove, is charged with one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, one count of conspiracy to commit honest services wire fraud, six counts of wire fraud, six counts of concealment money laundering, and one count of bribery.

    Also charged in the indictment is Thanh Huong Nguyen, 61, of Santa Ana, who is charged with one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, one count of wire fraud, and one count of concealment money laundering.

    Pham is considered to be a fugitive from justice. Nguyen’s initial appearance and arraignment are expected to occur on Monday in U.S. District Court in Santa Ana.

    “These two defendants are charged with conspiring with a corrupt politician to pad their pockets while the nation suffered under the weight of COVID-19,” said United States Attorney Bill Essayli. “My office and our law enforcement partners will continue our efforts to prosecute individuals who cashed in on government aid intended to help those impacted by the largest public health emergency in a century.”

    “This conspiracy was a house of cards built on lies, betrayal, and insatiable greed,” said Orange County District Attorney Todd Spitzer. “Today’s indictments are another critical step in ensuring accountability – and consequences – for those who conspired to use the County of Orange’s COVID-19 funds as their personal ATMs – and to return those stolen funds to their rightful owners – the community for which these funds were originally intended.” 

    According to the indictment that was returned on Wednesday and unsealed today, Pham was a friend and associate of Do, 62, of Santa Ana, who served on the Orange County Board of Supervisors from 2015 until his resignation in October 2024. In that role, Do was one of five supervisors on the Board, which is responsible for the county’s $9 billion annual budget.

    Do pleaded guilty in October 2024 to one count of conspiracy to commit bribery concerning programs receiving federal funds and is scheduled to be sentenced on June 9, when he will face a sentence of up to five years in federal prison. 

    From June 2020 to October 2024, Do used his official position as a county supervisor to vote for millions of dollars in county funds to be allocated in his district, subject to disbursement at his sole discretion. Do then steered county contracts and grants to Pham and Nguyen, the indictment alleges. 

    For example, in June 2020, Do voted to approve an agenda item that, in part, allocated $5 million in federal COVID-19 pandemic-relief funding to a county nutrition program. As part of this agenda item, Do authorized himself a budget of $1 million to develop that nutrition program in his district, which he could distribute without further approval from the rest of the Board. Eight days after Do voted to approve the agenda item, Pham founded the Huntington Beach-based non-profit organization Viet America Society (VAS).

    Pham, through VAS, and Nguyen, through a Garden Grove-based group called Hand-to-Hand Relief Organization Inc. (H2H), entered into contracts and beneficiary agreements with the county. In many of these contracts, VAS and H2H falsely represented that they would reimburse the county for any funds not spent for the contract’s intended purpose. In each of the beneficiary agreements, VAS and H2H falsely certified that all funds would be used solely for the grant’s intended purpose.

    In exchange for Pham’s bribes in the form of payments to his two daughters, Do used his official position as a county supervisor to advocate for VAS and H2H so county employees would approve contracts and beneficiary agreements between the county and these organizations. Do and his staff – including his chief of staff – edited the terms of those contracts and agreements to make them more favorable to Pham and Nguyen. Through the influence of Do and his staff, the county wired funds to Pham and Nguyen. 

    After receiving county funds, Pham and Nguyen transferred most of the money to other entities they controlled. They then spent large portions of the funds to pay personal expenses such as rent and bills, to pay off debts owed by their other businesses, and to make personal investments such as purchasing commercial and residential real estate. Pham and Nguyen also used county funds to bribe Do through payments to his daughters.

    Pham also used county money to pay the eventual wife of Do’s chief of staff, under the guise that she was providing consulting services to VAS. Do’s chief of staff then used his position in Orange County’s government to help VAS and H2H obtain county contracts, edited the contracts’ terms to make them more favorable to VAS and H2H, and helped those organizations fulfill reporting requirements and get paid.

    When required to submit invoices to the county to account for how the money was being spent, Pham and Nguyen submitted false documents, claiming to have used all the funds – all solely for legitimate purposes and according to the contracts’ terms.

    To disguise the funds’ source, Pham and an associate caused checks from county funds to be written to a Westminster-based company called D Air Conditioning Co. LLC. This company then issued checks from its corporate bank account to Pham, Pham’s associate, and one of Do’s daughters.

    In total, Pham and Nguyen unlawfully acquired approximately $12 million in county funds through this conspiracy.

    An indictment contains allegations that a defendant has committed a crime.  Every defendant is presumed innocent until and unless proved guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.

    If convicted of the charges, Pham and Nguyen would face a statutory maximum sentence of 20 years in federal prison for the conspiracy count, each wire fraud count, and each money laundering count. Pham also would face up to 10 years in federal prison for the bribery count. 

    The FBI, the Orange County District Attorney’s Office Bureau of Investigation, and IRS Criminal Investigation are investigating this matter.      

    Assistant United States Attorneys Nandor F.R. Kiss and Rosalind Wang of the Orange County Office, Assistant United States Attorney Tara Vavere of the Asset Forfeiture and Recovery Section, and Senior Deputy District Attorney Avery T. Harrison and Deputy District Attorney Anthony J. Schlehner of Orange County District Attorney’s Office are prosecuting this case.

    MIL Security OSI –

  • MIL-OSI Security: Southern California Nurse Indicted for Multimillion-Dollar Hospice Fraud in Fresno and Kern Counties

    Source: US FBI

    FRESNO, Calif. — A federal grand jury returned a six-count indictment charging Jessa Zayas, 34, of Santa Clarita, with health care fraud and aggravated identity theft for submitting millions of dollars in of fraudulent claims for hospice care to Medicare, Acting United States Attorney Michele Beckwith announced today.

    Hospice is a type of care and support for terminally ill patients. Medicare is a federal health insurance program that covers certain hospice expenses. Generally, a patient must be certified as being terminally ill to qualify for hospice care payments under Medicare.

    According to court records, Zayas was the CEO and owner of Healing Hands Hospice and Humane Love Hospice, which are based in Van Nuys, while also working another full-time job.  Zayas caused Healing Hands and Humane Love to fraudulently bill Medicare for hospice care supposedly provided to over 100 people who were not in fact terminally ill. Zayas knew these individuals were not terminally ill as was represented to Medicare, and that they therefore were ineligible for the Medicare hospice payments. The total amount of fraudulent Medicare billings caused by Zayas from June 2023 through May 2025 was at least $2,500,000.

    Zayas and others obtained personal Medicare information for the supposed hospice patients by going to retirement homes in Fresno and Kern Counties. To avoid detection, they made these visits after hours when most of the retirement residences’ managers were gone for the day. Zayas and others knocked on the patients’ doors and asked them for their information so that they could enroll them in hospice. Zayas then caused the Medicare claims to be submitted with false representations about terminal illness and submitted forged doctor’s certifications when Medicare asked for supporting documentation. The Medicare payments were deposited into banks accounts that Zayas controlled.

    The FBI and HHS OIG arrested Zayas and executed a search warrant at her home last week.  Among other evidence, the FBI seized $77,000 in cash that Zayas had hidden in boxes underneath her bed.

    This case is the product of an investigation by the FBI and HHS OIG.  Assistant United States Attorneys Joseph Barton and Brittany Gunter are prosecuting the case.

    If convicted, Zayas faces a maximum term of 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine for the health care fraud charge.  She also faces an additional mandatory two years in prison for the aggravated identity theft charge, consecutive to any other sentence.  Any sentence, however, would be determined at the discretion of the court after consideration of any applicable statutory factors and the Federal Sentencing Guidelines, which take into account a number of variables.  The charges are only allegations.  Zayas is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.

    MIL Security OSI –

  • MIL-Evening Report: As livestock numbers grow, wild animal populations plummet. Giving all creatures a better future will take a major rethink

    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Clive Phillips, Adjunct Professor in Animal Welfare, Curtin University

    Toa55/Shutterstock

    As a teenager in the 1970s, I worked on a typical dairy farm in England. Fifty cows grazed on lush pastures for most of their long lives, each producing about 12 litres of milk daily. They were loved and cared for by two herdsmen.

    About 50 years later, I visited a dairy farm in China. There, 30,000 cows lived indoors. Most of these selectively bred animals wore out after two or three years of producing 30–40 litres of milk every day, after which they were unceremoniously killed. The workers rarely had contact with the cows. Instead, they sat in offices, programming machines which managed them.

    This speaks to a huge and very recent shift in how we treat animals. Over the last half century, the human population has soared – and so too our demand for meat, milk and many other animal products. As a result livestock populations have ballooned while living conditions for animals permanently kept inside have drastically worsened.

    Even as farmed animals have multiplied, populations of wild animals have crashed. The two trends are deeply connected. Humans convert wildlife habitat into pastures and farms, expanding living space for farm animals at the expense of many other animals.

    This cannot continue. Humans must reckon with how we treat the myriad other species on the planet, whether we rely on them or not. As I argue in my new open access book, the growing scarcity of animal species should make us grasp our responsibility towards the welfare of all animal species on the planet, not just those in farms.

    Efforts to enshrine rights for animals is not enough. The focus has to be on our responsibilities to them, ensuring they lead good lives if in our care – or are left well alone if they are not.

    Should we care?

    In the last 50 years, two-thirds of all wild animal populations have been lost.

    The main cause is habitat loss, as native forest is felled to grow grass for cattle or corn and soya for livestock.

    By weight, the world’s farm animals and humans now dwarf the remaining wild animals. Farm animals weigh 630 million tonnes and humans 390 million tonnes, while wild land mammals now weigh just 20 million tonnes and marine mammals 40 million tonnes.

    Wildlife numbers have fallen off a cliff across many kingdoms of life. Three quarters of flying insects are gone from monitored areas of Western Europe. One in eight bird species is threatened with extinction worldwide.

    Insect populations are plunging, endangering the many animal species who rely on them.
    David Pineda Svenske/Shutterstock

    On animal welfare, philosophers have long argued one of two positions. The first is known as “utilitarianism”. This approach argues for minimising the bad things in the world and maximising the good things, regardless of who benefits from them, humans or other animals. This theory-heavy approach does little to restore our relationship with wild animals because of the difficulties in deciding what is good and bad for animals.

    The second has more to recommend it. This is the view that animals have the right to be looked after well. This approach has also been used to give rights to rivers, nature and even the atmosphere.

    But this doesn’t recognise the fact that only humans can attribute such rights to animals, who themselves do not have any concept of “rights”. It also doesn’t tackle the issue that most humans would not accord the same rights to a blue whale and an insect.

    A better approach might be to recognise our responsibilities to animals, rather than attribute rights to them.

    This would acknowledge the increasing rarity of animal species on Earth and the fact that – as far as we know – they’re unique in the universe. So far, no reliable signs have been found indicating life evolved on any other planets.

    Earth formed just over 4.5 billion years ago. Some evidence suggests simple animal life began just 400 million years later.

    The evolution of complex multicellular life on earth probably only happened once when a single celled organism – one of the ancient archaea, perhaps – engulfed a bacterium without digesting it. Instead, it found something better: putting it to work as an internal energy factory as the first mitochondrion. After that came life’s great flowering.

    But now we’re currently losing between 0.01–0.1% of all species each year. If we use an average species loss rate of 0.05% and assuming human pressures remain similar, life on Earth could have only 2,000 years left.

    Do we have responsibility to care for something just because it’s rare? Not always. But life is beautiful. We marvel when we are able to connect with wildlife. Other social animals also appear to derive pleasure from such relationships.

    If we destroy wild animal life, we could undermine the natural systems humans depend on. Pollinators are essential for orchards, forests protect topsoil and produce clean drinking water and predators prevent herbivore populations from soaring out of control and destroying crops. As wilder areas shrink, the chance of another animal virus spillover into humans increases.

    The habitat available for many wild animals has shrunk rapidly in recent decades.
    MohdFadhli_83/Shutterstock

    From small scale to industrial

    For almost all of human history, livestock herds were small enough that people could build relationships with the animals they depended on.

    But in only a couple of human generations, we’ve turned farm animal production into a factory process with billions of animals.

    For centuries, farm animals were walked to market. That, too, has changed. In 2005, I was undertaking research on a livestock ship alongside 80,000 sheep being transported from Australia to the Middle East. Hundreds of sheep die from the stress of these journeys, while many survivors arrive exhausted and terrified.

    These changes have made it possible for humans all around the globe to eat meat or dairy products at every meal. But it has come at a real cost to livestock and wild animals.

    Correcting this will not be easy. We have to learn to eat fewer animals or preferably none at all, restore habitat for wildlife and curb our consumption of the world’s natural resources.

    It’s not too late to restore animal habitat. Rewilding efforts are drawing back long-missing wild animals. There are hopeful signs for farm animal welfare too. The live export of Australian sheep will end in 2028. Battery cage production of eggs is dying out.

    These are big issues. But to paraphrase a quote reputedly by Confucius:

    The man who asks big questions is a fool for a minute. The man who does not ask, is a fool for life.

    Clive Phillips has received funding from several not-for-profit groups, including Voiceless and AnimalKind, to help make this book open access. He has previously had funding from several government and livestock industry organisations, as well as the World Organisation for Animal Health and Open Philanthropy. He was, until recently, a director of Humane Society International and chair of the Queensland and Western Australia government animal welfare boards. He is editor of the animal welfare book series of Springer Nature and another book series, Letters in Animal Welfare and Ethics for CABI, as well as editor-in-chief of the journals Animals, and Animal Behaviour and Welfare Cases.

    – ref. As livestock numbers grow, wild animal populations plummet. Giving all creatures a better future will take a major rethink – https://theconversation.com/as-livestock-numbers-grow-wild-animal-populations-plummet-giving-all-creatures-a-better-future-will-take-a-major-rethink-256891

    MIL OSI Analysis – EveningReport.nz –

  • MIL-Evening Report: Australia’s whooping cough surge is not over – and it doesn’t just affect babies

    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Niall Johnston, Conjoint Associate Lecturer, Faculty of Medicine, UNSW Sydney

    Tomsickova Tatyana/Shutterstock

    Whooping cough (pertussis) is always circulating in Australia, and epidemics are expected every three to four years. However, the numbers we’re seeing with the current surge – which started in 2024 – are higher than usual epidemics.

    Vaccines for this highly infectious respiratory infection have been available in Australia for many decades. Yet it remains a challenging infection to control because immunity (due to prior infection, or vaccination) wanes with time.

    In 2025, more than 14,000 cases have been recorded already. Some regions, including Queensland and Western Australia’s Kimberley region, are seeing a marked rise in cases.

    In 2024, more than 57,000 cases of whooping cough were reported in Australia – the highest yearly total since 1991 – including 25,900 in New South Wales alone.

    What is causing the current surge?

    A few factors are driving numbers higher than we’d expect for an anticipated epidemic.

    COVID lockdowns in 2020 and 2021 reduced natural immunity to many diseases, disrupted routine childhood vaccination services, and resulted in rising distrust in vaccines. This has meant higher-than-usual numbers for many infectious diseases.

    And it’s not only Australia witnessing this surge.

    In the United States, whooping cough cases are at their highest since 1948, with deaths reported in several states, including two infants.

    In Australia, vaccine coverage remains relatively high but it is slipping and is below the national target of 95% .

    Even small declines may have a significant impact on infection rates.

    Who is at risk of whooping cough?

    Young babies, especially those under six weeks of age, are extremely vulnerable to whooping cough because they’re too young to be vaccinated.

    Infants under six months of age are also more likely to require hospitalisation for breathing support or have severe outcomes such as pneumonia, seizures or brain inflammation . Some do not survive.

    However, the greatest number of cases occur in older children and adults. In fact, in 2024, more than 70% of cases occurred in children 10 years and older, and adults.

    Babies who are too young to be vaccinated are most vulnerable.
    Halfpoint/Shutterstock

    Can you get whooping cough even if you’re vaccinated?

    The whooping cough vaccine works well, but its protection fades with time. Babies are immunised at six weeks, four months and six months, which gives good protection against severe illness.

    But without extra (booster) doses, that protection drops, falling to less than 50% by four years of age. That’s why booster doses at 18 months and four years are essential for maintaining protection against the disease.

    A whooping cough vaccine is also recommended for any adult who wishes to reduce the likelihood of becoming ill with pertussis. Carers of young infants, in particular, should have a booster dose if they’ve not received one in the past ten years.

    A booster dose is also recommended every ten years for health-care workers and early childhood educators.

    One of the best ways we can protect babies from the life-threatening illness of whooping cough is vaccination during pregnancy, which transfers protective antibodies to the unborn baby.

    If a woman hasn’t received a vaccine during pregnancy, they can be vaccinated as soon as possible after delivery (preferably before hospital discharge). This won’t pass protective immunity to the baby, but reduces the likelihood of the mother getting whooping cough, providing some indirect protection to the infant.

    How contagious is whooping cough?

    Whooping cough is extremely contagious – in fact, it is up to ten times more contagious than the flu.

    If you’re immunised against whooping cough, you’re likely to have milder symptoms. But you can still catch and spread it, including to babies who have not yet been immunised.

    Data shows siblings (and not parents) are one of the most common sources of whooping cough infection in babies.

    This highlights the importance of on-time vaccination not just during pregnancy, but also in siblings and other close contacts.

    How do I know it’s whooping cough, and not just a cold?

    Early symptoms of whooping cough can look just like a cold: a runny nose, mild fever, and a persistent cough.

    After about a week, the cough often worsens, coming in long fits that may end with a sharp “whoop” as the person gasps for breath.

    In very young babies, there may be no whoop at all. They might briefly stop breathing (called an “apnoea”) or turn blue.

    In teens and adults, the only sign may be a stubborn cough (the so-called “100-day” cough) that won’t go away.

    If you have whooping cough, you may be infectious for up to three weeks after symptoms begin, unless treated with antibiotics (which can shorten this to five days).

    You’ll need to stay home from work, school or childcare during this time to help protect others.

    What should I do to reduce my risk?

    Start by checking your vaccination record. This can be done through the myGov website, the Express Plus Medicare app or by asking your GP.

    If you’re pregnant, get a whooping cough booster in your second trimester. A booster is also important if you’re planning to care for young infants or meet a newborn.

    Got a cough that lasts more than a week or comes in fits? Ask your GP about testing.

    One quick booster could help stop the next outbreak from reaching you or your loved ones.

    Phoebe Williams receives funding from the National Health and Medical Research Council, the Gates Foundation, and the Medical Research Future Fund.

    Helen Quinn and Niall Johnston do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

    – ref. Australia’s whooping cough surge is not over – and it doesn’t just affect babies – https://theconversation.com/australias-whooping-cough-surge-is-not-over-and-it-doesnt-just-affect-babies-257808

    MIL OSI Analysis – EveningReport.nz –

  • MIL-OSI USA: The One Big Beautiful Bill Will END Taxpayer-Funded Health Care for Illegals

    US Senate News:

    Source: US Whitehouse
    More than 1.4 million illegal immigrants — including cold-blooded criminals, like those arrested this weekend in Los Angeles — are currently on Medicaid, stealing taxpayer-funded health care benefits meant for American citizens.
    The One Big Beautiful Bill puts a stop to that. By passing the One Big Beautiful Bill, Medicaid will be protected for generations of American citizens — thwarting Democrats’ attempts at destroying it by funding benefits for illegals on the backs of hardworking American taxpayers.
    Of course, the One Big Beautiful Bill does even more to make good on President Trump’s commitment to American citizens by fully funding border security — providing for 10,000 new ICE personnel and 3,000 new Border Patrol agents to detain and deport at least one million criminal illegal immigrants annually and giving $10,000 annual bonuses in each of the next four years to our frontline heroes.
    Promises made, promises kept.

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Welch Joins 39 Colleagues in Fighting Trump Administration’s Illegal Termination of the Jobs Corp Program

    US Senate News:

    Source: United States Senator Peter Welch (D-Vermont)
    WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Peter Welch (D-Vt.) recently joined Senator Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and 38 of his colleagues in urging the Trump Administration to immediately reverse its decision to illegally and abruptly terminate Job Corps center operations which have left 25,000 students and thousands of staff across 99 Job Corps centers, including in Vergennes, Vermont, in the lurch. 
    Since 1964, Job Corps has helped millions of low-income or at-risk young people develop the skills and resilience needed to succeed in work and life. As the largest free residential education and job training program for young adults ages 16-24, Job Corps programs help students complete their high school education, learn high-value technical skills, and connect to employment through intensive education, training, and support services in a residential setting while providing stable housing, medical and mental health care, and other supportive services to ensure their success. 
    “We urge you to immediately reverse this decision to prevent a lapse in education and services for Job Corps students. We further urge that the Department restart enrollments, expeditiously restart background checks, and make any contract extensions or modifications necessary to ensure no interruptions or delays for students or program operations,” wrote the Senators. “Congress passed the Full-Year Continuing Appropriations and Extensions Act of 2025, which includes $1,760,155,000 for Job Corps and ensures that Job Corps Centers are funded for the new program year that begins on July 1, 2025. We write to remind you of your obligation to faithfully implement the law.” 
    Job Corps centers operate in rural regions nationwide and contribute to their local communities and economies. Many centers have partnered with employers, local workforce development boards, government agencies, and community-based organizations to develop the future workforce and meet the needs of local employers. 
    The Senators continued: “At a time when more than 72% of jobs will require training beyond a high school diploma, Job Corps provides students with the opportunity to become wildland firefighters to keep our communities safe, nurses to help care for our families, electricians needed to build and maintain clean energy systems, and machinists, pipefitters, and welders to manufacture the next generation of submarines.” 
    “Abruptly canceling contracts for the nation’s Job Corps centers will leave students and communities in the lurch and undermine opportunities for young people to get education and training to succeed in valuable trades,” wrote the Senators. “Rather than gutting this valuable program, we urge you to work with Congress to strengthen accountability and program quality for the betterment of young workers, employers needing skilled labor, and communities nationwide, such as reforms included in the bipartisan, bicameral Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) reauthorization bill from last Congress.” 
    The Senators requested answers to the following questions: 
    Please provide a list of onboard strength (enrollment) at each center before January 20, 2025 and before the operations pause on May 28, 2025. 
    With Job Corps operations on “pause”, how does the department plan to fulfill its obligations to implement the Full-Year Continuing Appropriations and Extensions Act, 2025, which includes $1,760,155,000 for Job Corps serving students? 
    Please provide information on the number of students experiencing homelessness prior to enrollment at a Job Corps center based on enrollment at each center on May 28, 2025. 
    Please provide a list of every contract that has been terminated or modified since January 20, 2025, including the total amount of funds to each operator, the amount of funds that each operator has spent up to the date of the contract’s termination or modification, and the amount of remaining unspent funds for each contract. 
    What authority is the Department using to “pause” operations? Please provide a citation in law or regulation. 
    The concept of a “pause” does not exist in Job Corps authorizing statute and appears to be an attempt to illegally shut down Job Corps operations without following requirements in law. Section 159 of the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) includes clear requirements and processes for the closure of Job Corps Centers that were not followed in this “pause”. How does the Department define a “pause” and how is it different than a “termination”? 
    On April 25, 2025, the Department’s Employment and Training Administration (ETA) released the first-ever Job Corps Transparency Report, which is used throughout the DOL press release to pause operations at centers.
    Centers have returned funding to DOL when enrollments were lower than expected (but that’s not reflected in this report.) Please provide an updated cost per enrollee that accounts for money returned to DOL. 
    The report also provides cost per enrollee based on enrollment from program year 2023. DOL has much more up-to-date enrollment numbers. Please provide an updated cost per enrollee with the enrollments on campuses as of May 28, 2025, incorporating onboard strength at each campus. 
    In addition to Senators and Welch and Sanders, the letter was cosigned by Senators Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.), Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), Tim Kaine (D-Va.), Ed Markey (D-Mass.), Angela Alsobrooks (D-Md.), Lisa Blunt Rochester (D-Del.), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.), Mazie Hirono (D-Hawaii), Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Chris Murphy (D-Conn.), Chris Coons (D-Del.), John Fetterman (D-Pa.), Elissa Slotkin (D-Mich.), Ben Ray Lujan (D-N.M.), Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), Jacky Rosen (D-Nev.), Angus King (I-Maine), Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.), Tina Smith (D-Minn.), Jack Reed (D-R.I.), Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), Alex Padilla (D-Calif.), Raphael Warnock (D-Ga.), Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii), Cory Booker (D-N.J.), John Hickenlooper (D-Colo.), Andy Kim (D-N.J.), Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.), Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.), Mark Warner (D-Va.), Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.), Mark Kelly (D-Ariz.), Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), Gary Peters (D-Mich.), Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.) and Patty Murray (D-Wash.).  
    Read and download the full text of the letter to Labor Secretary Lori Chavez-DeRemer. 

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Welch Joins Vermont Edition to Discuss Trump’s Trade War and Taxes on Hardworking American Families

    US Senate News:

    Source: United States Senator Peter Welch (D-Vermont)
    COLCHESTER, VT – U.S. Senator Peter Welch (D-Vt.) today joined Vermont Public’s Vermont Edition to discuss how harmful cuts in Republicans’ ‘Big Beautiful Bill’ to vital programs like Medicaid and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) will hurt the economy and hardworking Americans across the country.  
    “This legislation, the so-called ‘Big Beautiful Bill,’ that is going to inflict bipartisan suffering. It doesn’t matter whether you’re in a red state or a blue state—you lose your health care, you lose your community hospital, you start paying higher tariffs, you see your colleges that are dependent on some of these grants and it’s integrated and that’s getting taken away—that’s going to hurt all of us,” said Senator Welch. 
    In the interview, Senator Welch highlighted how President Trump’s trade war and disastrous budget will make it harder for Vermont farmers, businesses, and families to make ends meet.  
    Mikaela Lefrak: “We’ve heard many Democratic critiques of this bill, particularly around its historic reductions in Medicaid spending…do you expect the Senate version of this bill to differ significantly from the House’s in terms of Medicaid cuts?” 
    Senator Welch: “Well, my hope is that we kill the bill. I mean, there will be some adjustments that some of my Republican colleagues try to make to mitigate the damage, but this bill is very damaging to individuals in Vermont…First of all, Vermonters don’t believe they’re going to get a tax cut out of this deal. You know, the tariffs are increasing costs for them and making it very, very tough for business. So, inflation is going to be going up…It’s a huge addition to the debt, where interest rates are going up so your credit card costs will go up, if you’re trying to get a mortgage—and they’re already high rates—they’ll be higher.  
    “From an actual impact on Vermonters, we’ve got thousands of people who get their health care through Medicaid, and that includes disabled kids. And the parents are taking care of those kids and Medicaid’s a lifeline—they can lose that health care. Two out of three seniors who are in nursing homes, that is paid for by Medicaid, and they can be kicked out of those homes with these cuts. So, it’s very damaging there. Also, Vermont has strongly supported nutrition programs—farm to school, Meals on Wheels, school lunch. Also the SNAP program, it’s about six bucks a day for families that are eligible and it really makes a difference. There’s going to be billions of dollars cut from both Medicaid and the SNAP program, Meals on Wheels.  
    “And why in the world are we going to do that when the benefit is essentially going to be higher debt and some significant tax cuts to some very, very wealthy people who don’t need them and aren’t asking for them, and corporations that are already paying record-low tax rates?” 
    ■■■
    Mikaela Lefrak: “As a Democrat in the Senate, you and every single other Democrat can vote against this bill, and it can still pass. So, the goal here it seems is to try to convince a handful of Republicans—I think you need at least three or four—to vote no. How do you do that?” 
    Senator Welch: “The most comprehensive way I’ve approached trying to deal with this budget disaster and this bill is by getting the information out—and the same thing with tariffs, which I think are having a detrimental impact on Vermont businesses, Vermont farmers and Vermont consumers. So, a lot of what I’ll do is have roundtables where we will have people who are going to be affected by the tariffs, or be affected by these Medicaid cuts, to be able to talk about that and get that information out.  
    “And what I do with my Republican colleagues is I don’t give them a lecture, but I’ll find out about the community hospital situation in their district or their state, and I’ll ask them: ‘What’s going to happen if this bill passes to your community hospitals?’ And then the reality is that those hospitals in their district are going to be really hurt. So, what I’m trying to do is encourage them to have more deference to the needs of the people they represent than they do to the will of President Trump.” 
    Listen to the episode here: 
    Last week, Senator Welch took to the Senate floor to slam Republicans’ tax bill, which will rip away health care coverage for more than 16 million Americans, including 29,000 Vermonters. The Republican bill will hike health care costs, close rural hospitals, and force millions of middle-class families to lose their coverage altogether, all to pay for tax cuts for the wealthy.  
    Senator Welch also recently joined his colleagues for a spotlight hearing examining Republicans’ efforts to gut the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), known as 3Squares in Vermont, which is a critical anti-hunger program that helps more than 41.6 million Americans—including over 65,000 Vermonters—put food on the table.     

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Rosen-Backed Bill to Support Taiwan at IMF, Counter China Advances Through Senate Committee

    US Senate News:

    Source: United States Senator Jacky Rosen (D-NV)

    Bipartisan Legislation to Strengthen U.S.-Taiwan Ties and Counter the CCP’s Economic Coercion Clears Senate Foreign Relations Committee
    WASHINGTON, DC – U.S. Senator Jacky Rosen (D-NV) announced that bipartisan legislation she helped introduce that supports Taiwan’s participation in the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has advanced through the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and now heads to the Senate floor for consideration. The bipartisan bill aims to bolster the United States’ economic partnership with Taiwan and counter the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) efforts to exclude Taiwan from the global marketplace. By advocating for Taiwan’s inclusion in international financial institutions, like the IMF, this bipartisan legislation reinforces the U.S. commitment to democratic allies and pushes back against the CCP’s growing economic coercion.
    “The United States cannot allow the Chinese Communist Party to bully democratic allies like Taiwan out of the global financial system,” said Senator Rosen. “I’m glad to see our bipartisan bill advance in committee, sending a clear message that Taiwan deserves a voice in international institutions like the IMF. The more authoritarians do to try to silence democracies, the louder we must be in our defense of them—and that includes ensuring Taiwan is treated with the respect and recognition it has earned.” 
    Senator Rosen has prioritized strengthening the U.S.–Taiwan partnership and defending Taiwan against growing threats from the Chinese Communist Party. She introduced the bipartisan Taiwan Cybersecurity Resiliency Act to enhance joint cyber defense efforts and led the introduction of the bipartisan TAIWAN Security Act to bolster defense and supply chain cooperation. She has also been a consistent leader in pushing back against authoritarian influence more broadly. 

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Rosen Condemns Senate Republicans’ Plan to Cut Medicare to Pay for More Tax Breaks for Billionaires

    US Senate News:

    Source: United States Senator Jacky Rosen (D-NV)

    WASHINGTON, DC – Today, U.S. Senator Jacky Rosen (D-NV) released a statement on reports that Senate Republicans are now looking to also cut Medicare in their extreme tax spending bill. This comes in addition to the devastating Medicaid cuts that will cause Nevadans in need – including children – to lose their health insurance just so Republicans can pay for tax cuts for billionaires.
    “Apparently going after programs like Medicaid and SNAP that help children and families in need wasn’t enough for Senate Republicans – they’re now also looking to cut Medicare in their extreme tax spending bill,” said Senator Rosen. “It’s absolutely appalling that Senate Republicans are trying to pay for more tax giveaways for billionaires and big corporations by putting Nevada seniors’ health care on the chopping block. I’m going to fight to stop this extreme proposal with everything I have and protect Medicaid, Medicare, and SNAP benefits.”
    Senator Rosen has been a strong critic of Republicans’ extreme tax spending bill that would cut programs Nevadans rely on and drastically increase the national debt to give more tax breaks to the ultra-wealthy. She invited a Las Vegas teenager and his mom who rely on Medicaid for health care coverage to attend President Trump’s Joint Address to Congress to highlight the devastating impacts of Medicaid cuts. Senator Rosen also joined her Senate colleagues in urging President Donald Trump to reject Congressional Republicans’ legislative plans to increase the cost of living for Americans.

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI Global: Ultra-processed foods are everywhere — and they’re quietly raising health risks

    Source: The Conversation – Canada – By Angelina Baric, PhD Student, Department of Kinesiology, McMaster University

    It’s not exactly news that junk food isn’t healthy.

    What may be surprising is exactly how pervasive ultra-processed foods (UPFs) have become and what harm they’re doing. This includes some foods that are specifically labelled and marketed as having nutritional value.

    We are nutrition researchers, and the authors of a new study that identifies some of the specific negative effects of ultra-processed foods that are readily available, very popular and often hard to resist, especially when people are feeling pressed for time.

    Our research group leads population-based studies that integrate nutrition epidemiology, food policy, and dietary assessment to better understand how modern food environments and dietary patterns influence chronic disease risk.

    While ultra-processed foods include obvious culprits like potato chips, candy and frozen pizza, there are also some that people may believe are good for them, such as packaged granola bars, sports drinks and fruit-filled yogurt. Our study used the Nova classification system to define UPFs, which are industrial formulations made mostly or entirely from substances extracted from foods, derived from food constituents with little if any intact whole food remaining.

    How UPFs harm health

    Our research, based on diet questionnaires and personal medical data that Health Canada and Statistics Canada collected from over 6,000 Canadians, shows that the effects of UPFs can pile up over time, adding to the risk of heart attack, stroke and other serious health issues by raising blood pressure and blood sugar levels, for example.

    Even a person who is thin, active and free from illness might be accumulating risk by consuming UPFs that may seem innocuous or even healthy.

    The ways ultra-processed foods harm our health aren’t just about calories or individual nutrients like salt, sugar and fat, though those aren’t making things better. It’s also in the way they’re made.

    Take that seemingly healthy tub of yogurt. On its own, yogurt is indeed very healthy. The problem is when things like jam-like fruit with preservatives or artificial vanilla flavouring are added. They make yogurt taste better but can push it into unhealthy territory.

    Even after we eliminated the impacts of influences such as the survey respondents’ body mass index, age, exercise and smoking habits, the numbers showed a specific risk that may be related to the additives that give ultra-processed foods longer shelf life, brighter colours and enhanced flavours. For example, we know that the modern diet of highly processed food is associated with distorted hormone levels.

    Some products are so heavily processed that it appears our bodies may not respond to them as they would to more natural foods. UPFs trigger inflammatory responses that suggest the body regards them as stressors, rather than nutrition.

    Substituting UPFs for healthy foods

    We learned from survey respondents that consumers are increasingly using UPFs as substitutes for healthy staples such as vegetables and fruit. This is not surprising when the wrapper on a granola bar proclaims its contents to be a good source of fibre, or a when a sports drink label says it’s a good source of electrolytes, Vitamin D or some other single nutrient.

    Granola bars are often marketed as containing fibre. While the claim may be factual, many granola bars are also high in sugar, fat or salt.
    (Shutterstock)

    While these claims are factual, they don’t represent the entire or even most significant effects of the products inside. For a long time, food policies have been very focused on single nutrients rather than thinking about the totality of our food supply.

    Our complex food supply has come to be heavily influenced by huge multinational companies and their need for sales instead of our need for health, to the point where marketing and packaging have made it challenging to understand exactly what we are eating or drinking.

    That is starting to change. Starting in January 2026, the Canadian government will require food packaging to prominently declare the presence of unhealthy amounts of sodium, sugar and saturated fat.



    Read more:
    Front-of-package food labels: A path to healthier choices

    While that will be a significant and welcome improvement in transparency, it will not change the fact that a loaf of mass-manufactured white bread, a package of bacon or even a tray of muffins may also be harming the people who eat them in ways they have not even considered.

    Setting reduction targets

    Canada’s food guide, produced by Health Canada, only suggests we limit the amount of processed food we eat, but it doesn’t set any clear national target for how much we should cut our consumption. While most other countries also stop short of setting specific limits, France has gone a step further by aiming to cut national consumption of ultra-processed foods by 20 per cent over five years.

    Setting a similar national reduction target in Canada could have a particularly significant, positive effect on people in care homes, hospitals and schools that are required to use Canada’s Food Guide in planning their menus.

    Individual consumers know how easy it is to fall into the habit of eating too many ultra-processed foods. They are hard to resist because they are heavily marketed, usually tasty, reasonably affordable and appear to make life easier by saving time and effort.

    Understanding more about what these appealing products are really doing to people is an important step toward helping consumers make better, more informed choices. We are already working on more research to understand more about what’s really inside those bright shiny packages that keep finding their way into shopping carts.

    Anthea Christoforou receives funding from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada and has previously received funding from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research.

    Angelina Baric does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

    – ref. Ultra-processed foods are everywhere — and they’re quietly raising health risks – https://theconversation.com/ultra-processed-foods-are-everywhere-and-theyre-quietly-raising-health-risks-256419

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –

  • MIL-OSI Security: Chinese National Pleads Guilty to Acting at the Direction of North Korea to Export Firearms, Ammo, and Technology to North Korea

    Source: United States Department of Justice Criminal Division

    An illegal alien from China pleaded guilty today to federal criminal charges for illegally exporting firearms, ammunition and other military items to North Korea by concealing them inside shipping containers that departed from the Port of Long Beach, California, and for committing this crime at the direction of North Korean government officials, who wired him approximately $2 million for his efforts.

    Shenghua Wen, 42, of Ontario, California, pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to violate the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) and one count of acting as an illegal agent of a foreign government. Wen has been in federal custody since his arrest in December 2024.

    According to his plea agreement, Wen is a citizen of the People’s Republic of China who entered the United States in 2012 on a student visa and remained in the U.S. illegally after his student visa expired in December 2013.

    Prior to entering the United States, Wen met with officials from North Korea’s government at a North Korean embassy in China. These government officials directed Wen to procure goods on behalf of North Korea.

    In 2022, two North Korean government officials contacted Wen through an online messaging platform and instructed him to buy and smuggle firearms and other goods – including sensitive technology – from the United States to North Korea via China.

    In 2023, at the direction of North Korean government officials, Wen shipped at least three containers of firearms out of the Port of Long Beach to China en route to their ultimate destination in North Korea. Wen took steps to conceal that he was illegally shipping firearms to North Korea by, among other things, filing false export information regarding the contents of the containers.

    In May 2023, Wen purchased a firearms business in Houston, paid for with money sent through intermediaries by one of Wen’s North Korean contacts. Wen purchased many of the firearms he sent to North Korea in Texas and drove the firearms from Texas to California, where he arranged for them to be shipped.

    In December 2023, one of Wen’s weapons shipments – which falsely reported to U.S. officials that it contained a refrigerator – left the Port of Long Beach and arrived in Hong Kong in January 2024. This weapons shipment was later transported from Hong Kong to Nampo, North Korea.

    In September 2024, Wen – once again acting at the direction of North Korean officials – bought approximately 60,000 rounds of 9mm ammunition that he intended to ship to North Korea.

    In furtherance of the conspiracy and at the direction of North Korean officials, Wen also obtained sensitive technology that he intended to send to North Korea. This technology included a chemical threat identification device and a handheld broadband receiver that detects known, unknown, illegal, disruptive or interfering transmissions.

    Wen also acquired or offered to acquire a civilian airplane engine and a thermal imaging system that could be mounted on a drone, helicopter, or other aircraft, and could be used for reconnaissance and target identification.

    During the scheme, North Korean officials wired approximately $2 million to Wen to procure firearms and other goods for their government.

    Wen admitted that at all relevant times he knew that it was illegal to ship firearms, ammunition, and sensitive technology to North Korea. He also admitted to never having the required licenses to export ammunition, firearms, and the above-described devices to North Korea. He further admitted to acting at the direction of North Korean government officials and that he had not provided notification to the Attorney General of the United States that he was acting in the United States at the direction and control of North Korea as required by law.

    Wen faces a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison on the count of violating the IEEPA and a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison on the count of acting as an illegal agent of a foreign government. Sentencing is scheduled for Aug. 18. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

    Assistant Attorney General for National Security John Eisenberg, U.S. Attorney Bilal A. Essayli for the Central District of California, and Assistant Director Roman Rozhavsky of the FBI Counterintelligence Division made the announcement.

    The FBI, Homeland Security Investigations, Defense Criminal Investigative Service (DCIS), the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), and the Department of Commerce Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) are investigating the case.

    Assistant U.S. Attorney Sarah E. Gerdes for the Central District of California and Trial Attorney Ahmed Almudallal of the National Security Division’s Counterintelligence and Export Control Section are prosecuting the case.

    MIL Security OSI –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Tuberville, Ricketts Reintroduce Legislation to Codify Oversight on Foreign Purchases of American Farmland

    US Senate News:

    Source: United States Senator for Alabama Tommy Tuberville

    Alabama has fourth-highest amount of foreign owned farmland with 2.2 million acres

    WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Tommy Tuberville (R-AL) joined U.S. Senator Pete Ricketts (R-NE) to reintroduce the Agricultural Foreign Investment Disclosure (AFIDA) Improvements Act to bolster reporting requirements for foreign owners of American farmland. The legislation would codify recommendations to the original AFIDA of 1978 that were published in January 2024 by the Government Accountability Office (GAO) after it found that the U.S. Department of Agriculture is not prepared to fully combat foreign ownership of American farmland by foreign adversaries.

    “Over the past several decades, China has been buying up American farmland in an attempt to infiltrate our agriculture supply chains,” said Senator Tuberville. “Food security is national security, and we cannot give the CCP a foothold. Thankfully, President Trump and Ag Secretary Brooke Rollins are working to make American Farmland American Again. I’m proud to join this legislation with Senator Ricketts to update our reporting requirements for foreign purchases of our farmland for the first time in nearly 50 years. As Alabama’s voice on the Senate Ag Committee, I will always support our great farmers and work to protect them from bad actors like China.”

    “Agriculture is the heart and soul of Nebraska and of America,” said Senator Ricketts. ”American farmland should remain in the hands of American farmers and ranchers, not foreign adversaries. Food security is national security.”

    U.S. Representative Don Bacon (R-NE-02) introduced companion legislation in the U.S. House of Representatives.

    BACKGROUND:

    According to USDA data from December 2023, foreign investors own more than 45 million acres of U.S. agricultural land. And in Alabama, we have the FOURTH-HIGHEST amount of foreign-owned land in the U.S. with 2.2 million acres.

    Senator Tuberville has been a staunch leader in protecting America’s farmland and agricultural supply chains from foreign influence. Earlier this year, he reintroduced two pieces of legislation—the Protecting America’s Agricultural Land from Foreign Harm Act and the Foreign Adversary Risk Management (FARM) Act—to further safeguard our domestic agriculture resources.

    The Agricultural Foreign Investment Disclosure (AFIDA) Improvements Act would:

    • Increase information sharing between the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS) and USDA
    • Require updates to the AFIDA handbook
    • Establish a deadline by which USDA must set up an online AFIDA system
    • Require AFIDA reporting for foreign persons holding more than 1% interest in American agricultural land

    Senator Tommy Tuberville represents Alabama in the United States Senate and is a member of the Senate Armed Services, Agriculture, Veterans’ Affairs, HELP and Aging Committees.

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Tuberville, Banks Move to Protect Americans’ Financial Data from the CCP

    US Senate News:

    Source: United States Senator for Alabama Tommy Tuberville

    WASHINGTON – Today, U.S. Senator Tommy Tuberville (R-AL) and U.S. Senator Jim Banks (R-IN) took action to ensure Americans’ financial data is protected from exposure to the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) through popular financial trading platforms.

    In a letter to the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Chairman Paul Atkins, Senators Tuberville and Banks asked that the SEC ensure two Chinese-linked companies are complying with American laws and regulations. The companies, Webull Financial, LLC (Webull) and Moomoo, Inc. (Moomoo), are widely-used stock trading platforms operating within the United States.

    “The biggest threat facing our country today is communist China,” said Senator Tuberville. “Thankfully, we now have a Commander-in-Chief in President Trump who is taking the threat of China incredibly seriously. China doesn’t need a spy balloon to steal our information — they’ve got spies in the smartphones of millions of Americans, harvesting valuable information every second. The United States must protect the personal data of our citizens from falling into the hands of our greatest adversary.”

    “Webull has a track record of collecting highly sensitive personal data from American consumers, including Social Security numbers,” said Senator Banks. “We cannot allow any platform like this tied to the Chinese Communist Party to sidestep our rules and jeopardize Americans’ personal data. That is why I am demanding the SEC ensures that any foreign platform is complying with American regulations, so long as they have access to our financial markets.” 

    The full text of the letter can be found here and pasted below.

    “Chairman Paul Atkins

    Securities and Exchange Commission

    100 F Street NE

    Washington, D.C. 20549

    Chairman Atkins:

    Congratulations on your confirmation as the 34th Chairman of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Over the last four years, your predecessor, Gary Gensler, mismanaged the SEC and pushed a radical anti-business, anti-investor, and anti-innovation agenda that stifled our financial markets, harmed retail investors, and made America less competitive. Fortunately, President Trump is acting quickly and decisively to reverse the Biden administration’s many failures and restore the American economy to greatness. Your pro-growth, pro-investor leadership is needed now more than ever to reestablish the SEC’s credibility, unleash the full power of America’s financial markets, and provide more opportunity for millions of Main Street Americans who want to invest for the future.

    While former Chairman Gensler prioritized multiple regulatory solutions in search of problems, such as his illegal “climate change” disclosure rule and his enforcement program designed to systematically destroy the cryptocurrency industry in the U.S., he ignored the very real threats against retail investors that we and our colleagues repeatedly brought to his attention related to the infiltration of our capital markets by Chinese-owned broker-dealers with possible ties to the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), including Webull, MooMoo, and Prometheum.[i]  For example, in May 2023, then-Congressman, now Senator, Banks and I wrote to Chairman Gensler and Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) CEO Robert Cook:

    As you are aware, Webull and Moomoo collect highly sensitive personal information from millions of their U.S. customers, including personally identifiable information (PII) such as Social Security numbers, mailing addresses, and financial account data. . . . In light of Beijing’s increasingly strict privacy laws barring many Chinese companies from sharing data with Western regulators, the presence of Webull registered representatives in the PRC raises serious concerns regarding (1) Webull’s ability to meet its supervisory obligations under SEC and FINRA rules; (2) the SEC’s and FINRA’s ability to oversee and examine Webull and its registered representatives and associated persons located in the PRC; (3) the adequacy of Webull’s compliance with all SEC and FINRA recordkeeping requirements; (4) the ability of the SEC and FINRA to adequately enforce federal securities laws, including the ability to obtain documents and information from Webull employees located in the PRC; and (5) the potential for U.S. customer PII to be shared or exfiltrated to Webull employees or affiliated entities located in the PRC.[ii]

    Since then, the House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party (Select Committee) and several State Attorneys General, led by Indiana Attorney General Todd Rokita, have opened separate inquiries into Webull’s ties to the CCP and have exposed troubling facts which call into question the safety of these platforms for U.S. retail investors.[iii]  For example, the Select Committee discovered that an affiliate or subsidiary of Webull (Hunan Weibu Information Technology Co., Ltd., ) “received multiple grants from the Changsha Municipal Government’s special fund to optimize foreign investment through cost offsets supporting offshore service outsourcing,” pursuant to which “recipients of this special fund are required to ‘support the leadership of the Chinese Communist Party.’”[iv]  Similarly, the State Attorneys General inquiry found that “Webull appears to have an affiliated research and development facility (R&D Facility) with hundreds of employees in Changsha, China. SEC filings indicate that the R&D Facility may provide services or support to Webull’s US brokerage operations.”[v]  In fact, Webull’s May 9, 2025, Prospectus states:

    “[O]ur mainland China subsidiary, Hunan Weibu Information Technology Co., Ltd., employs 731 employees, representing 61% of our employees as of December 31, 2024, and is subject to the jurisdiction of the People’s Republic of China. We cannot be certain that future laws, rules, or regulations will not be drafted in a way that brings us within their scope and that such laws will not materially and adversely affect our business, financial condition, and results of operations.”

    We were disappointed to see that earlier this year, the SEC approved Webull to proceed with its Special Purpose Acquisition Company (SPAC) transaction, which now allows Webull to fully exploit U.S. markets – and, by extension, American investors who put their hard-earned money to work in these markets – as a public company listed on Nasdaq. Webull’s March 2025 Investor Presentation filed with the SEC on March 31, 2025, and its May 2025 Prospectus, appear to contain many of the same troubling connections between Webull and the CCP that legislators and law enforcement authorities have repeatedly raised to your predecessor, including continued ownership and control by individuals and entities that appear to be domiciled in China.[vi]The SEC should not allow Chinese companies to list on U.S. exchanges and enjoy the benefits of our capital markets, while failing to adhere to U.S. law. As Senator Rick Scott noted in a letter to you earlier this month, “These companies consistently fail to meet the requirements of our markets – misleading American investors and putting their investments and U.S. national security and economic security at risk[.]” The risks posed by Chinese companies listed in the U.S. were the recent subject of an April 9, 2025 joint House-Senate hearing titled, “Financial Aggression: How the Chinese Communist Party Exploits American Retirees and Undermines National Security.”[vii]   

    Relatedly, the notion of registering broker-dealers with ties to the CCP – especially firms with affiliates, operations, and owners based in China – is entirely inconsistent with the federal securities laws, FINRA rules, and the Holding Foreign Companies Accountable Act of 2020.[viii]  As you know, neither the SEC nor FINRA have the authority to conduct examinations or enforcement investigations of Webull’s substantial operations and employees in mainland China which, as noted above, may support the U.S. brokerage.   

    We urge you to take immediate action to delist all Chinese companies from the U.S. markets and rescind Chinese-owned broker-dealers’ licenses to operate in the U.S.

    Sincerely,”

    BACKGROUND:

    Webull and Moomoo are two widely-used stock trading platforms operating in the United States that are registered with the SEC and Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA). The parent companies of Webull and Moomoo are owned by Chinese entities with close ties to Chinese telecom giants Xiaomi and Tencent, which have reportedly aided the Chinese Communist Party in its efforts to surveil and suppress its citizens.

    Despite their ties to China, the SEC and FINRA allow Webull and Moomoo to operate as registered broker-dealers in the United States and to freely collect and store personally identifiable information — including Social Security numbers, mailing addresses, and sensitive financial account data — for millions of U.S. citizens.

    Senator Tuberville first called for an investigation into Webull and Moomoo in July 2022. In a letter to SEC Chairman Gary Gensler, Senator Tuberville and his colleagues Senators Ted Cruz (R-TX), Mike Braun (R-IN), Rick Scott (R-FL), and Roger Marshall (R-KS) expressed concerns over these firms’ data sharing practices and ties to the CCP – both of which could put U.S. investors at risk.

    Senator Tuberville and Senator Banks sent a similar letter to the SEC and FINRA in 2023.

    Senator Tuberville believes the Communist Chinese Party seeks to overtake the United States as the top global superpower and that America must face China’s growing military and non-military threats with clear-eyed resolve.

    Senator Tommy Tuberville represents Alabama in the United States Senate and is a member of the Senate Armed Services, Agriculture, Veterans’ Affairs, HELP and Aging Committees.

    MIL OSI USA News –