Category: housing

MIL-OSI USA: Padilla Announces Bill to Reopen Lawful Pathway to Legalization, Countering Trump’s Cruel Mass Deportation Agenda
US Senate News:
Source: United States Senator Alex Padilla (D-Calif.)

Padilla Announces Bill to Reopen Lawful Pathway to Legalization, Countering Trump’s Cruel Mass Deportation Agenda
WATCH: Padilla pushes back against indiscriminate ICE raids and the militarization of Los Angeles

A one-pager on the Registry bill is available here.

LOS ANGELES, CA — Today, U.S. Senator Alex Padilla (D-Calif.), Ranking Member of the Senate Judiciary Immigration Subcommittee, hosted a press conference in Los Angeles alongside immigration advocates, impacted families, and community leaders to announce legislation to expand a pathway to lawful permanent residency for millions of long-term U.S. residents. Amid the Trump Administration’s indiscriminate immigration enforcement in California and across the country, the bill would offer a forward-looking, strategic update to our outdated immigration system to counter President Trump and Stephen Miller’s demonization of undocumented immigrant communities.

Padilla’s Renewing Immigration Provisions of the Immigration Act of 1929 would update the existing Registry statute of the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) by adjusting the Registry date to meet current circumstances so that an immigrant may qualify to apply for lawful permanent resident status if they have lived in the U.S. continuously for at least seven years before filing an application, do not have a criminal record, and meet all other current eligibility requirements to receive a green card.

This overdue update would provide a much-needed pathway to a green card for more than 8 million people, including Dreamers, forcibly displaced citizens (TPS holders), children of long-term visa holders, essential workers, and highly skilled members of our workforce, such as H-1B visa holders, who have been waiting years for a green card to become available. According to 2023 FWD.us estimates, if the undocumented individuals covered in this bill eventually became citizens, they would contribute approximately $121 billion to the U.S. economy annually and about $35 billion in taxes.

Senator Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), Ranking Member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, is co-leading the legislation in the Senate, and Representative Zoe Lofgren (D-Calif.-18) is leading companion legislation in the House of Representatives.

“Americans know there’s a better path forward than the Trump Administration’s cruel scapegoating of hardworking immigrants and fearmongering of California communities,” said Senator Padilla. “We believe that if you’ve lived here for over seven years, paid taxes for years, contributed to your community for years, and you don’t have a criminal record, then you deserve a pathway to legalization. My bill is a commonsense fix to our outdated immigration system and the same kind of reform that Republican President Ronald Reagan embraced four decades ago, calling it a ‘matter of basic fairness.’ This legislation creates no new bureaucracies or agencies — it’s simply an update to a longstanding pathway to reflect today’s reality and provide a fair shot at the American Dream for millions of Dreamers, TPS holders, and highly skilled workers who have faced delays and uncertainty for decades.”

“Recently, we have seen devastating arrests of immigrants who have spent their lives in this country, building communities and families in the United States, without any due process. Most have never committed any crime. Protections for these hard-working individuals are long overdue. It’s common sense that immigrants who pose no safety threat and contribute to our country should be able to call America home with certainty; additionally, it’s also common sense that the small percentage of undocumented immigrants who do commit violent crimes should be removed. Expanding the registry pathway to citizenship is a practical solution to provide stability to immigrants who have worked and contributed to our country for years. It’s part of the solution, and I look forward to working to pass this bill into law,” said U.S. Senate Democratic Whip Durbin, Ranking Member of the Senate Judiciary Committee.

“When Donald Trump ran for president, he pledged to deport violent criminals. Instead, masked, heavily-armed agents, often refusing to identify themselves, are aggressively, sometimes violently, targeting day laborers, busboys, farmworkers, and some of the hardest-working people in this country. It’s outrageous and deserves the condemnation of every Member of Congress. We need to control our borders, but we also need a straightforward reform solution for those who have resided peacefully for a long time in America,” said Representative Lofgren. “My colleagues and I are reintroducing our registry legislation to simply update a historically-bipartisan provision that provides lawful permanent resident status to vetted immigrants who have been a part of our communities for years. Providing stability to our communities and our workforces – versus terrorizing them – will make our country stronger.”

The bill is cosponsored by U.S. Senators Cory Booker (D-N.J.), Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.), Ben Ray Luján (D-N.M.), Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.), Chris Murphy (D-Conn.), Patty Murray (D-Wash.), Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii), Adam Schiff (D-Calif.), and Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.).

Section 249 of the Immigration and Nationality Act, also known as the Registry, gives the Secretary of Homeland Security the discretion to register certain individuals for lawful permanent resident status if they have been in the country since a certain date and meet other requirements. Section 249 was first codified in 1929 and Congress has modified it four times, most recently during the Reagan Administration in 1986. No changes have been made since 1986, and the cutoff date for eligibility remains January 1, 1972 — more than 50 years ago.

Specifically, the Renewing Immigration Provisions of the Immigration Act of 1929 would:

Amend the existing Registry statute by moving the eligibility cutoff date so that an immigrant may qualify for lawful permanent resident status if they have been in the U.S. for at least seven years before filing an application under Registry.

Preempt the need for further congressional action by making the eligibility cutoff rolling, instead of tying it to a specific date, as it is now.

Padilla continues to lead the charge to pass commonsense immigration reforms that strengthen communities, protect long-term residents, and unlock America’s economic potential. He was joined today by community members impacted by the Trump Administration’s cruel immigration raids, including Alejandro Barranco — a veteran and the son of Narciso, who was violently detained by masked Customs and Border Protection (CBP) agents in Orange County.

“As the son of a hardworking immigrant, I never imagined our family’s story would become national news. Yet the violent and unjust treatment my father endured on June 21st is one that countless others are experiencing across this country. My father, a man who has spent over 30 years working to provide for our family, was beaten and detained by men with no identification—simply for doing the work that makes this country great. This attack wasn’t just on him; it was on every immigrant who has ever sacrificed for the American dream. It’s long overdue for this country’s broken immigration system to be fixed, or more families will continue to be torn apart. I stand with leaders like Senator Padilla to fight for a pathway to citizenship for people like my dad, whose contributions make America stronger,” said Alejandro Barranco.

“I ask the American people: if you trust us to pick your crops, help build your homes, take care of your children and elderly parents, play with sons and daughters in the same sports teams, why won’t you trust us to be part of the American dream? A path to citizenship is the only solution that will protect us and the nation. Only a path to citizenship will allow us to live free in this our home, the United States of America,” said Angelica Salas, Executive Director for Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights (CHIRLA).

Senator Padilla is a leading voice in Congress for providing long-term undocumented immigrants with pathways to citizenship or permanent legal residence. As Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) raids and mass deportation assaults intensified in Los Angeles, Padilla marked the 13th anniversary of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) policy by urging Congress to take immediate action to deliver permanent protections for millions of families, parents, and individuals who are increasingly at risk amid President Trump’s mass deportation agenda. He also delivered remarks on the Senate floor ahead of the anniversary, pushing for permanent protections for Dreamers rather than the indiscriminate ICE raids stoking fear in Los Angeles communities. Padilla previously introduced the Citizenship for Essential Workers Act, which would create a pathway to citizenship for immigrant essential workers, including Dreamers, as his first bill in Congress.

Senator Padilla has been outspoken in criticizing Trump’s mass deportations and unprecedented militarization and escalation of tensions by deploying National Guard troops and active-duty U.S. Marines to respond to overwhelmingly peaceful protests in Los Angeles. He recently introduced the VISIBLE Act to require immigration enforcement officers to display clearly visible identification during public-facing enforcement actions. He also led the entire Senate Democratic Caucus last month in demanding that President Trump immediately withdraw all military forces from Los Angeles and cease all threats to deploy the National Guard or active-duty service members to American cities. Padilla spoke on the Senate floor following his forcible removal from Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem’s press conference, where he was thrown to the ground and handcuffed after attempting to ask a question.

Video of Senator Padilla’s opening remarks from today’s press conference can be viewed here and downloaded here. His closing remarks are available to watch here and can be downloaded here.

Additional photos from today’s event can be found here.

A one-pager on the bill is available here.

Full text of the bill is available here.
MIL OSI USA News –
July 26, 2025
MIL-OSI Russia: The Zhengzhou Consensus was published at the SCO Media and Think Tank Summit

Translation. Region: Russian Federal

Source: People’s Republic of China in Russian – People’s Republic of China in Russian –

An important disclaimer is at the bottom of this article.

Source: People’s Republic of China – State Council News

ZHENGZHOU, July 25 (Xinhua) — The “Zhengzhou Consensus” was released at the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) Media and Think Tank Summit in Zhengzhou on Friday.

The SCO Media and Think Tank Summit is being held in Zhengzhou, capital of Henan Province, central China, from July 23 to 27.

The event is attended by more than 400 representatives of almost 200 media outlets, think tanks, government bodies of SCO member states, observer states and dialogue partner countries, as well as international and regional organizations.

As noted in the Zhengzhou Consensus, the Summit featured a broad exchange of views on the theme of “Developing the Shanghai Spirit and Jointly Building a Beautiful Home,” and deeply explored ways to more effectively utilize the role of the media and think tanks to promote the strengthening of traditional friendship among SCO countries, deepen mutually beneficial cooperation, and build a closer SCO community with a shared future.

The participants of the event noted that the SCO plays an important role in strengthening good-neighborliness, friendship, solidarity and mutual trust among the countries of the region, protecting regional security and stability, promoting prosperity and development in the region. The SCO media and think tanks should fully utilize their role as a bridge and link, jointly tell the stories of Shanghai cooperation, demonstrate the glorious achievements of Shanghai cooperation, and contribute wisdom and strength to promoting peace, stability, prosperity and development at both the regional and global levels.

It was noted that deepening political mutual trust and strengthening strategic alignment are extremely important for ensuring sustainable and long-term development of the SCO, as well as protecting national security and development interests of the countries in the region. The SCO media and analytical centers should step up explanations of national characteristics, development paths and strategies of the SCO member countries, promote strengthening communication between states, overcoming disagreements, developing consensus, strengthening mutual trust, respecting mutual development paths, protecting each other’s fundamental interests and jointly building the SCO common home, the summit participants said.

According to the participants, ensuring regional security and stability is both a common responsibility of the SCO countries and an inevitable choice for jointly countering global challenges. In the context of a volatile and turbulent international situation and in response to the common aspirations of the peoples of all countries, the SCO media and think tanks should implement the Global Security Initiative, jointly popularize the SCO’s position and actions to protect peace and tranquility, create a favorable atmosphere for building a balanced, effective and sustainable security architecture and maintaining regional security and stability, as well as peace throughout the world, the participants noted.

According to them, achieving modernization is the common goal of all SCO countries. The SCO media and think tanks should implement the Global Development Initiative, jointly tell vivid stories of how the SCO countries promote economic integration, coordinated development and shared achievements, further strengthen the consensus on cooperation among all countries, strengthen the alignment of development strategies and regional cooperation initiatives, and create conditions for each country to prosper, develop and promote modernization.

It was pointed out that civilization becomes more colorful through exchanges and richer through mutual learning. The harmonious development of various civilizations is a beautiful vision of the people of the SCO countries. The SCO media and think tanks should implement the Global Civilization Initiative, jointly advocate respect for the diversity of civilizations, widely pool the wisdom and strength of multiple entities such as governments, enterprises, academic institutions and social organizations, so as to promote the inclusive coexistence of various civilizations and promote mutual understanding and closeness among the people of all countries.

The summit participants called for the protection of genuine multilateralism and the improvement of global governance, as it serves the common interests of all SCO members. The SCO media and think tanks should promote universal values, jointly disseminate the concept of global governance based on “joint consultation, joint construction and joint use”, make a loud epochal call for unity, cooperation and justice instead of division, confrontation and hegemony, and jointly promote the development of the international order in a more just and rational direction.

In addition, they also expressed the hope that this summit will help SCO media organizations and think tanks form a broad consensus, deepen practical cooperation in such areas as joint reporting, personnel training, academic exchanges and research, promote unity, cooperation, development and upliftment of the region, inject new energy into building a closer community with a shared future for the SCO, and promote the creation of a beautiful home of peace, stability, prosperity and beauty.

The SCO Media and Think Tank Summit is jointly organized by Xinhua, the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences and the Henan Provincial People’s Government under the leadership of the State Council Information Office. –0–

Please note: This information is raw content obtained directly from the source of the information. It is an accurate report of what the source claims and does not necessarily reflect the position of MIL-OSI or its clients.

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MIL OSI Russia News –

July 26, 2025
MIL-OSI: America Must Win the Energy War: CrowdPoint Unveils Strategic Blueprint to Reinvent the U.S. Power Grid
Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

Austin, TX, July 25, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — In a bold new vision titled “America Must Win the Energy War—Here is How We Reinvent the Grid Before It Breaks Us,”Akhtar lays out a national imperative to transform the power grid from a vulnerable utility into an intelligent, sovereign infrastructure system. The stakes, he argues, are nothing less than national security.

“America’s freedom does not run on ideology—it runs on electrons. And our grid is dangerously brittle,” Akhtar warns. “The next war will be fought not just with bombs and boots—but with bits and volts.”

From Utility to Battlefield: The New Energy Doctrine

The U.S. power grid—centralized, outdated, and opaque—is increasingly failing under the strain of climate events, cyber threats, and growing demand from electric vehicles and digital infrastructure. Akhtar contends that America’s energy system must adopt the mindset and strategy of military defense: speed, autonomy, and coordination.

CrowdPoint Technologies’ answer? Optimal Energy™—a next-generation energy intelligence platform that turns traditional infrastructure into a synchronized, software-defined Virtual Power Plant (VPP).

“We don’t just move power—we command it,” says Akhtar. “This is energy as orchestration. Every home, EV, battery, and data center becomes a sovereign, real-time node in a larger battlefield strategy.”

Software as Strategic Defense

Unlike conventional grid upgrades that rely on massive physical infrastructure projects, CrowdPoint’s platform uses edge-based intelligence and predictive software to forecast, allocate, and route energy based on microsecond decision-making. The system behaves more like a financial market than a utility—anticipating spikes, preventing failures, and maximizing value.

The platform’s capabilities include:
- Microsecond-level control of energy dispatch
- Distributed autonomy at the edge
- AI-driven demand forecasting
- Military-grade coordination across vast energy assets
- Real-time anomaly detection and preemptive rerouting
“This is not about disruption—it’s about elevation. We’re elevating electrons into assets, software into defense, and power into sovereignty,” said Akhtar.

The New Eisenhower Moment

Echoing the transformative impact of the Interstate Highway System in the 1950s, Akhtar calls for a modern equivalent: a national grid modernization doctrine built through strong public-private collaboration.

“Just like highways once unified and protected America, an intelligent, adaptive energy network must do the same today,” he said. “What we need now is federal alignment—fast-tracked approvals, strategic infrastructure prioritization, and a wartime mindset.”

Why It Matters Now

As adversaries like China invest in resilient, decentralized energy architectures, the U.S. risks being left behind—or worse, exposed. With the grid now a strategic vulnerability, Akhtar emphasizes that energy independence is no longer about generation—it’s about control.

“This is not a green dream—it’s a red, white, and blue necessity,” he asserts. “America must win the energy war—not just for comfort, but for continuity. Not just for savings, but for sovereignty.”

The Mission: Make America Unbreakable

CrowdPoint is calling on stakeholders in government, utilities, and industry to adopt its blueprint and move with urgency. The technology exists. The threat is clear. The only question that remains is whether the nation is ready to act.

“If the grid fails, the Republic falters. Energy is destiny. The mission is simple: Make America Unbreakable.”

Read the complete article here.

The MIL Network –
July 26, 2025
MIL-OSI USA: Hoeven: 119th Wing in the Fight Every Day, Need New $33 Million Headquarters to Better Support Operations

US Senate News:

Source: United States Senator for North Dakota John Hoeven
07.25.25
Facility Will Bring Happy Hooligan Leadership, Support and Training Personnel Under Single Roof, Strengthening Reaper & RTS Operations
FARGO, N.D.- Senator John Hoeven today announced efforts to build a new $33 million headquarters for the North Dakota Air National Guard’s (NDANG) 119th Wing in Fargo:
The new facility will provide nearly 22,400 sq. ft. of space to consolidate the 119th Wing’s leadership, support and training personnel under a single roof.
A replacement is needed for the existing, 66-year-old headquarters, as it lacks adequate space to house the various aspects of the 119th Wing’s missions.
This results in operational inefficiencies and imposes high maintenance costs on the unit, which must maintain multiple outdated facilities.

As a member of the Senate Military Construction and Veterans Affairs Appropriations Committee, Hoeven secured an initial $2 million in Fiscal Year (FY) 2025 for planning and design of the new headquarters.
The Wing expects to award the design contract in the coming weeks, with a proposed floorplan to be ready by May 2026.
Once the floorplan is approved, the final location of the building will be identified.

The facility will be purpose-built to support the range of missions and operations undertaken by the 119th Wing, including the Regional Training Site (RTS).
The RTS provides specialized training programs like Rapid Airfield Damage Repair to active-duty and Guard units from across the country.
This is one of only four RTS operated by the Air Guard in the nation, and the only Air Force RTS in the Upper Midwest region, with the next closest site being in Arkansas.

“The Happy Hooligans have a record of pure excellence, and are one of the best units in the Air National Guard. Moreover, they are in the fight globally every single day supporting our military, special forces and intelligence agencies, and they deserve facilities that more effectively support the important missions they carry out for our nation. This new $33 million headquarters will do just that by enabling them to consolidate a range of offices, staff and operations into a single, updated and purpose-built facility, rather than maintaining multiple out-of-date structures,” said Hoeven. “This aligns with our ongoing work to not only enhance the Reaper mission flown by the Happy Hooligans, but also support the specialized training they offer to military units from across the country through their Regional Training Site, the only site of its kind in the entire Upper Midwest.”
The new headquarters comes as the latest in Hoeven’s work to strengthen the missions and operations of the 119th Wing. This includes:
The $17.5 million state-of-the-art operations center that Hoeven previously worked to fund.
The 119th Wing’s MQ-9 Reaper mission began moving into the new center in 2023, and the facility is anticipated to be fully operational later this year.

Securing funding to upgrade the Reaper mission from the Block 1 to the Block 5 aircraft.
Currently, the Happy Hooligans operate four Block 5 MQ-9 Reapers, one of which has been permanently assigned to the Wing.
The Air Force plans for three additional Block 5s to have a permanent home at the Wing in the future.

Securing $10 million in FY25 funding to create a data center in the former MQ-9 ops facility to support the Test Resource Management Center’s (TRMC) Sky Range hypersonic missile testing program.
Sky Range is an innovative method for gathering information from hypersonic missile tests using refurbished Global Hawks and MQ-9s.

MIL OSI USA News –

July 26, 2025
MIL-OSI Canada: Minister’s statement on U.S. antidumping duties

Source: Government of Canada regional news

Ravi Parmar, Minister of Forests, has released the following statement in response to the softwood lumber antidumping duties announced by the United States:

“U.S. President Donald Trump has made it his mission to destroy Canada’s economy, and the forestry sector is feeling the full weight of this.

“It is no secret, the sector — one that employs tens of thousands of workers in our province — has faced years of uncertainty, driven by ongoing trade disputes, global market pressures, and the compounding effects of climate change. Now, we face further challenges, with rising unfair and unjust duties imposed by the United States.

“These duties are nothing more than a tax on middle-class Americans trying to build or rebuild a home. They are hurting people on both sides of the border, with the forestry sector being unfairly targeted.

“Let me be clear: we will not stand by while Donald Trump tries to rip paycheques out of the hands of hard-working people in B.C.

“We’re going to fight for our workers, our communities and the future of this sector. Not just to protect jobs, but to build a future where forestry workers and their families thrive for generations to come.

“Premier David Eby is at the table with other premiers federally discussing our Team Canada approach and response. In B.C., I will be convening my Softwood Lumber Advisory Council to advise and support our government’s response and strategy.

“I have appointed former deputy minister to the premier, Don Wright, as a strategic advisor on softwood lumber, to ensure B.C.’s interests are well represented, and to help us align with federal and cross-provincial efforts.

“We will continue to take action to address the challenges the forestry sector is facing because this is about more than lumber; it’s about people and place. By working together with industry, First Nations and communities, we can build a resilient and sustainable forest economy that works for people, protects our resources, and ensures long-term prosperity for everyone in B.C.”

MIL OSI Canada News –

July 26, 2025
MIL-OSI Canada: Saskatchewan Wildfire Update – July 25

Source: Government of Canada regional news

Released on July 25, 2025

As of 11:00 a.m. on Friday, July 25, there are 55 active wildfires in Saskatchewan. Of those active fires, five are categorized as contained, 14 are not contained, 18 are ongoing assessments and 18 are listed as protecting values.

Twelve communities are currently under an evacuation order: Resort Subdivision of Lac La Plonge, La Plonge Reserve, Northern Village of Beauval, Northern Hamlet of Jans Bay, Resort Subdivision of Ramsey Bay, Patuanak/English River First Nation, Montreal Lake Cree Nation, Northern Village of Pinehouse, Canoe Lake Cree First Nation/Canoe Narrows, Île-à-la-Crosse, Resort Subdivision of Cole Bay and Resort Subdivision of Little Amyot Lake.

A full list of evacuated communities can be found on the Active Evacuations webpage.

Any evacuees should register through the Sask Evac Web Application and then call 1-855-559-5502 between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. to have their needs assessed for additional assistance. Individuals who need help registering through the application can call the 855 Line for assistance.

Evacuees supported by the Canadian Red Cross should call 1-800-863-6582.

The latest wildfire information, an interactive fire ban map, frequently asked questions, fire risk maps and fire prevention tips can be found at saskpublicsafety.ca.

For more information, review the current fire bans and restrictions in provincial parks and recreation sites.

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For more information, contact:

MIL OSI Canada News –

July 26, 2025
MIL-OSI: ECN Capital Schedules Q2-2025 Conference Call

Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

TORONTO, July 25, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — ECN Capital Corp. (TSX: ECN) (“ECN Capital” or “the Company”) announced today that it intends to file its financial statements and management discussion and analysis for the three-month period ended June 30, 2025, after markets close on Thursday, August 7, 2025.

The Company will host an analyst briefing to discuss these results commencing at 5:30 PM (ET) on Thursday, August 7, 2025. The call can be accessed as follows:

A telephone replay of the conference call may also be accessed until September 8, 2025, by dialing 1-800-645-7964 and entering the passcode 5036#.

About ECN Capital Corp.

With managed assets of US$7.2 billion, ECN Capital Corp. (TSX: ECN) is a leading provider of business services to North American based institutional investor, insurance company, pension plan, bank and credit union partners (collectively our “Partners”). ECN Capital originates, manages and advises on credit assets on behalf of its Partners, specifically consumer (manufactured housing and recreational vehicle and marine) loans and commercial (floorplan and rental) loans. Our Partners are seeking high quality assets to match with their deposits, term insurance or other liabilities. These services are offered through two operating segments: (i) Manufactured Housing Finance, and (ii) Recreational Vehicles and Marine Finance.

Contact

Katherine Moradiellos
561-631-8739
kmoradiellos@ecncapitalcorp.com

The MIL Network –

July 26, 2025
MIL-OSI: ECN Capital Schedules Q2-2025 Conference Call

Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

TORONTO, July 25, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — ECN Capital Corp. (TSX: ECN) (“ECN Capital” or “the Company”) announced today that it intends to file its financial statements and management discussion and analysis for the three-month period ended June 30, 2025, after markets close on Thursday, August 7, 2025.

The Company will host an analyst briefing to discuss these results commencing at 5:30 PM (ET) on Thursday, August 7, 2025. The call can be accessed as follows:

A telephone replay of the conference call may also be accessed until September 8, 2025, by dialing 1-800-645-7964 and entering the passcode 5036#.

About ECN Capital Corp.

With managed assets of US$7.2 billion, ECN Capital Corp. (TSX: ECN) is a leading provider of business services to North American based institutional investor, insurance company, pension plan, bank and credit union partners (collectively our “Partners”). ECN Capital originates, manages and advises on credit assets on behalf of its Partners, specifically consumer (manufactured housing and recreational vehicle and marine) loans and commercial (floorplan and rental) loans. Our Partners are seeking high quality assets to match with their deposits, term insurance or other liabilities. These services are offered through two operating segments: (i) Manufactured Housing Finance, and (ii) Recreational Vehicles and Marine Finance.

Contact

Katherine Moradiellos
561-631-8739
kmoradiellos@ecncapitalcorp.com

The MIL Network –

July 26, 2025
MIL-OSI USA: After GOP Cuts Threaten Rural Healthcare, Luján and Heinrich Demand Transparency on Administration’s Inadequate Rural Health Slush Fund and Backroom Deals
US Senate News:
Source: United States Senator Ben Ray Luján (D-New Mexico)

Washington, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senators Ben Ray Luján (D-N.M.), a member of the Senate Finance Committee, and Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.), joined Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) and Ranking Member of the Senate Finance Committee, Ron Wyden (D-OR), along with 12 of their Democratic colleagues, to demand accountability from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) on how the rural health slush fund will be distributed to states and what guidance will be considered in this decision:

In a letter to Mehmet Oz, the Administrator for the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, the Senators demanded clarity on how the rural health slush fund will be distributed across the country. Earlier this month, Senate Republicans passed their “Big, Ugly Betrayal,” which delivered devastating cuts to the U.S. health care system – slashing funding by over $1 trillion dollars, the largest cut to healthcare in history. To try and cover up the damage of these cuts, they included a $50 billion rural health slush fund. However, this temporary fund only accounts for 5 percent of the cuts, which will have devastating, irreversible impacts. Perhaps even more alarming is the potentially blatant political distribution of this fund, underscoring the importance of accountability as to how CMS plans to award this money to states.

“We are alarmed by reports suggesting these taxpayer funds are already promised to Republican members of Congress in exchange for their votes in support of the Big, Ugly Betrayal. In addition, the vague legislative language creating this fund will seemingly function as your personal fund to be distributed according to your political whims. As states, patients, hospitals, nursing homes and other health care providers brace for devastating cuts, we urge you to provide straightforward, detailed answers on how you plan to administer these funds,” the Senators wrote. “Republicans in Congress hastily developed the rural health slush fund to buy their members’ votes and give their caucus political cover for voting for the Big, Ugly Betrayal. Several Members of Congress have already touted your promises about the funding their states and districts will receive from the rural health slush fund.”

Moreover, there are many questions about how the funds will be distributed. Shortly after the passage of the “Big, Ugly Betrayal,” Republican Senators took to “X” (formerly known as Twitter) to celebrate specific money for their states to support rural hospitals. Senator Britt (R-AL) tweeted: “the Senate just amended the Big Beautiful Bill to invest over $500M in Alabama’s rural hospitals.” Senator Husted (R-OH) said: “I’m proud to have secured $1.3 billion in funding for rural hospitals across Ohio—because every Ohioan deserves access to quality care close to home.” Senator Cassidy (R-LA) even noted an inequity, tweeting: “We secured a $50 billion fund to support rural hospitals. Louisiana is set to receive about 2% of that money, despite having only 1% of the U.S. population—a double share.” Since CMS has yet to release the criteria for how the funding will be awarded, there are questions about if this slush fund constituted a political pay-off.

Additionally, the Senators noted the hasty and ill-conceived wording of the fund, which leaves it open to abuse, fraud, and re-appropriation.

“Not only does the Republican rural health slush fund provide a meager amount of funding that fails to plug the $1 trillion hole caused by the Big, Ugly Betrayal, the fund is drafted in such a vague and open-ended manner that it is not even guaranteed to support rural health care. States are not required to use this funding to support rural hospitals or other rural health care providers. In fact, states can use funds to pay any health care providers, support technology-driven efforts like wearable devices, or fund unproven models of care that have nothing to do with rural health,” the Senators continued. “Further, there are no parameters outlined in the legislative language for how CMS should award, distribute, or rescind funding from the rural health slush fund, making it even more susceptible to abuse.”

To combat this apparent political giveaway, the Senators demanded answers on several questions, including:
- When will CMS provide guidance to states on criteria for an application?
- Will they commit to clear defined criteria before distributing these funds, and an appeals process related to funding award decisions?
- Will CMS prioritize rural providers receiving these funding awards?
- How will CMS define proper vs improper use of funds and accountability for how CMS will hold states accountable for improper use?
- What states/districts has the Trump administration already promised funding to?
In addition to Luján, Heinrich, Schumer, and Wyden, other Senators who signed on to the letter include Senators Alsobrooks (D-MD), Blumenthal (D-CT), Durbin (D-IL), Gillibrand (D-NY), Kim (D-NJ), Markey (D-MA), Merkley (D-OR), Padilla (D-CA), Sanders (I-VT), Smith (D-MN), Van Hollen (D-MD), and Warren (D-MA).

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

Dear Administrator Oz:

As you know, the Republican reconciliation bill cuts funding to the U.S. health care system by over $1 trillion, and will devastate communities nationwide, with disproportionate, negative impacts on health care access in rural America. To cover up the harms of these catastrophic cuts, Trump and Republicans stood up a temporary $50 billion rural health slush fund. This meager investment amounts to just five percent of the Big, Ugly Betrayal’s largest health care cuts in history.

We are alarmed by reports suggesting these taxpayer funds are already promised to Republican members of Congress in exchange for their votes in support of the Big, Ugly Betrayal. In addition, the vague legislative language creating this fund will seemingly function as your personal fund to be distributed according to your political whims. As states, patients, hospitals, nursing homes and other health care providers brace for devastating cuts, we urge you to provide straightforward, detailed answers on how you plan to administer these funds.

Republicans in Congress hastily developed the rural health slush fund to buy their members’ votes and give their caucus political cover for voting for the reconciliation bill. Several Members of Congress have already touted your promises about the funding their states and districts will receive from the rural health slush fund. Before the Big, Ugly Betrayal was even signed into law, Senator Husted celebrated the $1.3 billion he claims is promised to rural hospitals in Ohio,^[1] and Senator Hawley said the bill will give $1 billion to rural hospitals in Missouri.^[2]

Other reports suggest you promised to send funding from the rural health slush fund to districts in Pennsylvania that are not even rural.^[3] The Trump Administration’s explanation that this fund can and will be used for more than rural areas was a key fact that swayed Republicans to vote for the bill.^[4] The rural health slush fund appears to be nothing more than a political parachute to pay off members of Congress for their unpopular votes.

Rural communities will suffer greatly because of the health care cuts enacted in the Republican reconciliation bill. One-third of all rural hospitals are already at risk of closing, and the bill will force over 330 rural hospitals to reduce service lines, convert to other types of hospitals with fewer services, or close altogether.^[5] The Big, Ugly Betrayal makes no meaningful investments in rural hospitals, rural health centers, and other rural health care providers, which have some of the most fragile operating margins in the nation, and often are the largest employers and economic engines of their communities.

Not only does the Republican rural health slush fund provide a meager amount of funding that fails to plug the $1 trillion hole caused by the reconciliation bill, the fund is drafted in such a vague and open-ended manner that it is not even guaranteed to support rural health care. States are not required to use this funding to support rural hospitals or other rural health care providers. In fact, states can use funds to pay any health care providers, support technology-driven efforts like wearable devices, or fund unproven models of care that have nothing to do with rural health.

Further, there are no parameters outlined in the legislative language for how CMS should award, distribute, or rescind funding from the rural health slush fund, making it even more susceptible to abuse. There is no clear definition of an appropriate state application for the rural health slush fund, CMS is not required to follow a clear formula for distribution of funds, and there are no guardrails on how CMS should claw back funding from states in cases of inappropriate use. Without more clarity, this rural health slush fund is vulnerable to the very abuse of taxpayer spending that Republicans purport to care about.

To provide states, rural hospitals, and other health care providers clarity on the available use of funding from the rural health slush fund in advance of the December 31, 2025 deadline for CMS to approve or deny state applications, we request that you provide a staff-level briefing on the parameters of this fund as well as detailed, written responses to the following questions by August 15, 2025:
1. When will CMS provide states with guidance on the components that should be included in an appropriate state application for funding from the fund?
1. Will CMS provide guidance to states on applications for use of funds that are required to be distributed equally among states with an approved application?
2. Will CMS provide guidance to states on applications for use of funds that are not required to be distributed equally among states?
3. What percentage of program funding will CMS allocate to rural health care providers?
1. How will CMS ensure that states use this federal funding to benefit rural hospitals and other health care facilities, providers, and patients?
2. What is the breakdown of funding that CMS anticipates allocating across the different categories of eligible providers?
3. How will CMS make sure that states use the funds for purposes that support the financial viability of rural hospitals and other health care providers, including by providing funding to address high fixed costs and low volumes, improve health care workforce retention and recruitment in rural areas, and replace aging infrastructure?
1. The Big, Ugly Betrayal outlines several metrics that CMS may consider when distributing funding to states. How will CMS apply these metrics—the number of people who live in rural communities, the number of rural health facilities in a state, and the number of Medicaid Disproportionate Share Hospitals (DSH) in a state—when distributing funding to states?
2. Will CMS commit to make the formula for awarding and distributing funds to states public before making any commitments to states and before formally distributing funding?
3. Will CMS commit to creating a public website outlining state applicants for funding, the funding formula and criteria for distributing funds, and approved state applications?
4. How will CMS define and determine improper uses of funding? How will CMS monitor funds to ensure appropriate spending and use?
5. Will CMS commit to establishing an appeals process for states to provide an opportunity to contest decisions made on award, distribution and/or clawback of funding?
6. Given the ongoing hiring freeze at CMS, it appears that the agency cannot hire more people to distribute this funding. How will CMS use the $200 million in implementation funding tied to the rural health slush fund?
1. Will CMS hire a third party to administer this fund?
2. If yes, has CMS already committed to a hire a specific third party to administer this fund and, if so, which vendor?
3. What other states or districts have Trump Administration officials already promised funding from the rural health slush fund to? Which states and districts have received this promised funding?
While this taxpayer-supported rural health slush fund is wholly insufficient to plug the massive hole created by the Big, Ugly Betrayal including the 15 million people expected to lose insurance coverage, it is critical that CMS move with urgency to provide clarity to rural communities, states, hospitals, and other health care providers about the fund. We look forward to your prompt response.
MIL OSI USA News –
July 26, 2025
MIL-OSI Security: Roanoke Rapids Man Sentenced in Large-Scale Drug and Gun Case

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

RALEIGH, N.C. – Diandre Sherod Ireland, aka “Debo”, 35, was sentenced Wednesday to 13 years in prison for drug trafficking in Roanoke Rapids.

“This sentence reflects the serious threat posed by fentanyl traffickers who fuel addiction and violence in our communities,” said Acting U.S. Attorney Daniel P. Bubar. “We remain committed to working with our law enforcement partners to hold accountable those who profit from dealing this deadly poison.”

“This conviction is the culmination of hard work by the Halifax Narcotics and Gang Taskforce, a partnership between RRPD and the Halifax County Sheriff’s Office, as well as our federal law enforcement partners, and the U.S. Attorney’s Office. The dedication of each,” said Roanoke Rapids Police Chief Lawrence Wiggins.

“Over the past three years we have built an excellent relationship with our local, state and federal law enforcement partners. We have used this partnership to go after those who are terrorizing our community,” said Halifax County Sheriff Tyree Davis. “Drugs and gangs are a problem in Halifax County and a vast majority of our murders, violent crimes and non-violent crimes are directly related to drugs and gangs. In partnership with the Roanoke Rapids Police Department, our (HCSO & RRPD) Drug and Gang Task Force works tirelessly to ensure our communities are safer. Our agents will build strong, detailed cases. The Chief and I take a tough stance on drugs and gangs.”

According to court documents and other information presented in court, the Halifax Regional Drug and Gang Task Force began investigating Ireland in 2022 after sources identified him as a major drug supplier. Officers observed him making short visits to suspected drug houses in North Carolina and Virginia and interacting with known traffickers.

In February 2024, agents executed a search warrant at his home. When they arrived, law enforcement observed Ireland exit out the back door and toss two backpacks into the neighboring yard before returning inside. Inside the bags, investigators found more than 1,500 grams of cocaine and 300 grams of fentanyl. A search of Ireland’s home uncovered nearly 250 grams of marijuana, digital scales, more than $38,000 in cash, and four firearms – including two stolen handguns and a rifle with a high-capacity magazine.

Daniel P. Bubar, Acting U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of North Carolina, made the announcement after sentencing by U.S. District Judge James C. Dever III. The Halifax County Sheriff’s Office, the Roanoke Rapids Police Department, and the ATF investigated the case and Assistant U.S. Attorney Julie A. Childress prosecuted the case.

Related court documents and information can be found on the website of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of North Carolina or on PACER by searching for Case No. 4:24-CR-00075.

MIL Security OSI –

July 26, 2025
MIL-OSI Security: Roanoke Rapids Man Sentenced in Large-Scale Drug and Gun Case

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

RALEIGH, N.C. – Diandre Sherod Ireland, aka “Debo”, 35, was sentenced Wednesday to 13 years in prison for drug trafficking in Roanoke Rapids.

“This sentence reflects the serious threat posed by fentanyl traffickers who fuel addiction and violence in our communities,” said Acting U.S. Attorney Daniel P. Bubar. “We remain committed to working with our law enforcement partners to hold accountable those who profit from dealing this deadly poison.”

“This conviction is the culmination of hard work by the Halifax Narcotics and Gang Taskforce, a partnership between RRPD and the Halifax County Sheriff’s Office, as well as our federal law enforcement partners, and the U.S. Attorney’s Office. The dedication of each,” said Roanoke Rapids Police Chief Lawrence Wiggins.

“Over the past three years we have built an excellent relationship with our local, state and federal law enforcement partners. We have used this partnership to go after those who are terrorizing our community,” said Halifax County Sheriff Tyree Davis. “Drugs and gangs are a problem in Halifax County and a vast majority of our murders, violent crimes and non-violent crimes are directly related to drugs and gangs. In partnership with the Roanoke Rapids Police Department, our (HCSO & RRPD) Drug and Gang Task Force works tirelessly to ensure our communities are safer. Our agents will build strong, detailed cases. The Chief and I take a tough stance on drugs and gangs.”

According to court documents and other information presented in court, the Halifax Regional Drug and Gang Task Force began investigating Ireland in 2022 after sources identified him as a major drug supplier. Officers observed him making short visits to suspected drug houses in North Carolina and Virginia and interacting with known traffickers.

In February 2024, agents executed a search warrant at his home. When they arrived, law enforcement observed Ireland exit out the back door and toss two backpacks into the neighboring yard before returning inside. Inside the bags, investigators found more than 1,500 grams of cocaine and 300 grams of fentanyl. A search of Ireland’s home uncovered nearly 250 grams of marijuana, digital scales, more than $38,000 in cash, and four firearms – including two stolen handguns and a rifle with a high-capacity magazine.

Daniel P. Bubar, Acting U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of North Carolina, made the announcement after sentencing by U.S. District Judge James C. Dever III. The Halifax County Sheriff’s Office, the Roanoke Rapids Police Department, and the ATF investigated the case and Assistant U.S. Attorney Julie A. Childress prosecuted the case.

Related court documents and information can be found on the website of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of North Carolina or on PACER by searching for Case No. 4:24-CR-00075.

MIL Security OSI –

July 26, 2025
MIL-OSI USA: Albany Capital Center Authority Expansion Project

Source: US State of New York

overnor Hochul today announced a $10 million grant to the Albany Convention Center Authority (ACCA) in support of the expansion of the Albany Capital Center (ACC) to continue its mission to be the premier event and meeting destination in the Capital Region. Since opening its doors in 2017, the ACC has hosted more than 1,100 events which attracted more than 630,000 visitors to the capital city, generating nearly $100 million in total new visitor spending and adding over 133,000 hotel room nights in the Capital Region. This grant complements Governor Hochul’s $400 million FY26 Budget investment to launch the Championing Albany’s Potential (CAP) Initiative, a comprehensive, State-led effort to revitalize Albany’s downtown core in partnership with local stakeholders.

“Albany isn’t just the State’s capital — it’s a place where residents should thrive and visitors should feel welcomed,” Governor Hochul said. “The Albany Capital Center is an iconic destination that bolsters tourism through exciting events. With this investment into its expansion, more residents and visitors will be able to experience what the Capital Region has to offer — from expositions to educational conferences — while uplifting the region’s local economy.”

Empire State Development President, CEO and Commissioner Hope Knight said, “New York’s investment in the Albany Capital Center is another example of Governor Hochul’s commitment to revitalize our State’s proud capital city. By expanding this premier destination for events and conventions, we’re not only building upon the transformative Championing Albany ‘s Potential Initiative, but also enhancing Albany’s ability to attract world-class gatherings that support local businesses, create jobs, and generate sustained economic activity across the Capital Region.”

Albany Convention Center Authority Executive Director and CEO Monica Kurzejeski said, “We are thankful to be at the forefront of Governor Hochul’s CAP initiative in downtown Albany. The Albany Capital Center’s expansion will welcome larger events and more people to Albany — an American crossroads of history, innovation and culture. At a time where profound collaboration is paramount, the ACCA appreciates the partnership with the Governor’s Office, Empire State Development, the Albany County Executive, Albany County Legislature and other local elected officials.”

Albany County Executive Daniel P. McCoy said, “The Albany Capital Center is a cornerstone of our community’s event and hospitality industry, and this funding will help unlock its full potential to attract larger events, generate new business opportunities, and boost our local economy. This grant will also bolster the county’s own financial commitment to the Convention Center’s expansion, and help accelerate our shared vision for the Downtown neighborhood. I would like to thank Governor Hochul for recognizing the importance of this effort and for her continued dedication to strengthening Albany County.”

Albany County Legislature Chair Joanne Cunningham said, “Everyone who lives in, works in, and visits Albany County wins today. A heartfelt thank you to Governor Hochul and her team for believing and investing in the capital city by adding this keystone piece in the partnership between New York State, Albany County, and the Convention Center Authority. The shockwave of economic activity that emanates from this expansion will bring tens of millions of dollars into downtown Albany and throughout Albany County. We are thrilled to see the expansion move forward with this additional investment and support by our Governor.”

State Senator Patricia Fahy said, “The Albany Convention Center is a key anchor and pillar institution of downtown Albany. Enlarging the Convention Center by adding space will strengthen its ability to attract events, conferences, and more to downtown Albany. Coupled with the $400 million we secured in this year’s budget, we’re making the necessary investments in our Capital City that will pay dividends in the future. I want to thank Governor Hochul and her team for recognizing the importance of reinvigorating and revitalizing our City, and I look forward to continuing to partner with her to ensure that it is indeed, finally Albany’s day.”

Assemblymember John T. McDonald III said, “Thank you to Governor Hochul for this exciting announcement in support of the Albany Capital Center (ACC) expansion. As a board member of the Albany Convention Center Authority, I’m proud to see this $54 million investment nearly double the size of the ACC, paving the way for more events and greater regional success for the Capital Region. Now in its eighth year of operation, the ACC welcomes up to 100,000 visitors annually from across the region and beyond, generating significant sales tax revenue that supports local government budgets and benefits taxpayers. It also plays a key role in filling hotel rooms and boosting the local economy. This expansion, including a new connection to State Street in downtown Albany, aligns with the Governor’s broader investment in revitalizing downtown, benefiting Albany, Albany County, and the entire Capital Region. A strong Capital City builds a stronger Capital Region, and this expansion moves us in that direction.”

Assemblymember Gabriella A. Romero said, “I’m thrilled to see this $10 million investment in the Albany Convention Center to expand its capacity and boost Albany’s standing as a top event destination. I commend Governor Hochul for the $400 million investment through the Championing Albany’s Potential (CAP) initiative that was included in this year’s budget, a vital commitment to revitalizing our downtown, enhancing tourism, and stimulating sustained economic growth in our community.”

Albany Mayor Kathy Sheehan said, “The expansion of the Albany Capital Center will help New York’s Capital City attract even more world-class events, bring even more people to our historic city, and further raise the profile of our vibrant Downtown Albany corridor. Thank you to Governor Hochul for this important funding to help make this expansion possible, and thank you to the leadership of the Albany Convention Center Authority for having the vision to lead this important enhancement of the Albany Capital Center. I look forward to seeing how this project, coupled with Governor Hochul’s $400 million investment in Downtown Albany, helps catalyze even more investment and make our newest neighborhood and our entire city even stronger.”

Discover Albany President and CEO Jill Delaney said, “The expansion of the Albany Capital Center brings much-needed meetings and events space to our region, allowing us to grow current events, and meet the needs of larger groups who have been hoping to bring their event to Albany County. We are thrilled that the Governor has supported this project.”

The project, located at 126 State Street, expands the ACC meeting space and adds amenities that will position the center to better serve the growing demands of the events industry. This expansion will add five new meeting rooms, a large multi-purpose room, a large ballroom and pre-function area on the first floor, and a 4,000 square foot courtyard for outdoor events on State Street. This will increase the ACC’s rentable space to 84,000 square feet, making it more competitive and bringing more world-class events that serve as an economic anchor for Albany’s ongoing renaissance.

The $54.9 million project builds on prior State investments at and around the Albany Capital Center that create jobs and economic activity in Downtown Albany and across New York State. The project was recommended for funding by ESD’s Regional Office and Regional Council.

As part of Governor Hochul’s FY26 Enacted Budget, the State is investing $400 million in Albany’s downtown to launch the Championing Albany’s Potential (CAP) Initiative, a collaborative, State-led effort to revitalize Albany’s downtown core. This includes $200 million in funding to plan and implement projects that reinvigorate commercial corridors, strengthen small businesses, promote housing growth, and revitalize underutilized real estate and open spaces. The CAP initiative also includes up to $150 million to transform cultural experiences in and around Downtown Albany such as the State Museum, up to $40 million to advance plans to reconnect communities divided by Interstate 787, and $1.5 million for public safety enhancements.

MIL OSI USA News –

July 26, 2025
MIL-OSI USA: Senate Appropriations Committee Advances Interior And Transportation, Housing, & Urban Development Funding Bills With Illinois Priorities Secured By Durbin, Duckworth

US Senate News:

Source: United States Senator for Illinois Dick Durbin
July 25, 2025
The Senate Appropriations Committee passed Interior, Environment, & Related Agencies; and Transportation, Housing, & Urban Development, & Related Agencies government funding bills
SPRINGFIELD – U.S. Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), a member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, and U.S. Senator Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) announced that the Senate Appropriations Committee advanced a funding bill for Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies, as well as for Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, and Related Agencies for Fiscal Year 2026 (FY26). Durbin and Duckworth worked to secure various priorities for Illinois in the appropriations bills, both through Congressionally Directed Spending requests and through the programmatic appropriations process.
“It is the responsibility of Congress to fund our government programs and agencies through the appropriations process. Rather than rely on continuing resolutions, I hope that we can prioritize a true bipartisan process to pass these funding bills through the Senate in a timely process,” said Durbin. “While the Trump Administration continues to drain resources from critical programs, I will fight for the funding and support for the programs Illinoisans rely on.”
“Our state and our nation are stronger when we invest in our communities and families—and that’s what these bipartisan funding bills do,” Duckworth said. “Appropriating federal funding is the primary role of Congress, and it’s critical this responsibility remains in the legislative branch. I’m proud I was able to help secure critical support for projects throughout Illinois that help modernize our state’s infrastructure, clean up our water, improve accessibility and more.”
The two funding bills include the following Illinois priorities secured by Congressionally Directed Spending requests:
Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies
· City of Chester, Chester, Illinois. $1.2 million to the City of Chester to help fund the Route 150 water main replacement.
· City of Markham, Markham, Illinois. $1.5 million to the City of Markham to help fund water system infrastructure improvements.
· Infrastructure Improvements, Lockport, Illinois. $250,000 to the Bonnie Brae Forest Manor Sanitary District to fund water main infrastructure improvement projects.
· Lead Service Line Replacements, Chicago, Illinois. $2 million to the City of Chicago to replace more than 200 lead service lines. Chicago has more lead service lines than any other municipality in the country and the majority of properties in Chicago receive their water from lead service lines.
· Lead Service Line Replacements, Macomb, Illinois. $1 million to the City of Macomb to replace lead drinking water service lines in various locations throughout the City.
· PFAS Remediation, Rockford, Illinois: $1 million to Winnebago County to help fund water infrastructure upgrades to address PFAS contamination in Rockford.
· Stormwater and Flooding Mitigation Project, Carbondale, Illinois. $1.5 million for the City of Carbondale to replace storm sewer piping. The failing pipes cause frequent flooding during significant rain events and is also causing pavement failures on an arterial street that is heavily traveled.
· Wastewater Improvements, Paris, Illinois. $500,000 to the City of Paris to help fund wastewater treatment plant upgrades.
· Water Main Extension, Winnebago County, Illinois. $600,000 to Winnebago County to extend a water main to provide water to additional areas of the County.
· Water Main Improvements, Park Forest, Illinois. $1.45 million to the Village of Park Forest to replace the highest priority water main.
· Water Main Replacement, Springfield, Illinois. $900,000 to the City of Springfield to replace a water main on South Seventh Street in downtown Springfield. The water main was installed in 1931 and has had 27 breaks and is need of replacement. The main serves the historic downtown Springfield area, including Lincoln’s Home National Historic Site Visitor Center, the Illinois State Police Memorial Park, Springfield Clinic, and the Elijah Iles House.
· Well Reconstruction and Water Treatment, Machesney Park and Roscoe, Illinois. $1 million to North Park Public Water District for the reconstruction of Roscoe and Machesney Park’s well to accommodate PFAS treatment. This funding will ensure continued access to a reliable source of safe, plentiful, and affordable drinking water for the communities of Machesney Park and Roscoe in Winnebago County, Illinois.

Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, and Related Agencies
· Accessibility Upgrades, Chicago, Illinois. $750,000 to Boys & Girls Clubs of Chicago to help fund accessibility upgrades at the Boys and Girls Club True Value in Little Village.
· Affordable Housing, Edwardsville, Illinois. $1 million to Home First Housing to help expand affordable housing units in Edwardsville.
· Affordable Housing, Joliet, Illinois: $1 million to Volunteers of America Illinois to help fund the expansion of Hope Manor Village Joliet’s housing development initiative.
· Capital Improvements, Chicago, Illinois. $500,000 to Boys & Girls Clubs of Chicago to make capital improvements at the Bartlett J. McCartin Boys & Girls Club in the Bridgeport neighborhood of Chicago.
· City of Marseilles, Marseilles, Illinois. $1.5 million to the City of Marseilles to help fund the Sycamore Street Bridge rehabilitation.
· Construction of the National Institute for Advanced Manufacturing, Chicago, Illinois. $2.5 million to Illinois Institute of Technology to fund construction of a facility to serve as the National Institute for Advanced Manufacturing (NIAM). The NIAM on IIT’s Bronzeville Campus will train more than 4,000 students in advanced manufacturing fields through in-person instruction and online curricula.
· Economic Hub Project, Carbondale, Illinois. $693,000 to Carbondale Community Arts, Inc. (d.b.a. Artspace 304) to make facility improvements for an economic hub.
· Equipment Upgrades, Chicago, Illinois. $722,000 to Navy Pier Inc. to upgrade the Pier’s surveillance apparatus to ensure the safety of the Pier’s guests and businesses.
· Environmental Justice Institute, Chicago, Illinois. $900,000 to People for Community Recovery to help fund the development of the Hazel M. Johnson Institute for Sustainability and Environmental Justice.
· Facilities Improvements and Technology Upgrades, Carbondale, Illinois. $500,000 to Southern Illinois University’s (SIU) Center for Teaching Excellence to revitalize learning spaces at the SIU campus and community colleges throughout Southern Illinois.
· Facility Improvements, Springfield, Illinois. $450,000 to the Lincoln Presidential Foundation for facility improvements at the Visitor Center at the Lincoln Home National Historic Site.
· Fire Truck, North Chicago, Illinois. $861,000 to the City of North Chicago to purchase a new fire truck, as the City’s current fire truck has exceeded its useful life by nearly 10 years.
· Food Security Project, Hamilton, Illinois. $2.5 million to the City of Hamilton to establish a rural health village, in partnership with Memorial Hospital, to address food insecurities in the region by offering meal subscription/prescription programming, home-delivered meals, and more.
· Infrastructure Developments, Chicago, Illinois: $1.6 million to North Lawndale Catalyst Impact Initiative, Inc. to help fund infrastructure developments in Chicago’s North Lawndale community.
· Infrastructure Updates, Mascoutah, Illinois. $4 million to MidAmerica St. Louis Airport to help fund infrastructure upgrades at airport.
· Land Remediation, Will County, Illinois. $3 million to the State of Illinois, in coordination with the State of Michigan, to remediate 3.6 acres of land on the bank of the channel of the Des Plaines River needed for construction of the Brandon Road Lock and Dam Interbasin Project.
· Station Improvements, Macomb, Illinois. $134,000 to the Illinois Department of Transportation to make improvements to Macomb’s Amtrak Station, including HVAC upgrades, electrical work, and painting.
· Supportive Housing Development, Arlington Heights, Illinois. $750,000 to Full Circle Communities for construction of a housing development to support veterans and people with disabilities.
· Track Reconstruction Design, Chicago, Illinois. $2 million to the Chicago Transit Authority (CTA) to fund design of track reconstruction of CTA’s Blue Line Forest Park Branch from Western Avenue to Lathrop Avenue, a roughly 6.5-mile section of the line. This reconstruction is needed in order to improve safety and on-time performance of the Forest Park Branch.
· Trail Extension, Normal, Illinois. $1.9 million to the Town of Normal to fund engineering and construction of a trail connection. This will close a gap in pedestrian and bicycle accommodations between the existing Constitution Trail network and major employers located in west Normal, and promote safe multimodal travel by separating pedestrians and cyclists from motor vehicles.
· Transit Improvements; Vermilion County, Williamson County, and Jackson County; Illinois. $3.711 million to the Illinois Department of Transportation to fulfill ongoing transit needs, including vehicle and equipment purchases, maintenance, and other improvements for transit agencies serving Carbondale, Marion, and Danville.
· Transitional Shelter, Chicago, Illinois. $650,000 to BEDS Plus, Inc. to help fund the expansion of transitional shelter services at BEDS Plus Inc.
· Transportation Center Pedestrian Access Improvements, Normal, Illinois. $1.6 million to Connect Transit to improve pedestrian access to the City of Bloomington’s Downtown Transportation Center.
· Unhoused Population Support, Carbondale, Illinois: $2 million to the City of Carbondale to help fund the development of a new homeless center facility in Carbondale.
· Workforce Accelerator Program, Chicago, Illinois. $1 million to the North Lawndale Employment Network to transform a vacant lot across the street from its workforce development campus to offer an agricultural and environmental workforce accelerator program.
· Youth Mentoring, Springfield, Illinois. $1 million to The Outlet Mentoring Program to help fund the development of a youth mentoring center in Springfield.

The two funding bills include additional Illinois priorities secured through the programmatic appropriations process:
Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies
Department of Interior
Bureau of Land Management (BLM)
Plant Conservation Activities. $20.6 million for conservation activities and includes language supporting BLM’s continued support of the Seed Strategy, the interagency Native Plant Materials Development Program, the Seeds of Success program, the Plant Conservation Alliance, and regional native plant materials development programs.
o Urban and Community Forestry (Chicago Region Trees Initiative). Includes language prioritizing multi-organizational collaborations to support conservation and offset climate change for urban and community forestry grants.
o Migratory Bird Management Program, Incidental Take. Includes language supporting an incidental take authorization program for the Migratory Bird Treaty Act, which will help bird species that are experiencing population decline.

National Park Service
New Philadelphia National Historic Site. Includes language directing the National Park Service to ensure park operation begins in a reasonable timeframe for the newly established New Philadelphia site.
Springfield Race Riot Site. Includes language directing the National Park Service to work with the community to complete the Foundation Document for the Springfield 1908 Race Riot National Monument and provide for park planning.
Land and Water Conservation Fund
Hackmatack National Wildlife Refuge. Includes language supporting federal land acquisition by the National Fish and Wildlife Service for the Hackmatack National Wildlife Refuge
Environmental Health Program. $30.5 million for the program and includes language that sets aside $1 million for addressing PFAS contamination in the Great Lakes.

Environmental Protection Agency
Clean Water State Revolving Funds (CWSRF). $1.6 billion to provide critical investments that create jobs, repair crumbling wastewater infrastructure, and protect public health and environmental quality. Ten percent of CWSRF may be used as grants to address lead exposure.
Drinking Water State Revolving Funds (SRF). $1.13 billion to help water systems and states to ensure clean and safe drinking water is reliably delivered to communities. Fourteen percent of DWSRF may be used as grants to address lead exposure.
EPA Compliance. $97.7 million to enable EPA and co-regulators to undertake inspections and other monitoring activities to determine if regulated entities are complying with environmental statutes as well as applicable regulations and permit conditions.
EPA Enforcement. $284.9 million to ensure consistent and fair enforcement of all major environmental statutes and numerous regulations implementing each of those statutes. Includes report language supporting EPA in addressing PFAS contamination through National Enforcement and Compliance Initiatives and incorporating Supplemental Environmental Projects (SEPs) in settlements.
Bubbly Creek. Includes report language on the inclusion of the restoration Bubbly Creek in EPA’s Lakewide Management Plan (LAMP) and directs EPA to maximize its partnerships and resources to ensure no further delays.
Great Lakes Restoration Initiative (GLRI). $368 million for GLRI and includes report language to allow funds from the program to be used for projects in the Chicago River Watershed. Congress established the GLRI to provide funding to states, tribes, local governments, and federal agencies to protect the Great Lakes. The program has provided $4 billion since 2010 to fund projects that restore habitat, fight invasive species, clean up toxic pollution, and reduce pollution runoff.
Lake Explorer II Support Vessel Decommission. Includes language regarding the importance of EPA replacing the Great Lakes research vessel Lake Explorer II so the agency may continue uninterrupted water quality and biological monitoring of the Great Lakes.
Coal Combustion Residual Permit Program. Includes language requesting $9 million for federal and state permitting programs for coal combustion residuals (CCR, coal ash).
Transportation, Housing, and Urban Development
Department of Transportation
Capital Investment Grants (CIG). $1.95 billion for grants to fund the extension and improvements of existing transit systems. This amount would fully fund the Chicago Transit Authority’s Red Line Extension Project for FY26.
Protections for the Chicago Transit Authority’s Red Line Extension Project. Includes language protecting Chicago’s FY26 allocation of $350 million and requiring disbursement within 120 days of enactment.
Amtrak. $2.43 billion in nationwide funding to support Amtrak operations, with $1.57 billion for the National Network.
BUILD (formerly RAISE) Grants. $250 million to fund innovative transportation projects that will create jobs and have a significant impact on the nation, a region, or a metropolitan area.
Passenger Rail Grant Programs. The two rail grant programs were reauthorized in the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) and address gaps in supporting and growing our nation’s rail infrastructure:
Consolidated Rail Infrastructure and Safety Improvements (CRISI) Grants. $151.52 million for the CRISI program.
Federal-State Partnerships for Intercity Passenger Rail Grant (FSP) Program. $75 million for FSP grants for capital improvement projects that expand or establish intercity passenger rail service.

Midwest Rail Commission Study. Includes report language directing GAO to examine the establishment of a federally authorized commission for the purposes of developing a long-term delivery strategy for Midwest rail. The study would identify lessons learned from the establishment of the Northeast Corridor Commission that could be applied to a Midwest Rail Commission, it also would examine any Federal resources necessary to establishment of the commission.
FRA Rail Research & Development Center of Excellence (COE). Supports the FRA’s intent to use no less than $2.5 million of its and development funding for the FRA COE, which Durbin established in IIJA and secured funding for in FY22, FY23, and FY24 (FY25’s full-year CR did not have a report, so the COE was not funded in the CR). The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign was competitively selected to host the COE.
Blocked Crossings Causes & Solutions Identification. Includes report language directing the FRA to include in its annual report potential solutions and best practices to improve safety, mobility, and emergency response capabilities at highway-rail crossings. This would require the FRA to consider technology’s potential role in detecting the highest risk areas and to explore what role train length plays in blocked crossings, among other measures.
Emergency Response Blocked Crossing Reports. Includes report language urging the FRA to require states receiving track inspection funding to require first responders to report verified blocked crossing incidents to the FRA’s blocked crossings portal, which you established through previous appropriations legislation. It also directs the FRA to continue working with stakeholders to identify root causes of blocked crossings and identify meaningful solutions.
Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). $22.4 billion for the FAA. This includes $13.8 billion for FAA operations and $4 billion for facilities and equipment. This funding will allow the FAA to hire 2,500 additional air traffic controllers; improve air traffic control facilities, equipment, and systems; improve the aircraft certification process; improve hazardous materials transport oversight, and more.
Airport Improvement Program. More than $4 billion for airport improvement grants for capital improvements at the nation’s airports, including investments that emphasize capacity development, safety improvements, and security needs.
Digital Alert Technologies. Includes report language urging National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) to deploy digital alert technologies, with local law enforcement, that can provide up-to-date information about dynamic road conditions to drivers.
NHTSA Rulemakings. Includes language directing NHTSA to continue to provide quarterly briefings on the status of all major rulemakings to the House and Senate Committees on Appropriations. In 2023, DOT implemented a key provision of Durbin and Duckworth’s Protecting Roadside First Responders Act by proposing a rule to require automatic emergency braking (AEB) on all new cars and light trucks, and finalizing this rule in April 2024. The provision, which was passed in the bipartisan Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, aims to reduce the number of traffic fatalities and injuries. According to NHTSA, the rule could save more than 360 lives and prevent more than 24,000 injuries each year. The Trump Administration has delayed the effective date of this rule.
Automated Track Inspections. Includes no less than $21.6 million to support the FRA’s fleet of advanced inspection vehicles that accompany its field inspectors to validate the railroads’ inspection programs and advance research priorities, with a special emphasis on routes transporting passengers and hazardous materials.
Department of Housing and Urban Development
HEAL Initiative Pilot Program. Includes $5 million to support efforts underway between HUD and HHS to provide direct technical assistance to communities leveraging programs like Medicaid to cover and provide housing-related supportive services and behavioral healthcare. Includes report language acknowledging that several studies have demonstrated that interventions based on social determinants of health can help support housing permanency.
Lead Hazard Control and Healthy Homes. $295.6 million to provide funding to state and local governments to develop cost-effective ways to reduce lead-based paint hazards.
Housing Opportunities for Persons with AIDS (HOPWA). $529 million to help cities and states address the housing crisis facing people living with HIV/AIDS.
Homeless Assistance Grants. $4.5 billion to provide funding to state and local governments for emergency shelters, rapid re-housing, permanent supportive housing, and other crisis response programs.
Housing Counseling. $57.5 million to enable housing counseling organizations to provide foreclosure prevention counseling, mortgage counseling before and after purchase, rental counseling, homelessness prevention counseling, and fair housing education.
Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity (FHEO). $86.36 million to provide resources to nonprofit fair housing organizations that tackle discrimination and predatory lending and ensure that our nation’s fair housing laws are enforced.
Community Development Block Grant (CDBG). $3.1 billion to provide states and localities with resources to meet the needs of low-income communities, including housing rehabilitation, supportive services, public improvements, and economic development projects.
Home Investment Partnerships Program (HOME). $1.25 billion to provide state and local governments the funding necessary to provide affordable housing in low-income communities.
Public Housing Capital and Operating Funds. $3.2 billion for Capital Funds and $4.87 billion for Operating Funds. This includes $30 million for emergency capital needs; $10 million for safety and security measures, with report language supporting safety and security improvements to protect tenants; and $65 million for lead remediation grants.
Section 8 Tenant-Based Rental Assistance. $37.35 billion for Section 8 Tenant-Based rental assistance. This includes $429 million for new Tenant Protection Vouchers, $15 million to expand the HUD-VASH program, and $30 million for new Family Unification Program vouchers.
Self-Help Homeownership Opportunity Program (SHOP) and Rural Capacity Building Program (RCB). $13 million for SHOP and $5 million for RCB. Both programs support affordable housing in rural communities.
Section 4 Capacity Building Program. $49 million for Section 4 Capacity Building Program. This program allows HUD to partner with national nonprofit community development organizations to provide education, training, and financial support to local community development corporations (CDCs) across the country.
Choice Neighborhoods Program. $40 million to provide funding for the transformation, rehabilitation, and replacement of distressed public and HUD-assisted housing, as well as support for communities working to revitalize neighborhoods of concentrated poverty.
Family Self-Sufficiency (FSS) Program. $156.4 million to provide funding for an asset-building program to serve more households, both within already-established Public Housing and Housing Choice Voucher FSS Programs
Neighborhood Reinvestment Corporation (NeighborWorks). $158 million to create opportunities for Americans to live in affordable and safe homes by providing community development organizations in all fifty states with financial resources and counseling services.
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MIL OSI USA News –

July 26, 2025
MIL-OSI USA: Durbin Calls Out Cuts To Medicaid, Student Loan Caps For Medical Students At SIU Medical School

US Senate News:

Source: United States Senator for Illinois Dick Durbin
July 25, 2025
SPRINGFIELD – U.S. Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL) today joined educators and health care professionals at Southern Illinois University School of Medicine to discuss the Trump Administration’s cuts to Medicaid and medical research, and the impact recent caps to student loans will have on medical students.
“Earlier this month, President Trump and Republicans in Congress slashed health care to provide tax breaks for the wealthiest Americans in our nation,” said Durbin. “The so-called One Big Beautiful Bill Act will also make it more difficult for medical students to pay for their education at a time when we need more doctors, especially in rural communities and downstate Illinois.Students, providers, and patients here at SIU and across our state are already seeing the impacts of this disastrous bill. We cannot give up, and I’ll continue to fight for access to health care and education for all Illinoisans.”
“Capping graduate loans for future doctors while slashing safety-net funding is a one-two punch to rural health in America,” said Dr. Haneme Idrizi, SIU Pediatrician and Associate Dean for Student Affairs. “Cutting loan access now will shrink the physician pipeline at a time when many rural counties already face serious shortages in primary care, psychiatry, and pediatrics. Senator Durbin’s consistent support for rural pipeline programs and loan forgiveness initiatives shows he gets it—our rural future depends on today’s students being able to afford the path to medicine.”
The One Big Beautiful Bill Act will slash $1 trillion in funding from Medicaid and more than $300 billion from the Affordable Care Act over the next decade. As a result, up to 500,000 Illinoisans could lose their health care coverage. Federal Medicaid spending in Illinois also will be reduced by a projected 19%, leading to 30,000 lost health jobs, rural hospital closures, and nursing home closures.
The One Big Beautiful Bill Act also will cap graduate student loans at $20,500 per year with a lifetime borrowing limit of $100,000, and cap professional student loans, like medical school loans, at $50,000 per year with a $200,000 lifetime borrowing limit. Loan limits could force students to turn to the private loan market or discourage low- and middle-income students from pursuing a medical degree.
Today, Durbin and U.S. Senator Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) sent letters to every hospital in Illinois to gather information about how they anticipate this Republican-passed law will impact their services and workforce.
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MIL OSI USA News –

July 26, 2025
MIL-OSI Canada: Update 16: Alberta wildfire update (July 25, 3 p.m.)
Source: Government of Canada regional news (2)
Current situation (as of 3 p.m., July 25)
- There are 56 wildfires currently burning across Alberta in the Forest Protection Area, and three mutual aid fires.
  
  12 are classified as out of control, 11 are being held and 33 are under control.
  
  There have been 12 new wildfires since yesterday.
- Since Jan. 1, there have been 840 wildfires in the Forest Protection Area, burning more than 671,000 hectares.
- More than 1,400 Alberta firefighters, contract firefighters and imported firefighters are currently battling wildfires across the province.
- Resources currently being used include heavy equipment, air tankers, helicopters and night vision helicopters.
- Alberta has imported firefighters and support staff from Newfoundland and Labrador, New Brunswick, Australia and Chile.
- Information about wildfires can be found by visiting the Alberta Wildfire Status Dashboard.
Orders and alerts
- Updates on evacuation orders are available on www.alberta.ca/emergency.
- On July 24, The Kee Tas Kee Now Tribal Council cancelled its evacuation alerts for the communities of Loon Lake, Trout Lake and Peerless Lake.
- On July 24, The Municipal District of Opportunity No. 17 cancelled its evacuation alert for Red Earth Creek.
- On July 22, the Town of Slave Lake and the Municipal District of Lesser Slave River No. 124 cancelled the evacuation alert for the town and other residences on the east side of the lake.
- The Municipal District of Opportunity No. 17’s evacuation order for Chipewyan Lake remains in effect.
  
  Reception centre at Lakeview Sports Centre, 102 Opportunity Drive, Wabasca-Desmarais.
- Alberta Emergency Alerts are issued by local authorities and are updated at their discretion. For the best source of information on the status of evacuation orders and alerts, residents are encouraged to follow their local authorities’ preferred communication channels for updates.
- People living in Alberta are encouraged to download the Alberta Emergency Alert mobile app, which immediately pushes all alerts out to subscribers.
Fire bans
- Fire advisories are in place for the Grande Prairie, Lac La Biche, High Level, Slave Lake and Peace River Forest Areas.
  
  Under the advisory, fire permits will only be considered on a case-by-case basis.
  
  Safe campfires are still permitted.
- Please confirm advisories, restrictions or bans for your area at alberta.ca/fire-bans.
- Fire bans outside the Forest Protection Area are the responsibility of municipalities and counties.
- Everyone has a role to play in wildfire prevention. Follow all fire bans and restrictions to avoid new fire starts. If you see smoke or flames in the forest, call 310-FIRE to report it.
- Applying FireSmart principles to homes and property can mitigate the risk of wildfire damage. Removing flammable materials and vegetation around the property and preventing embers from accumulating can help protect your home from wildfires. To learn more, visit FireSmart Alberta.
Air quality
- Visit Wildfire Smoke Information for air quality monitoring information to make informed decisions about outdoor activities to protect your health. While wildfire smoke is affecting air quality in parts of Alberta, the presence of smoke does not necessarily mean there is fire near your community. Find information about the status of active wildfires and wildfire updates at Alberta Wildfire.
Roads and highways
- There are no road closures from wildfires.
- 511 Alberta is the best source of real time information as conditions change on our highways. Follow on X (formerly known as Twitter) @511alberta.
- Alberta highways that are affected by the wildfires will open and close frequently depending on safety and weather conditions. Be patient and respect the staff at the closure/detour sites – they are there with your safety in mind.
Health
- For information about wildfire resources, including mental health, visit Wildfire Resources | Alberta Health Services.
Child care
- Opportunity Childcare in Red Earth Creek has reopened.
- Licensed child-care programs are required to notify Child Care Connect if they close unexpectedly.
- Parents and guardians should reach out to their child-care provider for information on closures.
Justice and court services
- The Red Earth Creek courthouse is closed until further notice.
- Visit the Alberta Courts website for the most current information regarding court scheduling.
Related information
- Active emergency updates
- Alberta Emergency Alerts
- Download the Alberta Emergency Alerts app
- Download the Alberta Wildfire app
- How to prepare for an emergency
- Wildfire smoke information
- Emergency evacuation payments
- Free admission to provincial museums and historic sites
MIL OSI Canada News –
July 26, 2025
MIL-OSI USA: In Face of Widespread Blowback, Trump Admin Finally Releases Education Funds It’s Blocked for Weeks—Forcing Layoffs, Program Closures, & Needless Chaos

US Senate News:

Source: United States Senator for Washington State Patty Murray
Senator Murray responds after raising alarms bells for weeks
ICYMI: Senator Murray Demands All Remaining Education Funds Blocked By Trump Get Released Immediately
Washington, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), Vice Chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, issued the following statement after the Trump administration finally relented and gave notice it will release the remaining $5.5 billion in federal funding for K-12 schools and adult education programs that it has been blocking for weeks:

“Instead of spending the last many weeks figuring out how to improve after-school options and get our kids’ reading and math scores up, because of President Trump, communities across the country have been forced to spend their time cutting back on tutoring options and sorting out how many teachers they will have to lay off.
“There is no good reason for the chaos and stress this president has inflicted on students, teachers, and parents across America for the last month, and it shouldn’t take widespread blowback for this administration to do its job and simply get the funding out the door that Congress has delivered to help students.
“This administration deserves no credit for just barely averting a crisis they themselves set in motion. You don’t thank a burglar for returning your cash after you’ve spent a month figuring out if you’d have to sell your house to make up the difference.
“It’s time for President Trump, Secretary McMahon, and Russ Vought to stop playing games with students’ futures and families’ livelihoods—and end their illegal assault on our students and their schools.”

The Trump administration’s decision to withhold nearly $7 billion dollars in funding has sent school districts nationwide scrambling to determine how they could fill the, in many cases, massive budget hole and whether they’ll have to lay off teachers or end after school programs in the coming weeks. Over the last few weeks, school districts have made clear they will have to end afterschool programs and lay teachers off, told parents to prepare backup options, and adult literacy programs have been forced to lay off staff.
Today, the Trump administration finally relented and confirmed it will get this funding out, as the law requires, after weeks of creating panic and stress for schools and families alike.
Here are the funding streams President Trump blocked for weeks—all of which are programs he requested to eliminate in his budget request:
$2.19 billion: Supporting Effective Instruction State Grants (Title II-A), which support professional development and other activities to improve the effectiveness of teachers and school leaders, including reducing class size.
$1.33 billion: 21st Century Community Learning Centers (Title IV-B), which support high-quality before and after-school programs focused on providing academic enrichment opportunities for students.
$1.38 billion: Student Support and Academic Enrichment Grants (Title IV-A), which provide flexible funding for school districts for a wide range of activities including supporting STEM education, accelerated learning courses, college and career counseling, school-based mental health services, and improving school technology, among many others.
$890 million: English Language Acquisition (Title III-A), which supports language instruction to help English language learners become proficient in English.
$376 million: Migrant Education (Title I-C), which supports the educational needs of migratory children, including children of migrant and seasonal farmworkers.
$715 million: Adult Basic and Literacy Education State Grants (including Integrated English Literacy and Civics Education State Grants), which support adult education and literacy programs to provide the basic skills to help prepare adults and out-of-school youth for success in the workforce.
These funds typically flow on July 1st of every year—but the Trump administration let states and stakeholders know on July 1st that it would not be moving the funding. It failed to provide any rationale, with the Department of Education directing questions to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), and it has still failed to articulate an acceptable reason for withholding the funds.
Senator Murray immediately called on Trump to release the funding, led her colleagues in demanding the funds flow, and last week, objected to fast-track consideration of President Trump’s nominee to serve as Assistant Secretary for Legislation and Congressional Affairs at the Department of Education while the funding blockage continues. When the Trump administration moved but one fraction of the blocked funds last Friday, she called on Trump to immediately move the rest.

MIL OSI USA News –

July 26, 2025
MIL-OSI Canada: Keating Cross Road flyover will improve safety, traffic flow

Source: Government of Canada regional news

The new northbound flyover on Patricia Bay Highway connecting to Keating Cross Road will be open for drivers on Monday, July 28, 2025, bringing significant safety and traffic-flow improvements to the region.

“People driving through this region need to be able to count on safe and smooth travel when they’re heading to their homes, work, the airport or ferries,” said Mike Farnworth, Minister of Transportation and Transit. “Opening the Keating Cross Road flyover means we’ve removed a dangerous left turn and have made travel safer for families, commuters, tourists and commercial transport drivers who rely on this corridor every day.”

While moving traffic onto the new flyover is the most significant milestone, final work on the broader project will continue through summer 2025 and conclude in fall 2025. This will include paving the southbound on-ramp toward Victoria, drainage improvements and landscaping. Once complete, the project will include a new sidewalk on Keating Cross Road to improve safety and will support future bus rapid transit to reduce congestion further.

“The opening of the Keating Cross Road flyover is a tremendous achievement for the Saanich peninsula,” said Lana Popham, MLA for Saanich South. “This investment makes travel on this busy corridor safer and more reliable for families, commuters and commercial drivers. It also strengthens ties to our local business community and supports the region’s growth well into the future.”

The total project budget is $76.8 million, with the Government of British Columbia contributing $57.6 million, the Government of Canada contributing $16.7 million and the District of Central Saanich providing $2.5 million.

“With the Keating Cross Road flyover open, drivers and pedestrians in Central Saanich will benefit from improved safety and better access to the region,” said Will Greaves, member of Parliament for Victoria. “Our government is proud to invest in projects that support the expansion of local public transit and make life easier and safer for all Canadians.”

More than 52,000 vehicles use this part of the Patricia Bay Highway every day, with more than 4,000 vehicles per hour at peak travel times. The flyover project was identified as a priority in the South Island Transportation Strategy and supports the Province’s commitment to improving safety, expanding transit infrastructure and building strong, connected communities.

“The new flyover aims to make travel through the Saanich peninsula faster and our neighbourhoods safer. It’s an important connection to the Keating Business District, a key industrial and business centre for our region,” said Ryan Windsor, mayor, District of Central Saanich. “This has been a long-standing priority for our community. We’re grateful to the provincial and federal governments for recognizing its importance and we’re thrilled to see the flyover opening.”

Learn More:

To keep up to date with the latest progress on the Keating Cross Road flyover, visit: https://www2.gov.bc.ca/gov/content/transportation-projects/other-transportation-projects/highway-17-keating-cross-overpass

To learn more about the South Island Transportation Strategy, visit: https://www2.gov.bc.ca/gov/content/transportation/transportation-reports-and-reference/reports-studies/vancouver-island/south-island-transportation-strategy

MIL OSI Canada News –

July 26, 2025
MIL-OSI Submissions: Neanderthals likely ate fermented meat with a side of maggots

Source: The Conversation – USA – By Melanie Beasley, Assistant Professor of Anthropology, Purdue University

Black soldier fly maggots can feed on decomposing animals. Melanie M. Beasley

Scientists long thought that Neanderthals were avid meat eaters. Based on chemical analysis of Neanderthal remains, it seemed like they’d been feasting on as much meat as apex predators such as lions and hyenas. But as a group, hominins – that’s Neanderthals, our species and other extinct close relatives – aren’t specialized flesh eaters. Rather, they’re more omnivorous, eating plenty of plant foods, too.

It is possible for humans to subsist on a very carnivorous diet. In fact, many traditional northern hunter–gatherers such as the Inuit subsisted mostly on animal foods. But hominins simply cannot tolerate consuming the high levels of protein that large predators can. If humans eat as much protein as hypercarnivores do over long periods without consuming enough other nutrients, it can lead to protein poisoning – a debilitating, even lethal condition historically known as “rabbit starvation.”

So, what could explain the chemical signatures found in Neanderthal bones that seem to suggest they were healthily eating tons of meat?

I am an anthropologist who uses elements such as nitrogen to study the diets of our very ancient ancestors. New research my colleagues and I conducted suggests a secret ingredient in the Neanderthal diet that might explain what was going on: maggots.

A black soldier fly adult. The larvae of this fly are one of the species of maggots studied.
GordZam/iStock via Getty Images Plus

Isotope ratios reveal what an animal ate

The ratios of various elements in the bones of animals can provide insights into what they ate while alive. Isotopes are alternate forms of the same element that have slightly different masses. Nitrogen has two stable isotopes: nitrogen-14, the more abundant form, and nitrogen-15, the heavier, less common form. Scientists denote the ratio of nitrogen-15 to nitrogen-14 as δ¹⁵N and measure it in a unit called permil.

As you go higher up the food chain, organisms have relatively more of the isotope nitrogen-15. Grass, for example, has a very low δ¹⁵N value. An herbivore accumulates the nitrogen-15 that it consumes eating grass, so its own body has a slightly higher δ¹⁵N value. Meat-eating animals have the highest nitrogen ratio in a food web; the nitrogen-15 from their prey concentrates in their bodies.

By analyzing stable nitrogen isotope ratios, we can reconstruct the diets of Neanderthals and early Homo sapiens during the late Pleistocene, which ran from 11,700 to 129,000 years ago. Fossils from various sites tell the same story – these hominins have high δ¹⁵N values. High δ¹⁵N values would typically place them at the top of the food web, together with hypercarnivores such as cave lions and hyenas, whose diet is more than 70% meat.

But maybe something else about their diet was inflating Neanderthals’ δ¹⁵N values.

Uncovering the Neanderthal menu

We suspected that maggots could have been a different potential source of enriched nitrogen-15 in the Neanderthal diet. Maggots, which are fly larvae, can be a fat-rich source of food. They are unavoidable after you kill another animal, easily collectible in large numbers and nutritionally beneficial.

To investigate this possibility, we used a dataset that was originally created for a very different purpose: a forensic anthropology project focused on how nitrogen might help estimate time since death.

I had originally collected modern muscle tissue samples and associated maggots at the Forensic Anthropology Center at University of Tennessee, Knoxville, to understand how nitrogen values change during decomposition after death.

Maggots feeding on and decomposing an animal carcass.
Hari Sucahyo/iStock via Getty Images Plus

While the data can assist modern forensic death investigations, in our current study we repurposed it to test a very different hypothesis. We found that stable nitrogen isotope values increase modestly as muscle tissue decomposes, ranging from -0.6 permil to 7.7 permil.

This increase is more dramatic in maggots feeding on decomposing tissue: from 5.4 permil to 43.2 permil. To put the maggot values in perspective, scientists estimate δ¹⁵N values for Pleistocene herbivores to range between 0.9 permil to 11.2 permil. Maggots are measuring up to almost four times higher.

Our research suggests that the high δ¹⁵N values observed in Late Pleistocene hominins may be inflated by year-round consumption of ¹⁵N-enriched maggots found in dried, frozen or cached animal foods.

Cultural practices shape diet

In 2017, my collaborator John Speth proposed that the high δ¹⁵N values in Neanderthals were due to the consumption of putrid or rotting meat, based on historical and cultural evidence of diets in northern Arctic foragers.

Traditionally, Indigenous peoples almost universally viewed thoroughly putrefied, maggot-infested animal foods as highly desirable fare, not starvation rations. In fact, many such peoples routinely and often intentionally allowed animal foods to decompose to the point where they were crawling with maggots, in some cases even beginning to liquefy.

This rotting food would inevitably emit a stench so overpowering that early European explorers, fur trappers and missionaries were sickened by it. Yet Indigenous peoples viewed such foods as good to eat, even a delicacy. When asked how they could tolerate the nauseating stench, they simply responded, “We don’t eat the smell.”

Reconstruction of a Neanderthal man butchering a goat at the Neanderthal Museum in Mettman, Germany.
Pressebilder Neanderthal Museum, Mettmann/Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA

Neanderthals’ cultural practices, similar to those of Indigenous peoples, might be the answer to the mystery of their high δ¹⁵N values. Ancient hominins were butchering, storing, preserving, cooking and cultivating a variety of items. All these practices enriched their paleo menu with foods in forms that nonhominin carnivores do not consume. Research shows that δ¹⁵N values are higher for cooked foods, putrid muscle tissue from terrestrial and aquatic species, and, with our study, for fly larvae feeding on decaying tissue.

The high δ¹⁵N values of maggots associated with putrid animal foods help explain how Neanderthals could have included plenty of other nutritious foods beyond only meat while still registering δ¹⁵N values we’re used to seeing in hypercarnivores.

We suspect the high δ¹⁵N values seen in Neanderthals reflect routine consumption of fatty animal tissues and fermented stomach contents, much of it in a semi-putrid or putrid state, together with the inevitable bonus of both living and dead ¹⁵N-enriched maggots.

What still isn’t known

Fly larvae are a fat-rich, nutrient-dense, ubiquitous and easily procured insect resource, and both Neanderthals and early Homo sapiens, much like recent foragers, would have benefited from taking full advantage of them. But we cannot say that maggots alone explain why Neanderthals have such high δ¹⁵N values in their remains.

Several questions about this ancient diet remain unanswered. How many maggots would someone need to consume to account for an increase in δ¹⁵N values above the expected values due to meat eating alone? How do the nutritional benefits of consuming maggots change the longer a food item is stored? More experimental studies on changes in δ¹⁵N values of foods processed, stored and cooked following Indigenous traditional practices can help us better understand the dietary practices of our ancient relatives.

Melanie Beasley received funding from the Haslam Foundation for this research.

– ref. Neanderthals likely ate fermented meat with a side of maggots – https://theconversation.com/neanderthals-likely-ate-fermented-meat-with-a-side-of-maggots-261628

MIL OSI –

July 26, 2025
MIL-OSI USA: Markey Joins Van Hollen, Colleague to Call on Administration to Conduct Independent, U.S.-Led Investigation Into Death of American Citizen in West Bank

US Senate News:

Source: United States Senator for Massachusetts Ed Markey
Senators also press for an update on any investigations into the killings of 6 other Americans in the West Bank
Washington (July 24, 2025) – Senator Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.) today joined Senator Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) and 27 of their Senate Democratic colleagues in a letter to Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Attorney General Pam Bondi calling on the Administration to conduct an independent investigation into the death of Saifullah Kamel Musallet, an American citizen recently killed near the West Bank town of Sinjil. The Senators point to the repeated lack of accountability in the deaths of other American citizens killed in the West Bank since January 2022, including Shireen Abu Akleh, Omar Assad, Tawfic Abdel Jabbar, Mohammad Ahmed Mohammad Khdour, Aysenur Ezgi Eygi, and Amer Mohammad Saada Rabee. Given that, the Senators also ask for an update on the status of any investigations into the killings of these six other Americans.
The Senators write, “We write with grave concern regarding the brutal killing of a Palestinian-American, Saifullah Kamel Musallet, near the West Bank town of Sinjil, on July 11, 2025. The U.S. government must conduct a credible and independent investigation into his death and hold all perpetrators accountable. Protecting and supporting U.S. citizens abroad is one of the foremost responsibilities of the U.S. government. The United States Government has failed to secure accountability for the killing of respected Palestinian American journalist Shireen Abu Akleh, or any of the other five American citizens – Omar Assad, Tawfic Abdel Jabbar, Mohammad Ahmed Mohammad Khdour, Aysenur Ezgi Eygi, and Amer Mohammad Saada Rabee – killed in the West Bank since January 2022. Following the Trump Administration’s sudden revocation of all U.S. sanctions against extremist settlers in the West Bank, the first five months of 2025 have seen the highest rate of settler attacks in years and the killing of another American. We urge you to pursue a different approach.”
“Saifullah Kamal Musallet is the seventh American citizen killed in the West Bank since January 2022 — and the fifth in just the last nineteen months. The killings of these Americans in the West Bank have been met by a lack of accountability from the Netanyahu government and an inability to secure justice by the U.S. government. These failures have contributed to an unacceptable culture of impunity when it comes to incidents where civilians have been killed in the West Bank, including Americans,” they continue.
The Senators note, “The Netanyahu government has failed to hold anyone accountable for any of these seven killings of Americans and the United States government has failed in its responsibility to protect American citizens overseas and demand justice for their deaths.”
“It is long past time for the U.S. government to demand accountability in these killings of Americans. To that end, we urge you to immediately launch an independent investigation into the brutal killing of Saifullah Kamel Musallet, including the circumstances that blocked ambulances from reaching him. We also ask that you provide us with an update on the status of any investigations into the killings of the six other Americans who have been killed since January 2022, and provide us with a briefing on actions you are taking to ensure accountability for their deaths and to prevent future killings of Americans in the West Bank,” the Senators close.
The letter was signed by Senators Murray, Kaine, Durbin, Reed, Shaheen, Schatz, Merkley, Sanders, Warner, Warren, Cantwell, Welch, Smith, Baldwin, Warnock, Lujan, Ossoff, Kim, Heinrich, Duckworth, Klobuchar, Whitehouse, Hirono, Booker, Alsobrooks, Blunt Rochester, and Murphy.
The full text of the letter is available HERE.

MIL OSI USA News –

July 26, 2025
MIL-OSI USA: Hoeven, Cramer, Fedorchak Request Major Disaster Declaration Following Tornadoes in North Dakota

US Senate News:

Source: United States Senator for North Dakota John Hoeven
07.25.25
WASHINGTON – Senators John Hoeven and Kevin Cramer and Congresswoman Julie Fedorchak today supported Governor Kelly Armstrong’s request for a major disaster declaration following the destructive derecho storm that impacted North Dakota on June 20–21, 2025. The delegation requested that the Trump administration quickly approve North Dakota’s request to provide federal assistance for recovery efforts in 19 counties across southern, central, and eastern North Dakota.
“…the storm system caused unavoidable damages to infrastructure and property, and tragically took the lives of 4 North Dakotans…This disaster not only destroyed North Dakotans’ homes and businesses, but negatively impacted our farmers and ranchers, as well as rural electric cooperatives,” wrote the delegation. “Critical buildings, equipment, silos, grain bins and elevators were damaged or lost just months ahead of the fall harvest. The straight-line winds were extremely harmful to electrical infrastructure. At the peak of the derecho, nearly 37,000 homes and businesses were without power, and in rural areas, service was disrupted for as long as a week…We support the State’s request and urge you to approve it as soon as possible so the necessary Federal resources can be made available to North Dakotans.”
Full text of the delegation’s letter can be found here.

MIL OSI USA News –

July 26, 2025
MIL-OSI USA: Risch Touts Significance of Nuclear Energy to Growing Energy Demand

US Senate News:

Source: United States Senator for Idaho James E Risch
WASHINGTON – On Wednesday, U.S. Senator Jim Risch (R-Idaho) emphasized nuclear energy’s central role in meeting the nation’s growing energy demands during a Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee hearing.

“In recent years, we have had people come in here and predict what was going to happen as far as demand for electricity for America because of AI and other things that are coming on board. I have to tell you, I was a doubter at the beginning, but the further we go, the more obvious it is becoming that we are going to be inundated with demand for electricity. But the good news is that this particular problem, we know how to deal with, and that is, we know how to generate electricity.
We, in Idaho, in 1951, demonstrated for the first time that nuclear energy could be used to create electricity. And we’ve been at it ever since. [. . .] But now, I think the world knows there’s a real renaissance going on as far as nuclear energy is concerned. Not only in the United States, but also particularly in the globe.”
Senator Risch has consistently advocated for greater domestic nuclear energy production and the commercialization of advanced nuclear technologies. In a Washington Times editorial, Senator Risch underscored that expanding U.S. civil nuclear energy is essential for powering America’s future.
Idaho is home to the Idaho National Laboratory (INL), the nation’s flagship facility for civil nuclear research and the first place in the world to generate electricity using a nuclear reactor. INL is driving significant progress in new nuclear research by collaborating with industry to demonstrate advanced technologies, such as small modular reactors, microreactors, and safer, more efficient nuclear fuels.

MIL OSI USA News –

July 26, 2025
MIL-OSI USA: Senator Peters Secures Funding for Great Lakes, Michigan’s Water Infrastructure in Appropriations Bill

US Senate News:

Source: United States Senator for Michigan Gary Peters

WASHINGTON, DC?– U.S. Senator Gary Peters (MI) helped the Senate Appropriations Committee pass the Fiscal Year 2026 Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act. The bipartisan legislation would provide funding for Michigan priorities and high-impact local projects to strengthen water infrastructure, protect our wildlife and environment, and improve access to clean drinking water for Michiganders. As Co-Chair of the Great Lakes Task Force, Peters also advocated and secured funding for the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative, which plays a critical role in protecting and restoring Great Lakes waterways and habitats. The bill now advances to the full Senate.

“Protecting our Great Lakes and Michiganders’ access to clean drinking water have been some of my top priorities,” said Senator Peters, Co-Chair of the Senate Great Lakes Task Force.“This bipartisan legislation helps us accomplish those things by investing in our state’s water infrastructure, removing dangerous lead pipes, and working to protect folks from exposure to toxic PFAS contamination. The bill also makes sure the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative, a historic program that keeps our Great Lakes healthy and vibrant, continues to receive funding to carry out essential cleanup projects in our state.”

The bill includes numerous measures led and supported by Peters, including:

Protecting our Great Lakes, Fisheries, and Environment

Funding for the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative: Peters fought and secured continued funding for the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative (GLRI). The GLRI is the largest investment in the Great Lakes’ health, ecosystem, and water quality. Since the program’s inception in 2010, $4 billion has been used to fund over 8,000 projects to combat the greatest threats to the Great Lakes, including invasive species, harmful algal blooms, and loss of fish and wildlife habitats. During his time in the Senate, Peters has championed the GLRI, and earlier this year led the effort to introduce the?Great Lakes Restoration Act of 2025,?which would reauthorize the program and increase its annual authorized funding levels.

Keeping Invasive Carp Out of the Great Lakes: Invasive carp pose a grave risk to the lasting health of our Great Lakes. That’s why this bill provides funding for the Fish and Wildlife Service’s Aquatic Invasive Species program, which supports Great Lakes Basin-wide efforts to combat aquatic invasive species, including invasive carp. This work helps assess the threats posed by invasive carp to the Great Lakes and supports efforts to detect and respond to new invasive species. The bill also provides funding for the U.S. Geological Survey’s Biological Threats and Invasive Species Research Program which produces essential research, detection methods, and tools to help keep invasive carp out of the Great Lakes. Finally, the bill also provides funding for efforts to monitor, detect, and respond to aquatic nuisance species within the Great Lakes and Lake Champlain Systems.

Great Lakes Fish and Wildlife Restoration: The bill protects funding for The Great Lakes Fish and Wildlife Restoration Act, which helps fund critical fish and wildlife projects in the Great Lakes Basin. Funding from this program has helped establish ecosystem management tools, restored wetlands and aquatic habitat, and advanced fish and wildlife monitoring and modeling.

Great Lakes Science Center: Peters secured funding in the bill to support the Great Lakes Science Center, which works to enhance our understanding of the Great Lakes’ complex ecosystem through studies and collaboration with a wide range of partners.

Forest Service: The bill provides robust funding for the Forest Service. These resources will help ensure adequate staffing levels and improve forest restoration and fire risk reduction efforts.

Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF): The bill allocates funding for federal land acquisition and financial assistance to states through the?Great American Outdoors Act. This program is critical for improving recreational access to our federal lands, protecting iconic landscapes, delivering grants to states and local governments to create and protect urban parks and open spaces. It also provides farmers and ranchers with easements to allow them to continue to steward their private lands in the face of development pressures.

Addressing Wildfires: As catastrophic wildfires grow in size and frequency, it is essential that support for, and investments in, the federal firefighting workforce keep pace. As such, this bill fully funds essential wildfire preparedness and suppression efforts by providing $4.25 billion for wildfire suppression, of which $2.85 billion is for the Wildfire Suppression Operations Reserve Fund. The Reserve Fund provides the Forest Service and the Department of the Interior with an assured amount of funding to be used when major fire activity requires expenditures exceeding regular base suppression operations funding. This bill also provides much-needed funding to help prevent a devastating pay cut for the federal firefighting workforce.

Strengthening Michigan’s Water Infrastructure & Ensuring Clean Drinking Water

Addressing PFAS: Michigan communities and residents continue to face severe challenges with toxic PFAS contamination. Michigan is home to a number of military installations where PFAS contamination has been detected, including Camp Grayling and the former Wurtsmith Air Force Base in Oscoda. The bill provides much needed funding for PFAS research and remediation efforts. Peters has led and championed numerous efforts in the Senate to address PFAS. Peters convened the first-ever hearing on PFAS contamination in the Senate, then convened a field summit in Grand Rapids in November 2018 to shine a light on how local, state and federal governments are coordinating responses to address PFAS contamination. Peters introduced and advanced bipartisan legislation to reduce the spread of PFAS chemicals at commercial airports. Peters’ Preventing PFAS Runoff at Airports Act, which was signed into law in 2022, is working to deploy more existing Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) funding for commercial airports to purchase devices to test their firefighting equipment without discharging toxic PFAS chemicals. In 2022, Peters’ bill to help protect firefighters and emergency responders from PFAS exposure in the line of duty was also signed into law.

Bolstering Lead Abatement Programs: Lead poisoning continues to be a public health challenge in areas with aging infrastructure, causing life-long health impacts particularly among children. Peters helped secure funding for critical programs that support communities seeking to clean up lead contaminated waste sites, replace toxic lead pipes, and minimize exposure in surrounding areas. The bill includes funding for the Lead Testing in Schools Program and Reducing Lead in Drinking Water Program.

Drinking Water and Clean Water State Revolving Funds: The bill restores funding for both the Drinking Water and the Clean Water State Revolving Funds, which the Trump Administration had proposed slashing by nearly 90 percent. The Clean Water and Drinking Water State Revolving Funds are vital to protecting Michigan’s water resources and rebuilding critical water infrastructure. These projects provide Michigan residents with significant benefits, ranging from reduced exposure to pollution to lead-free drinking water. While the primary focus of the state revolving funds is offering financing solutions for water infrastructure for wastewater, storm water, and drinking water systems, the funds also reduce energy waste and decrease water system rates, improving affordability.

Mitigate PFAS Contamination, Provide Safe Drinking Water for Residents of Grayling Township: The bill provides $3,000,000 to deliver clean, safe drinking through a new municipal water system to residents whose water wells have been contaminated from PFAS migrating off the Grayling Army Airfield and Camp Grayling.

Improve Water Reliability in Grand Blanc: The bill provides $1,000,000 to modernize critical water infrastructure throughout Grand Blanc, reducing inefficiencies and water loss and improving water reliability for residents and businesses.

Strengthen St. Ignace’s Water and Wastewater System: The bill provides $36,000 for St. Ignace to update its system that controls the alarms and communication between water wastewater plants as well as other facility operations.

Upgrade the Aging Freud & Conners Creek Pump Stations: The bill provides $1,000,000 to make improvements to the aging Freud and Conner Creek pump stations.

Improve Wastewater Management in Oakwood: The bill provides $1,000,000 to improve wastewater management in Oakwood, Michigan.

Upgrade Marquette County K.I. Sawyer Wastewater Treatment Plant: The bill provides $1,370,000 to upgrade the disinfection system at the K.I. Sawyer Wastewater Treatment Plant.

Pontiac Drinking Water System Improvements: The bill provides $1,000,000 to improve drinking water quality and reliability for Pontiac residents.

Lead Service Lines Replacement in Redford Charter Township: The bill provides $1,000,000 to replace lead service lines in Redford Charter Township.

Supporting New Drinking Water Well for Village of Bellevue: The bill provides $144,000 to help build a new drinking water well in the Village of Bellevue to ensure continued safe drinking water for the residents and surrounding community.

Protecting and Preserving Public Lands and Cultural Resources

Preservation of the Historic Freer House at Wayne State University: The bill provides $550,000 for Wayne State University to repair and replace damaged and deteriorating parts of the historic Charles Lang Freer House, which is an important part of Detroit’s cultural heritage.

Funding for the National Park Service: The bill includes nearly $3 billion to support National Park Service (NPS) operations. This funding will allow NPS to more effectively manage its 433 national parks, monuments, historical sites and other recreational areas that encompass nearly 84 million acres of land across the United States. Michigan is proud to be home to five National Parks, which draw more than 2.5 million visitors to the state annually.

Supporting the National Heritage Areas Program: Peters helped secure funding for the National Park Service’s Heritage Partnership Program. National Heritage Areas (NHAs) across the country commemorate, conserve, and promote important natural, scenic, historic, and cultural resources, delivering recreational and educational opportunities to visitors, residents, and entire regions. NHAs are key for economic development in their communities. Michigan’s MotorCities NHA alone creates an economic impact every year of nearly $490 million including?5,343 jobs and $40 million in tax revenues.

Protecting Tribal Nations

Tribal Programs: In total, the bill provides $12 billion for Tribal programs across the Department of the Interior and the Indian Health Service, rejecting President Trump’s proposed cuts of nearly $1 billion from Tribal programs.

Indian Health Service (IHS):The bill provides $8 billion in total resources for IHS to maintain critically important health care services and maintain current staffing for doctors, nurses, and health services staff.

Supporting Tribal Self-Governance and Essential Services: The bill provides $1.91 billion, an increase in funding, for the Bureau of Indian Affairs’ operations of Indian programs. This funds essential government services in critical areas like roads and infrastructure, housing improvement, natural resources protection, Tribal courts, economic development, and social services. This funding is essential for Tribal governments exercising self-determination and crucial to upholding the federal government’s trust responsibility.

MIL OSI USA News –

July 26, 2025
MIL-OSI USA: Welch Leads Bipartisan Bill to Protect Musicians, Artists, and Creators from Unauthorized AI Training

US Senate News:

Source: United States Senator Peter Welch (D-Vermont)

TRAIN Act is Supported by the Recording Industry Association of America, the Human Artistry Campaign, SAG-AFTRA, Recording Academy, Nashville Songwriters Association International, SESAC, ASCAP, BMI, Authors Guild and more
WASHINGTON, D.C. — U.S. Senator Peter Welch (D-Vt.), a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, along with Senate Judiciary Committee members Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.), Adam Schiff (D-Ca.), and Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) reintroduced the Transparency and Responsibility for Artificial Intelligence Networks (TRAIN) Act, bipartisan legislation to help creators—musicians, artists, writers, and others—access the courts to protect their copyrighted works if and when they are used to train generative artificial intelligence (AI) models. The TRAIN Act allows copyright holders to access training records used for AI models to determine if their work was used—a process currently used for internet piracy.
Musical artists and other creative industry leaders have raised the alarm about the use of copyrighted works to train generative AI models, calling out AI companies for using artists’ work without consent or compensation. The TRAIN Act seeks to solve the “black box” problem by allowing creators to know when and how their works are being used. Few AI companies currently share how their models are trained and nothing in the law requires them to do so.
“This is simple: if your work is used to train AI, there should be a way for you, the copyright holder, to determine that it’s been used by a training model, and you should get compensated if it was. We need to give America’s musicians, artists, and creators a tool to find out when AI companies are using their work to train models without artists’ permission,” said Senator Welch. “As AI evolves and gets more embedded into our daily lives, we need to set a higher standard for transparency. I’m proud to introduce this bipartisan bill to safeguard creators and their incredible contributions to our country.”
“Tennessee is home to a thriving creative community filled with musicians, artists, and creators who must have protections in place against the misuse of their content,” said Senator Blackburn. “The TRAIN Act would protect creators by allowing them to access the courts to find out if their work is being used to train generative AI models and seek compensation for that misuse.”
“The TRAIN Act gives creators a direct pathway to determine if their works were used to train an AI model, promoting transparency and ensuring that the creative community is not left behind as AI’s capabilities advance. I’m proud to join Senators Welch, Blackburn, Hawley on this bipartisan effort to affirm creators’ rights of action. And as Ranking Member of the Intellectual Property Subcommittee, I will continue my long-standing work to establish appropriate guardrails that continue American leadership in AI and the creative industry,” said Senator Schiff.
“AI should be in service to the American people—not the other way around. But under current law, Big Tech’s AI companies are stealing the works of today’s creators as they box out the next generation of creators. Congress should ensure that copyright holders can assert their rights against AI companies that are pirating creative works, and this bill gives Americans the tools to do so,” said Senator Hawley.
The TRAIN Act has the support of the creative community and is endorsed by the American Association of Independent Music (A2IM)*, The American Society for Collective Rights Licensing (ASCRL), American Federation of Musicians (AFM), American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP), Association of American Publishers (AAP), Authors Guild, Broadcast Music, Inc. (BMI), Department for Professional Employees, AFL-CIO (DPE), Human Artistry Campaign**, Global Music Rights, International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees (IATSE), National Association of Voice Actors (NAVA), National Music Council (NMC), National Music Publisher’s Association (NMPA), Nashville Songwriters Association International, Recording Academy, Recording Artists and Music Professionals with Disabilities (RAMPD), Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), SAG-AFTRA, Society of European Stage Authors and Composers (SESAC), The Society of Composers & Lyricists (SCL), The Songwriters Guild of America (SGA)***, SoundExchange, Transparency Coalition, Universal Music Group, Warner Music Group.
*The trade organization for independent record labels, which include 650 organizations in 35 states—including Vermont
**Representing nearly 200 members spanning the creative and technology communities
***SGA’s organizational membership stands at approximately 4,500 members
Read what leading voices in the creative industries are saying about the TRAIN Act:
“Artists deserve to know when their works are used and determine the parameters – the Transparency & Responsibility for Artificial Intelligence Networks (TRAIN) Act empowers rightsholders with valuable insight into which specific inputs AI companies are copying to train their models. Just as importantly, it also ensures a clear path to the courts when authorization has not been given. RIAA commends Senator Welch and Senator Blackburn for their vision championing this vital and measured legislation, and strongly urge passage into law,” said Mitch Glazier, Chairman & CEO, Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA).
“The TRAIN Act is a vital step toward ensuring transparency and protecting creators from the unauthorized use of their copyrighted work. The Recording Academy® applauds Senator Welch and Senator Blackburn for their leadership and dedication to upholding creators’ rights.” – Harvey Mason jr., CEO, Recording Academy
“Human authors and their copyrights must be valued and protected. The TRAIN Act is an important step toward creating guardrails around Generative Artificial Intelligence that, unchecked, threatens the livelihoods of human creators. We are appreciative to Senators Blackburn and Welch for their leadership on this issue and look forward to providing America’s songwriters the tools they need to protect their work in an ever-changing digital environment,” said Nashville Songwriters Association International.
“The Transparency & Responsibility for Artificial Intelligence Networks (TRAIN) Act is a thoughtful step forward for creators’ rights in the AI landscape. By allowing artists and rightsholders to subpoena information about what inputs were used in an AI program, the bill will increase transparency and create an avenue for recourse when work is used without consent. Transparency is a key tenet of the Human Artistry Campaign’s principles for responsible and ethical AI, and we’re grateful to Senator Welch for his leadership on this issue,” said Dr. Moiya McTier, Senior Advisor, Human Artistry Campaign.
“SAG-AFTRA applauds Sen. Peter Welch for introducing the much-needed TRAIN Act. Intellectual property must be protected in the A.I. age and we’re encouraged that lawmakers like Sen. Welch are taking critical action to prioritize human creativity in this new era,” said Duncan Crabtree-Ireland, Executive Director & Chief Negotiator, SAG-AFTRA National.
“SESAC applauds the TRAIN Act, which clears an efficient path to court for songwriters whose work is used by AI developers without authorization or consent. Senators Welch and Blackburn’s narrow approach will promote responsible innovation and AI while protecting the creative community from unlawful scraping and infringement of their work,” said John Josephson, Chairman and CEO, SESAC Music Group.
“The future of America’s vibrant creative economy depends upon laws that protect the rights of human creators. By requiring transparency about when and how copyrighted works are used to train generative AI models, the TRAIN Act paves the way for creators to be fairly compensated for the use of their work. On behalf of ASCAP’s more than one million songwriters, composer and music publisher members, we applaud Senators Welch and Blackburn for their leadership,” said Elizabeth Matthews, CEO, American Society of Composers, Authors & Publishers (ASCAP).
“Some AI companies are using creators’ copyrighted works without their permission or compensation to ‘train’ their systems, but there is currently no way for creators to confirm that use or require companies to disclose it. The TRAIN Act will provide a legal avenue for music creators to compel these companies to disclose those actions, which will be a step in the right direction towards greater transparency and accountability. BMI thanks Senator Welch for introducing this important legislation,” said Mike O’Neill, President & CEO, Broadcast Music, Inc. (BMI).
“We greatly appreciate Senators Welch and Blackburn’s leadership on addressing the complete lack of regulation and transparency surrounding songwriters’ works being used to train generative AI models. The TRAIN Act proposes an administrative subpoena process that enables rightsholders to hold AI companies accountable by instituting precise record-keeping standards and giving rightsholders the ability to see whether their copyrighted works have been used without authorization. We strongly support the bill which gives creators a pathway to justice from massive AI platforms exploiting their work,” said David Israelite, President & CEO, National Music Publishers’ Association (NMPA).
“The Authors Guild applauds Senator Peter Welch for introducing the TRAIN Act. Authors have a right to know when their works have been copied into AI systems without their permission. This bill helps to achieve that commonsense goal by creating an administrative subpoena process that allows copyright owners to obtain information from AI companies about the works used to train their models. As the Guild has long recognized, this kind of transparency is essential to giving authors the ability to enforce their rights. We look forward to working with Senator Welch and other members of Congress in moving the bill toward swift passage,” said the Authors Guild.
“The American Society for Collective Rights Licensing (ASCRL), the largest photography and illustration organization in the United States, whose constituents include over 40,000 photographers and over 17,000 illustrator members, thanks Senator Peter Welch (D-VT) for introducing the Transparency and Responsibility for Artificial Intelligence Networks (TRAIN) Act. The bill seeks to promote transparency concerning unauthorized uses of copyrighted works by generative AI systems through the creation of a new administrative subpoena process. ASCRL was established by and for authors and looks forward to working with Senator Welch to add another tool in the toolbelt for authors to protect their rights in this very challenging, new technological environment,” said James Silverberg, CEO, The American Society for Collective Rights Licensing (ASCRL).
“The Songwriters Guild of America (SGA) extends its sincerest thanks to Senator Peter Welch (D-Vt) for the initiatives his office is undertaking in seeking to protect the rights of songwriters and composers through introduction of the Transparency and Responsibility for Artificial Intelligence Networks (TRAIN) Act. Among other positives, the bill seeks to promote transparency concerning unauthorized uses of copyrighted works by generative AI systems through the creation of a new administrative subpoena process. SGA remains a strong supporter of the pending No Fakes Act to protect performers’ rights of publicity in the new, generative AI world, but is additionally elated that Senator Welch and others recognize that far more needs to be done legislatively to protect music creators’ rights in this very challenging, new environment. The TRAIN Act represents another indispensable step in that process. We applaud its introduction, and intend to work with the Senator’s office in helping it to consider the most effective methodologies possible to protect American creators and musical culture in the context of GenAI,” said Rick Carnes, President, Songwriters Guild of America (SGA).
“A2IM applauds Senators Peter Welch and Marsha Blackburn for introducing the TRAIN Act—an essential move to protect artists, musicians, and independent creators from having their copyrighted work exploited to train generative AI models without permission. In the age of AI, transparency isn’t optional—it’s fundamental. This legislation arms creators with the tools to uncover unauthorized use of their work, reinforcing the rights that fuel a thriving, independent music ecosystem,” said Dr. Richard James Burgess MBE, President and CEO American Association of Independent Music (A2IM).
“There can be no ethical AI development without transparency. Musicians deserve to know when their work is used in machine learning. The TRAIN Act provides all creators meaningful legal recourse without hindering innovation and creativity. We thank Senators Blackburn and Welch for standing with working musicians against intellectual property theft,” said Tino Gagliardi, President, American Federation of Musicians.
“The Society of Composers & Lyricists applauds Senator Peter Welch (D-Vt) for his introduction of the Transparency and Responsibility for Artificial Intelligence Networks (TRAIN) Act, which is a crucial step in safeguarding the rights of composers and songwriters. The TRAIN Act offers vital protections against the unjust practices that have too often undermined our ability to earn a living from our creations. By standing up for the rights of creators, you are not only supporting those who write the music that enriches our culture, but also strengthening the entire music ecosystem. We are grateful for your continued advocacy on behalf of our community, and stand ready to help in whatever way we can,” said Ashley Irwin, President, Society of Composers & Lyricists (SCL).
“The National Association of Voice Actors (NAVA) applauds Sen. Welch’s common sense TRAIN Act and the transparency it will provide to all copyright holders. As artists whose biometric data is contained in copyrighted material, voice actors are particularly concerned about the misuse of their voices for misinformation and disinformation. A basic level of transparency will help protect the many voices that are the foundation of these generative AI systems,” said The National Association of Voice Actors (NAVA).
“RAMPD proudly supports the TRAIN Act because transparency is key to fairness, access, and protecting the rights of all music creators. The TRAIN Act is a vital step toward equitable innovation that respects human authorship and artistic integrity,” said Recording Artists and Music Professionals with Disabilities.
“The Transparency Coalition welcomes the introduction by Sen. Welch of the TRAIN Act which will provide creators and copyright owners additional protection from their copyrighted works being used in AI training without their consent.” said Jai Jaisimha, Co-Founder, Transparency Coalition. “The Act deftly addresses the need for transparency around AI training inputs and empowers creators to seek redress from the appropriate judicial forum.”
Senator Welch is focused on strengthening consumer protections and safety around emerging technologies, including AI. During a Senate Judiciary Subcommittee hearing last week, Senator Welch emphasized the importance of passing the TRAIN Act to help creator access the courts to ensure their copyrights are respected and safeguard their content from AI.
Last Congress, Senator Welch introduced the Artificial Intelligence Consumer Opt-In, Notification Standards, and Ethical Norms for Training (AI CONSENT) Act, legislation that would require online platforms to obtain consumers’ express informed consent before using their personal data to train AI models. Senator Welch also introduced the Digital Platform Commission Act, legislation to create an expert federal agency to provide comprehensive regulation of digital platforms to protect consumers, promote competition, and safeguard the public interest.
Learn more about the TRAIN Act and read a section-by-section summary.
Read and download the full text of the bill.

MIL OSI USA News –

July 26, 2025
MIL-OSI United Kingdom: Joint Foreign Secretary-Home Secretary statement on Hong Kong announcing new arrest warrants for overseas activists
Source: United Kingdom – Government Statements

Press release

Joint Foreign Secretary-Home Secretary statement on Hong Kong announcing new arrest warrants for overseas activists

The Foreign Secretary and Home Secretary have issued a response after Hong Kong announced new arrest warrants for overseas activists.
The Foreign Secretary and Home Secretary said:

“The Hong Kong Police Force’s issuing of further arrest warrants and bounties on individuals living in the UK is another example of transnational repression. It encourages reckless behaviour on UK soil and damages Hong Kong’s international reputation.

“The UK strongly opposes the National Security Law, which has eroded the rights and freedoms of Hong Kongers. We call on the Chinese and Hong Kong authorities to end the deliberate targeting of opposition voices in the UK and elsewhere.

“The UK is committed to human rights, the rule of law, and the safety of all individuals in the UK. That’s why we have taken further steps to complete the severing of ties between the UK and Hong Kong extradition systems by removing Hong Kong from the Extradition Act 2003.

“This Government will continue to stand with the people of Hong Kong, including those who have made the UK their home. We take the protection of their rights, freedoms, and safety very seriously, and will not tolerate any attempts by foreign Governments to coerce, intimidate, harass, or harm their critics overseas.”

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Published 25 July 2025
MIL OSI United Kingdom –
July 26, 2025
MIL-OSI USA News: The One Big Beautiful Bill is a Historic Investment in Rural Healthcare

Source: US Whitehouse

Today’s White House memo “The One Big Beautiful Bill is a Historic Investment in Rural Healthcare” outlines in detail how the President’s landmark legislation makes historic investments in vulnerable communities to ensure healthcare options are made sustainable for Americans who rely on these options for their care.

TRANSFORMING RURAL CARE WITH HISTORIC INVESTMENTS AND RADICAL TRANSPARENCY

The Rural Health Transformation Program will provide unprecedented new funding to states for a range of uses designed to make rural healthcare more effective and sustainable for the long term. Collaborating with the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), states must submit detailed rural health transformation plans on how these resources will be put to work improving access to healthcare providers in their communities and ultimately improving health outcomes. CMS will monitor implementation and hold states accountable to this plan to ensure resources are appropriately distributed and going to the most deserving, not the most politically connected.

ENSURING SUSTAINABILITY OF RURAL CARE BY ADDRESSING SYSTEMIC CHALLENGES

Unlike smaller programs that have been traditionally the main mechanisms to support rural care, the Rural Health Transformation Program is uniquely designed to promote innovation and long-term sustainability of rural healthcare.

Rural hospitals suffer from chronic challenges with extremely low patient volume. They have both smaller bed counts than urban hospitals and occupancy rates that are much lower (37%) than those of their urban counterparts (62%). Therefore, when programs link funding to reimbursements for services provided—as these legacy programs do—these programs do not promote long-term sustainability as the overall volume of services provided in these facilities remains low. In other words, these programs do not actually provide hospitals with investments that would help them sustain themselves.

Distinct from these other programs, the Rural Health Transformation Program is designed to promote innovation in payment and flexibility. These funds can be used to help these facilities make investments necessary to better meet the needs of the communities they serve and become more sustainable over the long term.

HEALTH INDUSTRY PROMOTES FLAWED ANALYSES TO HIDE THE REAL POSITIVE EFFECTS OF THE ONE BIG BEAUTIFUL BILL

Rural hospitals only receive 7% of Medicaid hospital spending. Yet, industry leaders and lobbyists continue to cry foul, and fearmonger that the law puts rural care facilities at risk when in actuality the OBBB delivers historic investments into the Rural Health Transformation Program to ensure underserved rural hospitals are strengthened, a monumental victory that should be celebrated after years of neglect and lack of financial support.

The disparity between urban and rural hospitals clearly shows how the waste, fraud, and abuse that proliferated under the Biden Administration did not benefit the most vulnerable hospitals. The OBBB aggressively goes after that waste, fraud, and abuse by enforcing eligibility requirements, prioritizing work over welfare, and putting Americans first by removing non-citizens and ending financing gimmicks used to subsidize coverage for illegal immigrants. This momentous effort to combat waste, fraud, and abuse is what allowed Congress and the Trump Administration to make this historic investment in rationalizing our health care system by actually ensuring new healthcare dollars reach facilities in vulnerable communities to help make them sustainable for good.

MIL OSI USA News –

July 26, 2025
MIL-OSI Africa: Public Seminar for Eritreans in Germany and Kuwait

Source: APO

.

Seminars organized by the Eritrean national committees in Kassel and Munich focusing on enhancing awareness on national issues and consular services were conducted on 13 and 21 July.

At the seminars, Mr. Teame Haile, Head of Public and Community Affairs, provided a detailed briefing on the sovereignty and legitimacy of Eritrea. He stated that Eritrea possesses clear and internationally recognized land, air, and sea borders that will never be compromised. He also called on nationals to strengthen their unity and active participation in national affairs.

Mr. Kibreab Tekeste, Eritrea’s Consul General in Germany, gave an extensive briefing on the objectives and procedures of consular services and called on nationals to fully understand and adhere to the guidelines and regulations.

A similar seminar was also conducted for nationals in the city of Wetter in Germany. At the seminar, Mr. Fitsum Sahle, coordinator of the national committee, and Mr. Medhanie Tesf’alem, member of the Promotion and Information Committee, gave briefings on the Afambo Boarding School project as well as on the progress of education in Eritrea.

In related news, Mr. Humed Yahya, Chargé d’Affaires at the Eritrean Embassy in Kuwait, conducted a seminar for nationals on the current situation in the homeland, as well as regional and global developments.

At the seminar, Mr. Humed provided an extensive briefing on the progress of national development programs and the active participation of nationals both inside the country and abroad.

Distributed by APO Group on behalf of Ministry of Information, Eritrea.

MIL OSI Africa –

July 26, 2025
MIL-OSI USA: Norcross, Conaway Visit Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst to Conduct Oversight of Trump Administration

Source: United States House of Representatives – Congressman Donald Norcross (1st District of New Jersey)

CHERRY HILL, NJ — Today, Congressman Donald Norcross (NJ-01) and Congressman Herb Conaway (NJ-03) visited Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst, one week after receiving a letter from Defense Secretary Hegseth informing the Representatives that the military base will be used as a detention site for undocumented immigrants.

“Last week, Defense Secretary Hegseth informed us that Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst will be used as a detention site for undocumented immigrants. Today, I joined Congressman Conaway for a meeting at the base to perform our congressional duty of oversight,” said Congressman Donald Norcross. “The fact that the base hasn’t received any information to prepare to house undocumented immigrants shows the chaos and confusion that surrounds the Trump Administration. This administration has shown time and time again that they will ignore due process, but we must ensure proper use of our military facilities and uphold human rights standards.”

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MIL OSI USA News –

July 26, 2025
MIL-OSI USA: AG Brown files a lawsuit against the Trump administration for subverting Congress by canceling millions in funds to provide shelter for migrants

Source: Washington State News

SEATTLE – Attorney General Nick Brown today filed a lawsuit against the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) for unlawfully canceling more than $4 million in congressionally approved funds intended to help the state provide shelter and support to migrants as they await further action on their asylum or other immigration claims.

Since 2019—in a law signed by President Trump in his first term—Congress has provided funds to help states, local jurisdictions, and nonprofit organizations offer emergency food and shelter to noncitizen migrants after their release from DHS custody. As tens of thousands of humanitarian migrants arrived in Washington between 2022 and 2024, local shelters and municipalities struggled to meet the needs of these newcomers, which prompted the state to take action, including by applying for federal funds through the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) Shelter and Services Program.

FEMA, which is part of DHS, awarded Washington more than $4 million in SSP funds. But before Washington could request payment under the award, FEMA unlawfully froze and later terminated the funding in a continuation of the Trump administration’s efforts to deprive states, like Washington, of federal funding to support the health and safety of migrants.

“Once again, the Trump administration is breaking the law and ignoring Congress,” Brown said. “Congress created a program to provide funding for shelter for migrants. But now the president has illegally yanked the funds, ignoring the separation of powers, simply because he doesn’t like the program.”

As the complaint notes, by creating a program intended to relieve overcrowding in federal short-term detention facilities, Congress “made a conscious choice to provide funds in a manner that would benefit some individuals who may have entered into the United States unlawfully.”

As a result of broader migration trends that resulted in millions of people crossing the southwest border into the U.S. between 2019 and 2024, the number of noncitizen migrants present in Washington climbed ten-fold to 45,603 in 2024 from 4,156 in 2022. The state’s housing and homeless crisis response system was strained, and most emergency shelters were already filled each night, leaving thousands of newly arrived migrants homeless.

Washington responded by appropriating $25 million for the Washington Migrant and Asylum-Seeker Support Project (the WA MASS Project), which was launched in October 2024 to help newly arrived migrants meet their basic needs such as shelter, food, and access to medical care. But the state recognized that more was needed and sought federal funding through the Shelter and Services Program.

Brown argues in the complaint that DHS violated the Constitution’s separation of powers doctrine because the Constitution grants “the power of the purse” to Congress and not the president. That means the administration can’t refuse to pay out funds already approved by Congress “simply because of policy objections,” the complaint states. He also alleges that DHS has violated the Administrative Procedure Act by taking actions that are arbitrary, capricious, and contrary to law.

Brown is asking the court to declare DHS’s decision to terminate the Shelter and Services Program unlawful and order the federal agency to restore the funding program.

A copy of the complaint is available here.

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MIL OSI USA News –

July 26, 2025
MIL-OSI USA: Last Day to Apply for FEMA Assistance Following April Flooding

Source: US Federal Emergency Management Agency

Headline: Last Day to Apply for FEMA Assistance Following April Flooding

Last Day to Apply for FEMA Assistance Following April Flooding

FRANKFORT, Ky

– Kentucky homeowners and renters who experienced damage or loss caused by the April severe storms, straight-line winds, flooding, landslides and mudslides have until 11:59 p

m

today to apply for federal disaster assistance

The deadline to apply is today

How To Apply for FEMA AssistanceThere are several ways to apply for FEMA assistance:Online at DisasterAssistance

gov

Visit any Disaster Recovery Center

To find a center close to you, visit fema

gov/DRC, or text DRC along with your Zip Code to 43362 (Example: “DRC 29169”)

Use the FEMA mobile app

Call the FEMA Helpline at 800-621-3362

Help is available in many languages

If you use a relay service, such as Video Relay Service (VRS), captioned telephone or other service, give FEMA your number for that service

FEMA works with every household on a case-by-case basis

FEMA representatives can explain available assistance programs, how to apply to FEMA, and help connect survivors with resources for their recovery needs

When you apply, you will need to provide:A current phone number where you can be contacted

Your address at the time of the disaster and the address where you are now staying

Your Social Security Number

A general list of damage and losses

Banking information if you choose direct deposit

If insured, the policy number or the agent and/or the company name

Survivors should keep their contact information updated with FEMA as the agency may need to call to schedule a home inspection or get additional information

Disaster assistance is not a substitute for insurance and is not intended to compensate for all losses caused by a disaster

The assistance is intended to meet basic needs and supplement disaster recovery efforts

For more information about Kentucky flooding recovery, visit www

fema

gov/disaster/4864

Follow the FEMA Region 4 X account at x

com/femaregion4

martyce

allenjr
Fri, 07/25/2025 – 12:25

MIL OSI USA News –

July 26, 2025
MIL-OSI USA: Money Is Available for Personal Property Losses, Including Musical Instruments

Source: US Federal Emergency Management Agency 2

ennesseans love their music! So, it is good news that musicians and other residents who had damage or losses from April 2-24 severe storms, straight-line winds, tornadoes and flooding, may be eligible for FEMA assistance. Homeowners and renters in Cheatham, Davidson, Dickson Dyer, Hardeman, McNairy, Montgomery, Obion and Wilson counties are encouraged to apply by the Aug. 19 deadline.
Insurance is the best means to recover after a natural disaster. FEMA assistance covers basic needs, it does not restore all disaster-related property loss. However, FEMA assistance may repair or replace disaster-damaged property if conditions meet the eligibility requirements, and the item(s) fall within any of these categories:

Appliances: includes standard household appliances, such as a refrigerator, washing machine, etc.
Clothing: essential clothing needed due to overall loss, damage, or contamination.
Furniture: basic furnishings found in a bedroom, kitchen, bathroom and living room.
Tools: tools and equipment (including musical instruments) required for your job and items required as a condition of an applicant’s or household member’s education. This assistance also applies to self-employed individuals.
Computer: funds to cover replacement of one personal or family computer. Funds for additional computers required for work or school may be approved.
Accessibility: FEMA also provides assistance for damaged personal property required for qualified applicants with disabilities.

How to Apply for FEMA Assistance
Apply online at DisasterAssistance.gov, use the FEMA App for mobile devices or call the FEMA Helpline at 800-621-3362. In-person help is available at any Disaster Recovery Center for submitting applications, getting updates and asking questions. Find a center here: DRC Locator (fema.gov).
Video: What to Expect Before Applying for FEMA Assistance | ASL | Spanish
Video: Next Steps After Applying for FEMA Assistance | ASL | Spanish
Low-interest disaster loans from the U.S. Small Business Administration are also available. To learn more or apply, visit sba.gov/disaster or call 800-659-2955.
FEMA is committed to providing equal access to federal assistance for Tennesseans who were affected by the April 2-24 severe storms, straight-line winds, tornadoes and flooding. Anyone with an accessibility need who is applying for FEMA assistance should let FEMA know by calling the FEMA Helpline at 800-621-3362.

MIL OSI USA News –

July 26, 2025