Category: housing

MIL-OSI New Zealand: Addressing New Zealand’s infrastructure asset management challenge
Source: NZ Music Month takes to the streets

The Government has launched a new work programme to improve public infrastructure asset management, Infrastructure Minister Chris Bishop says.

“We need to be honest about the fact that we’ve done asset management poorly in the public sector for decades. We rank fourth to last in the OECD for asset management, with a number of government agencies reporting non-compliance with Cabinet expectations relating to depreciation funding, asset management plans and asset registers. The public sector performs poorly compared with the private sector.

“Poor asset management results in expensive renewals and emergency works, poor infrastructure quality, asset failures, and less funding for new services. The Infrastructure Commission estimates that for every $40 spent on new infrastructure, we should be investing $60 in maintenance and renewals.

“In practice, years of poor asset management means leaky hospitals and schools, mould in police stations and courthouses, service outages on commuter rail, and poor accommodation for Defence Force personnel and their families. It’s not good enough. New Zealanders deserve better.

“To ensure we get the most out of every dollar we invest, Cabinet has agreed to an all-of-Government work programme that will improve central government asset management and performance, with a focus on infrastructure.

“The objective of the programme is to strengthen the infrastructure system to lift asset performance and service outcomes for New Zealanders, ensure there is adequate investment in planned asset maintenance and renewal activities, ensure new investment decisions can be made within the overall context of agencies’ asset management plans, and improve accountability, capability, and oversight of our infrastructure.

The work programme will be broken up into two phases:

Phase One (short term improvements), including:
- Continued work to update to the Better Business Case (BBC) and Gateway frameworks.
- Self-assessment of New Zealand policy and institutional settings against the IMF Public Investment Management Assessment framework.
- Improved asset management and long-term planning performance indicators and guidance – providing more detailed guidance on expected asset management and long-term planning practice, including which indicators will provide Ministers, stakeholders and the public with confidence that agencies are delivering value for money.
- Supporting the growth of a “Community of Practice” to build capability – the Infrastructure Commission is partnering with Āpōpō to build a ‘community of practice’ through collaborative events for public service asset management professionals.
- A possible national Underground Asset Register – officials are providing advice on opportunities to scale the Wellington City Council underground asset register for use across New Zealand.
Phase Two (beyond December 2025):

Phase two will consider more fundamental changes to system settings to ensure that asset management outcomes improve, and will include:
- The development of the 30-year National Infrastructure Plan (NIP) to ensure greater stability of infrastructure priorities that help New Zealand plan, fund and deliver important infrastructure. As part of their work developing this plan, the Infrastructure Commission will recommend system changes to strengthen investment and asset management outcomes.
- Investigating legislative requirements for the development of ten-year investment plans by capital intensive agencies and performance reporting requirements.
- A refresh of the Cabinet Office circular CO (23) 9, to give effect to broader changes across the IMS and restate Cabinet’s expectations on investment planning, assurance, and asset management practices. The refresh of the Circular will be undertaken in parallel with the NIP, to allow the refreshed Circular to take into account the NIP recommendations.
“The draft 30-year National Infrastructure Plan is expected to be published in June this year and it will then go out for public consultation.

“I intend to consider proposed recommendations from the Infrastructure Commission as part of the Government’s response to the Plan in 2026.

“Making improvements to our investment management system will ensure New Zealanders’ infrastructure investments are well-managed. These improvements will enable greater economic growth and deliver efficient infrastructure which will have long-term impacts on the cost-of-living,” Mr Bishop says.

MIL OSI New Zealand News –
May 14, 2025
MIL-OSI New Zealand: Speech to Apōpō Congress: Addressing New Zealand’s infrastructure asset management challenge

Source: NZ Music Month takes to the streets

Good morning. It’s great to be here – in spirit – at the 2025 Apōpō Congress.
I am a fierce proponent of asset management, and I also enjoy the Te Pae Convention Centre, so it’s a shame I can’t be there with you all in person.
I’d like to thank Apōpō for hosting this congress and for keeping the conversation on asset management learnings and best-practice going for over 75 years.
Better asset management is key to the success of the Government’s plan to go for economic growth and enhance New Zealanders’ quality of life.
Asset management may not be the sexiest aspect of the infrastructure system – as it has to compete with new, big, and exciting projects – but everyone knows, if you don’t paint the weatherboards on your house, the wood will rot.
And billion-dollar infrastructure is fundamentally no different.
Looking after what we have means our infrastructure will last longer, be more reliable, and be more resilient to shocks and stresses. For me, good asset management is a minimum requirement, not an optional extra.
So, today I am announcing a comprehensive work programme that Cabinet has agreed to that will improve asset management practice across central government.
The aim of this work is to provide safer, longer lasting and more reliable infrastructure services; and to achieve better value for money by making the most of what we have.
But before I get into that, let me briefly touch on my six infrastructure priorities and where the Government is at on each of them.
My six priorities as Minister for Infrastructure
Last year, I mapped out what I want from the infrastructure system.
I want the private sector to invest and build here, because they are confident in the pipeline and are enabled to get on with it by an efficient and fair consenting system.
And I want the public to enjoy infrastructure that is safe, reliable, accessible, and good value for money.
To achieve this, I’m focused on six priorities as Infrastructure Minister:

Establishing National Infrastructure Funding and Financing Ltd,
Developing a 30-year National Infrastructure Plan,
Improving infrastructure funding and financing,
Improving the consenting framework,
Improving education and health infrastructure, and last but not least –
Strengthening asset management.

These priorities are in response to what the coalition Government has heard from industry and infrastructure experts, both in New Zealand and overseas.
National Infrastructure Funding and Financing Ltd
Let’s start with National Infrastructure Funding and Financing, which we call NIFFCo.
On the 1st of December last year, we established NIFFCo to:

Act as the Crown’s ‘shopfront’ to facilitate private sector investment in infrastructure – including receiving and evaluating Market Led Proposals.
Partner with agencies, and in some cases, local government, on projects involving complex procurement, alternative funding mechanisms, and private finance – including Public Private Partnerships (PPPs).
Administer central government infrastructure funds.

NIFFCo has already started lifting the government’s commercial capability and has deployed expertise into agencies that are working on complex Public Private Partnership (PPP) projects including the Northland Road of National Significance and Christchurch Men’s Prison.
Off the back of the New Zealand Infrastructure Investment Summit, NIFFCo has also started engaging with domestic and international debt and equity markets to help connect New Zealand projects to suitable capital.
Developing a 30-year National Infrastructure Plan
Now, let’s move to my second priority, the 30-year National Infrastructure Plan.
The industry has asked for a long-term plan and pipeline so that they can invest in people and equipment. We have heard them, it’s the right thing to do, and we are doing it.
The New Zealand Infrastructure Commission is developing the Plan, which will outline an independent and expert view on New Zealand’s infrastructure needs over the next 30 years, planned investments over the next 10 years, and recommendations on priority projects and reforms that can fill the gap between what we have and what need.
The draft plan is on track to go out for public consultation next month, with the final plan due to me by the end of this year.
I encourage you to provide feedback on the Plan, particularly in the areas of asset management.
Improving infrastructure funding and financing
Now, let’s talk about my third priority, Improving infrastructure funding and financing.
Public infrastructure in New Zealand has historically been primarily funded by taxpayers or ratepayers.
But our heavy reliance on this blunt approach is not serving New Zealand well and has led to perverse outcomes including congestion, run-down assets, and the unresponsive provision of enabling infrastructure – contributing to unaffordable housing.
Last year, we released a suite of new and improved frameworks and guidance including:

Treasury’s new Funding and Financing framework,
The Government’s refreshed PPP policy,
Strategic Leasing Guidance, and
Guideline for Market Led Proposals.

The collective purpose of these documents is to help the Government use its balance sheet more strategically, apply good commercial disciplines to investment, and be a more sophisticated client of infrastructure.
This year I have focused on establishing new funding and financing tools. In February, I announced five specific changes to New Zealand’s funding and financing toolkit to make it easier for councils and central government to provide infrastructure to support urban growth.
I won’t cover all of these, but the most relevant to people here, is that we are shifting away from Development Contributions to a new Development Levy System that will enable council to fully recover the costs of housing growth from growth.
This change means ratepayers will no longer need to cross subsidise growth to the same extent (if at all) – freeing up rates to go towards maintenance backlogs.
The Government is progressing amendments to the Local Government Act 2002 this year, so that Councils will be able to move to the new Development Levy System through their 2027 Long-Term Plan cycle.
Improving the consenting framework
Now, let’s move onto my fourth priority, improving the consenting framework.
As many of you will know, the resource management system is broken.
It achieves the worst of both worlds: it stifles development and fails to protect the environment. In many ways, our currently planning system is one of the root causes of our infrastructure deficit.
So, we are taking action.
In 2023, we repealed the Natural and Built Environment Act and Spatial Planning Act.
In 2024, we introduced the Fast Track Approvals Act, which provides a one-stop shop for projects with significant regional and national benefits to apply for and access approvals, resource consents, and permits across nine different Acts, all in the one process.
The Government listed 149 projects in the Act itself, fast-tracking them in the fast-track process. More projects can be referred into the process too.
These 149 projects represent up to 55,000 new homes; 180 kilometres of new road, rail, and public transport routes; three gigawatts in additional generation capacity; and multiple mining and aquaculture projects.
And this year, the Government is replacing the entire resource management system –
We will put a new system in place that is effects based and embraces standardisation, meaning fewer and faster consents. We plan to have the two Acts introduced to Parliament mid-this year.
Improving education and health infrastructure
I won’t go into too much detail of my, fifth priority, improving education and health infrastructure. I will just quickly say that this government is moving towards:

More standardised, repeatable designs,
More modular and staged builds, and
More strategic procurement – including by using a panel of contractors and partners for large programmes or packages of work.

Poor asset management practices
Now, let’s talk in detail about my sixth priority – strengthening asset management.
I think we need to be honest about the fact that we’ve done asset management poorly in central government for decades.
Too often we see the result of a lack of care in managing the infrastructure assets entrusted to agencies.
I can rattle off too many examples of things gone wrong:

Schools in Auckland with leaking roofs and rotting buildings;
Half of justice buildings reported to be in “poor” or “very poor” condition;
Military homes in Waiouru infested with black mould;
A police custody suite in Hawke’s Bay with so many leaks that the roof had to be covered with plastic tarpaulin; and
A hospital in Whangārei where the roof leaked when it rained, the surgical wing was on a lean, raw sewage was found seeping into the walls, and – to top it all off – those walls were riddled with asbestos.

This is simply not good enough for New Zealanders.
It would be comforting to pretend that these are isolated anecdotes of poor outcomes. And it would be easy to say that “all we need is a bit more funding for emergency repairs to plug some leaks and patch up some roofs”.
But this pattern of ‘build and forget’ repeats too often for this to be anything other than a systematic issue.
And you don’t need to take my word for it.
There is a growing analytical evidence base of unacceptable asset management practice:

New Zealand ranks fourth to last for asset management in the OECD’s infrastructure survey, and
Several central government agencies do not comply with mandatory requirements set out by Cabinet as outlined in Cabinet Office circular (23) 9 – including requirements related to depreciation funding, asset management plans, and asset registers.

The contrast between the performance of central government and that of the private sector, regulated utilities, and even local government is also stark. Let’s use the ratio of annual spending on renewals and maintenance, relative to asset depreciation, as a proxy for asset management performance.
The private sector and local government have ratios of approximately [1] and [0.75] respectively.
For central government agencies, this metric is often impossible to measure, because it isn’t being recorded and reported. And where the data does exist, such as for state highways, the results are significantly worse, with a ratio of [0.35].
These poor asset management practices are undermining this Government’s infrastructure objectives and contributing to our significant infrastructure deficit – which is expected to grow to around $210 billion by 2050.
Our maintenance and renewal challenge
In fact, one of the biggest challenges facing New Zealand’s infrastructure sector is the cost and resources needed to repair and replace assets that are wearing out.
The Infrastructure Commission tells me that for every $40 spent on new infrastructure, we should be investing $60 in maintenance and renewals.
If we don’t prioritise and deliver this spending and sort our asset management practices now, our problems are only going to get bigger.
This is driven by three macro trends.
For one, the amount New Zealand needs to spend on asset management will continue to increase as the assets built during the post-war investment boom of the 1950s to 1990s wear out.
Second, asset management needs will increase in some sectors as demographics change – for example, more focus will be needed on health facilities as our population ages.
Third, the risks we face from natural hazards will continue to become more acute. New Zealand already ranks second in the OECD in expected annual losses from natural hazards. And asset owners won’t be able to make informed trade-offs between insurance, relocation, and resilience if they don’t have a strong base of asset management practice to build from – including knowing what they own, where it is, what conditions it’s in, and what risks it faces.
I feel like I am preaching to the choir – but, as you know – it is important to get asset management right.
And some sectors do get asset management more right than others.
For example, regulated utilities like energy perform well due to economic incentives, and regulatory regimes with strong transparency, oversight and audit requirements.
Taking a step back – regulated utilities, local government, and central government all have different rules and enforcement mechanisms that impact asset performance, with central government holding the regulated and local government sectors to a higher standard than it does itself.
The private sector is characterised by oversight through market discipline, economic regulation, and minimum service quality standards.
Local government has strong legislative requirements for planning and asset management, supported by audit and transparency requirements. For example, the Local Government Act requires reporting on infrastructure spending by category including maintenance and renewal, which is then audited by the Office of the Auditor General.
In central government we primarily rely on the requirements set through the Cabinet Office circular on Investment Management and Asset Performance in Departments and Other Entities, or, more commonly known as CO (23) 9.
External transparency on central government infrastructure (like age, condition, location, and utilisation) is limited at best, making it difficult for the public to be confident that it is being managed appropriately.
This is a very complex system to fix. There is no single factor or actor that accounts for why central government is struggling so much to manage its assets effectively.
To be clear, it’s not that we don’t have hard-working asset management professionals. Because I know we have some brilliant asset managers doing fantastic work.
But too many of you are frustrated by a system that simply isn’t set up to empower you to do what is needed.
In my view, our asset management performance is the result of four complex inter-related issues.
First, central government does not treat asset management as a fundamental component of service delivery. Top-down fiscal constraints, changing service expectations and stakeholder pressures mean that asset management is often de-prioritised in favour of new investment or new operating spending.
Second, agencies do not have good enough information on their assets. So, decision-makers like agency officials, and Ministers like me lack the information needed to make good decisions and to be held accountable for them.
Third, governance is weak. Compared to regulated utilities and local government, our systems, processes, and rules for ensuring that asset management is being carried out properly are not strong enough.
Fourth, visibility and support for asset management is lacking at senior levels within agencies. Nobody in the audience will be shocked to hear me say that awareness, visibility, and support for asset management is often lacking at senior levels. We simply don’t invest enough in our people. This is true in some parts of the private sector and local government, but it is particularly true in central government.
Improving central government asset management
So, that’s the doom and gloom part over. Let’s get onto how we plan to fix the system.
Today, I am excited to announce that Cabinet has agreed to an all-of-Government work programme that will improve central government asset management and performance, with a focus on infrastructure.
My goal is to provide safer and more reliable infrastructure services to New Zealanders; and to achieve better value for money by making the most of what we have.
This work programme will take place across two phases.
Phase 1 will roll out this year, delivering quick wins that drive real improvements. But that is just the start. Next year, we start on Phase 2, which will deliver more fundamental changes to how we look after our assets.
Phase 1
Let’s start with Phase 1. Phase 1 is about providing clarity on what ‘good’ looks like and ensuring that there are better tools to help central government agencies succeed.
The Infrastructure Commission has three actions under Phase 1.
First, the Commission is assessing New Zealand’s investment and asset management settings for central government using the ‘Public Investment Management Assessment’ (PIMA). This international best-practice framework was developed by the IMF in 2015.
The Commission will release the PIMA ‘self-assessment’ report alongside the National Infrastructure Plan later this year. It will be an invaluable source of evidence on how we can improve our investment systems – more on that soon.
Second, the Commission will publish detailed guidance that agencies will need to follow on asset management; long-term planning; and related performance, assurance, and accountability indicators.
At the moment, Treasury sets out high-level investment management and asset performance requirements for departments, Crown entities, and companies listed in Schedule 4A of the Public Finance Act through Cabinet Office circular CO (23) 9.
Over and above Cabinet setting clear rules for asset management it is crucial that we help agencies understand how they meet their obligations. Currently, there is limited detailed guidance showing agencies what good looks like.
More detailed guidance can help fill this gap and will help agencies to provide useful and consistent information to decision makers and the public – including indicators that will show whether agencies are delivering value for money from their planning and investment activities.
Third, the Commission is partnering with Āpōpō to build a new ‘community of practice’ that will lift the capability of public service asset management professionals through events.
Phase 1 of this work programme, also includes:

the Treasury continuing work to update their Better Business Case and Gateway Frameworks, and
Potentially developing a National Underground Asset Register – Officials will provide me advice on opportunities to scale the Wellington City Council’s underground asset register for use across New Zealand.

Phase 2
Phase 2 is about driving more fundamental changes to system settings to ensure that we see sustained improvements in asset management.
Phase 2 will be informed by the National Infrastructure Plan but will ultimately be implemented through the Government response to the Plan, which I expect will include changes to the Investment Management System.
The Commission is currently developing the National Infrastructure Plan to ensure greater stability of infrastructure priorities and to help New Zealand plan, fund, and deliver important infrastructure.
The Commission has informed me that the Plan will include recommendations on how to strengthen central government’s Investment Management System.
The Commission are thinking of issues such as:

Strengthening the Public Finance Act to require agencies to periodically develop long-term investment plans (including asset management) and strengthening reporting requirements to increase transparency on spending on maintenance and renewals.
Strengthening non-legislative reporting requirements to improve transparency over asset management outcomes.
Establishing oversight and review requirements for asset management planning.
Explicitly incorporating assessments of bottom-up infrastructure needs, including spending on asset management and renewals, into fiscal strategies
And strengthening incentives for better asset management practice by, for example, linking investment decision making to agency asset management capability or ringfencing depreciation funding.

It is important to note that the National Infrastructure Plan is a ‘strategy report’ and is rightly produced independently from Government.
As such, I will consider the final recommendations made by the Commission and will implement Phase 2 of the Asset Management Work Programme through the Government’s response to the Plan in 2026.
Over the next year, the Treasury is also working to update Cabinet Office circular CO (23) 9. The update of CO (23) 9 is a great opportunity to take on evidence and findings from the National Infrastructure Plan to strengthen Cabinet’s expectations on investment planning, assurance, and asset management practices.
I have asked Treasury officials to consider the findings of the National Infrastructure Plan when updating the Circular.
But to be clear, all options remain on the table to improve asset management – including changes to the law.
Conclusion
To conclude, I would like to say thank you again for inviting me to speak.
Getting asset management right is one of my top priorities as Minister for Infrastructure, and I will need your help to do it.
The size of the prize is significant –
Improving how we look after our assets will improve the lives of New Zealanders through safer and more resilient infrastructure services. It will drive better value for money from our investments – putting downward pressure on the cost-of-living and freeing up funds for other Government priorities.
Better asset management is also good for economic growth, as higher-quality infrastructure will reduce disruptions, encourage investment, and improve productivity.
It won’t be a quick fix.
The challenges we face are deep-rooted and systemic. But they are not insurmountable, if we ambitious enough to take them on, and disciplined enough to overcome them.
Thank you.

MIL OSI New Zealand News –

May 14, 2025
MIL-OSI USA: Ernst Works to Counter Chinese Aggression in Indo-Pacific

US Senate News:

Source: United States Senator Joni Ernst (R-IA)
Published: May 13, 2025
WASHINGTON – To keep Americans safe from the threat of increased Chinese aggression, U.S. Senators Joni Ernst (R-Iowa) and Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.) introduced a bill to strengthen the United States’ strategic partnerships with Pacific Island nations.
The bipartisan Pacific Partnership Act would help the U.S. establish a clear, comprehensive strategy to support diplomatic, security, and economic relationships in the Indo-Pacific region.
“Strengthening America’s partnerships in the Indo-Pacific is critical to deterring Chinese aggression,” said Ernst. “This bipartisan legislation equips us to work with nations in the Pacific that serve as the first line of defense against the Chinese Communist Party and keep Americans safe at home.”
“Supporting our allies and partners in the Indo-Pacific is essential to combatting the Chinese Communist Party’s influence and to our long-term national security,” said Cortez Masto. “This bipartisan bill is critical to strengthening our ties with our allies in the Pacific and ensuring they become enduring global relationships.”
Click here to view the bill.
Background:
Ernst’s work to increase cooperation with Pacific Island Nations to counter China’s malign influence was also included in the final National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2024.

MIL OSI USA News –

May 14, 2025
MIL-OSI USA: Cantwell Condemns GOP’s Cruel Proposal to Kick Millions Off Medicaid: ‘You’re Going to Make All Those People Go to An Emergency Room?’

US Senate News:

Source: United States Senator for Washington Maria Cantwell
05.13.25
Cantwell Condemns GOP’s Cruel Proposal to Kick Millions Off Medicaid: ‘You’re Going to Make All Those People Go to An Emergency Room?’
GOP proposal would cancel health coverage and drive-up co-pays for hundreds of thousands of Washingtonians
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senator Maria Cantwell (D-WA), senior member of the Senate Finance Committee and ranking member of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, delivered a speech on the Senate floor condemning the House GOP’s ill-conceived proposal to cut health care by $715 billion to help pay for a tax break for the ultra-rich and corporations, forcing at least 13.7 million Americans off their health insurance.
“House Republicans say that these cuts are about waste, fraud, and abuse — but the real fraud is telling the American people that by implementing these requirements, that somehow these policies are going to save money. The truth is, it’s just making it harder on Americans to stay on Medicaid,” Sen. Cantwell said.
“In 2018 Arkansas tried the same thing that the House of Representatives are now suggesting. They became the first state to establish a work requirement for certain Medicaid enrollees. It took just four months, and the new requirement got 18,000 people kicked off Medicaid. Where do you think those people go? You think they don’t have any health care needs? You don’t think they go to the hospital and cost us all a bunch load more money?” she continued.
“So I ask my colleagues to make sure that we are fighting these cuts to Medicaid. Our communities are demanding it. They are watching.”
Video of her speech is available HERE and a full transcript is HERE.
On Sunday, the Republican leadership of the U.S. House of Representatives released a draft proposal to cut $912 billion from the Energy and Commerce Committee budget — the committee that oversees Medicaid, the federal program that insures many low-income adults and children, pregnant people, seniors, and people with disabilities. Their proposal would institute new co-pays and onerous work requirements, ultimately blocking access to health care for the people who need it most.
Medicaid, also known as Apple Health in Washington state, covers 1.9 million Washingtonians. On May 2, Sen. Cantwell released a snapshot report highlighting the impact that Medicaid cuts would have on Washington state’s highly-ranked long-term care system for seniors and people with disabilities. In February, she additionally released a snapshot report that demonstrated how cuts would harm health care access in Washington state, and followed up with a report in March that dove into impacts on the Puget Sound region.
Highlights of those snapshot reports include:
In Washington state, WA-04 (Central Washington) and WA-05 (Eastern Washington) have the highest proportions of adults and total population on Medicaid (Apple Health). In District 4, 70% of children are on Medicaid.
In the Puget Sound, children in Seattle’s blue-collar strongholds would feel the deepest pain from Medicaid cuts. More than half of children in Burien, SeaTac, Kent, Federal Way, Auburn, Renton, and Rainier Valley depend on Medicaid.
In an exclusive new survey of 68 WA nursing homes, 67 of 68 would cut services if Medicaid were cut by 5% or more, and 65% would consider closing.
Over the past two months, Sen. Cantwell also took a tour around the state to hear from folks who would be directly impacted by cuts to Medicare. Doctors, patients, and health care providers in Seattle, Spokane, the Tri-Cities, and Wenatchee warned that such cuts would devastate Washington state’s health care system and limit access to lifesaving care.
Last week, a coalition of Washington state hospital leaders and Republican elected officials sent a letter opposing any cuts to Medicaid. The group included the CEOs of Skyline Health and Klickitat Valley Hospital, as well as multiple Republican members of the Washington state legislature, leaders of Klickitat County, and councilmembers of White Salmon and Goldendale. The letter emphasized that hospitals in rural areas are especially reliant on Medicaid, and any funding reductions would result in loss of services or even hospital closures. The letter warned, “Any reduction in funding from any source will undoubtedly result in a reduction of services, reduction of access or worse – hospital closures,” and further that “Policy decisions that put a community’s access to healthcare in jeopardy are a sure way to hasten the demise of rural Washington State.”

MIL OSI USA News –

May 14, 2025
MIL-OSI USA: Murphy On Trump’s Middle East Trip: This Isn’t America First. This Is Trump First. It’s A National Security Disaster And A Moral Abomination.

US Senate News:

Source: United States Senator for Connecticut – Chris Murphy
[embedded content]
WASHINGTON—U.S. Senator Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) on Tuesday spoke on the U.S. Senate floor to deliver a blistering condemnation of President Trump’s foreign policy corruption, highlighting his use of the office to enrich himself while putting U.S. national security at risk. Murphy called out Trump’s brazen willingness to accept luxury gifts and bribes from foreign governments like Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and the UAE, blasting the president for openly prioritizing his own profits over the well-being of American families and calling for bipartisan action to confront these abuses of power.
“Usually, public corruption happens in secret,” said Murphy. “The politicians that do it, they know it’s wrong to accept money in exchange for favorable government treatment, and so they hide it – until they’re found out.”
He continued: “The key difference is that Donald Trump isn’t hiding it like other corrupt officials are. He’s not ashamed, he’s not doing it in secret. His corruption is wildly public, and his hope is that by doing it publicly, he can con the American people into thinking that it’s not corruption because he’s not hiding it. But what he’s doing, in reality, is no different than any other corrupt public official who does it in private, other than the fact that Trump’s corruption, his foreign policy corruption, is just so much bigger in scope and the impact that it has on the American people than anything a corrupt mayor or a corrupt governor may have done. Trump’s first major foreign trip–and he just landed–is to Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and the UAE; not because these are our most important allies in the world; not because these are the most important countries in the world; not because he’s going there to talk about making the Middle East more safe and more secure. No, his first trip is to these three countries because these are the three countries that have agreed to pay Donald Trump money. Donald Trump is going to collect tribute, and it’s all just out in the open.”
Murphy laid out the price of doing business with the Trump administration: “So let’s ask, what is the going rate right now for a Gulf country to buy access to Donald Trump? To get favorable treatment from the federal government? For Qatar, we recently found out, it’s a $400 million luxury plane. This plane has been opulently configured for royal use. It’s not a gift to the U.S. government – it’s a personal gift to the president. The terms of the arrangement apparently include a stipulation that after Trump leaves office, it will be transferred to Trump, to his presidential library – which means Trump gets the so-called ‘floating palace’ for himself…For Saudi Arabia, the price is also in the billions. Soon after leaving the White House, in Trump’s first term, his son-in-law Jared Kushner created a private equity firm and got a $2 billion investment from Saudi Arabia. The board of the Saudi sovereign wealth fund questioned such a large investment in an unproven fund, but the Saudi Crown Prince overruled the board, undoubtedly seeing the political advantage of investing directly with the Trump family…For the UAE, the price is somewhere north of $2 billion.”
“Well, the most simple way to think about this is that if the guy that you elected to protect us and make our lives better is spending most of his time alternating between playing golf and cutting deals for himself, he’s not protecting you. He’s not spending any time trying to lower costs or defeat our enemies. Corruption, it can be a full-time job for Donald Trump, and that’s a pretty lousy deal for the American people,” Murphy added. “But more importantly, when our foreign policy is for sale, we are less safe. Let me give you an example relative to the trip that Donald Trump is on right now. These countries aren’t padding Donald Trump’s pockets because they like him. They are paying him in order to get things from the federal government, from the U.S. government, without having to make any actual policy concessions that would benefit the U.S. people.
Murphy called on Republicans and Democrats to unite, vowing to block arms sales linked to corrupt deals and push legislation to stop politicians from profiting off crypto: “We can look the other way, or we can join together, Republicans and Democrats, to stand up for this country and do something about it. I’ve joined with Senators Schatz and Coons and Booker to introduce a resolution condemning the acceptance of the plane. It’s a blatant violation of the Emoluments Clause. We could stand together as a Senate to vote for that resolution. I’ve introduced legislation to make it illegal for presidents or members of Congress and their family members to profit off of crypto coins while they hold federal office. We could join together in that effort. I will personally seek to block any arms sale that is announced as part of this trip with a country that is personally investing in Donald Trump and his family. I will force a full Senate debate and a vote on these sales. Foreign leaders need to know there will be a price for participating in the corruption of the American presidency.”
Murphy tore into Trump’s corruption, calling it a national security sellout and a slap in the face to working families: “This level of corruption is so gross that even Trump’s most hardened MAGA sycophants are turning against him. I didn’t think I’d see the day, but people like Ben Shapiro and Laura Loomer, who fawn over Trump, can’t believe he is so crass as to think that it’s ok to accept planes as a gift in exchange for U.S. national security concessions. This isn’t America First. This is not what he promised the American people. This is Trump First. He is willing to put our nation’s security at risk, take unconstitutional bribes, just so he can fly himself and his Mar-a-Lago golf buddies around the world in gold plated luxury planes gifted to him by foreign governments. All while at the same time, he tells Americans that they should be okay buying fewer school supplies for their kids, or fewer birthday presents for their grandchildren, because he is driving prices up for non-billionaires in this country. All while at the same time he is kicking 13 million people off of their health care. Trump lines his pockets, he corrupts our foreign policy to enrich himself, while driving up prices and stealing health care from average Americans. It’s a national security disaster and it’s a moral abomination.”
A full transcript of his remarks can be found below:
MURPHY: “Usually, public corruption happens in secret. The politicians that do it, they know it’s wrong to accept money in exchange for favorable government treatment, and so they hide it – until they’re found out.
“A textbook example would be Louisiana Governor Edwin Edwards, who in the 1990’s was quietly taking bribes from businessmen who wanted to get licenses for riverboat casinos. In the late 1990’s, Edwards was convicted for the crimes of extortion, racketeering, and money laundering. The way in which he was doing it was like out of a movie– in one instance, a businessman handed the Governor a suitcase full of $100 bills – totaling $400,000 – all in order to get a 6-0 commission ruling in favor of this casino. Eventually, as with most all corrupt officials who are taking money privately, Edwards was discovered. He was disgraced, and he went to jail.
“As we speak, our president, Donald Trump, is going to the Middle East on a public corruption tour. He’s no less corrupt than Edwin Edwards of Louisiana. In fact, he’s way more corrupt. Edwin Edwards took $400,000, while in the Middle East, Donald Trump will cement deals totaling in the billions in exchange for favorable treatment by the U.S. federal government for these Gulf countries.
“The key difference is that Donald Trump isn’t hiding it like other corrupt officials are. He’s not ashamed, he’s not doing it in secret. His corruption is wildly public, and his hope is that by doing it publicly, he can con the American people into thinking that it’s not corruption because he’s not hiding it. But what he’s doing, in reality, is no different than any other corrupt public official who does it in private, other than the fact that Trump’s corruption, his foreign policy corruption, is just so much bigger in scope and the impact that it has on the American people than anything a corrupt mayor or a corrupt governor may have done.
“Trump’s first major foreign trip–and he just landed–is to Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and the UAE; not because these are our most important allies in the world; not because these are the most important countries in the world; not because he’s going there to talk about making the Middle East more safe and more secure. No, his first trip is to these three countries because these are the three countries that have agreed to pay Donald Trump money. Donald Trump is going to collect tribute, and it’s all just out in the open.
“Frankly, it’s pretty easy to see this coming. Recent former presidents – Republicans and Democrats – have always very seriously and studiously avoided even the appearance of a conflict of interest. President Bush placed his assets into a qualified blind trust, where investment decisions were made without his knowledge or input. Both Biden and Obama divested all of their assets except for cash and mutual funds. They did not enter into any new business ventures while in the White House.
“In contrast, Trump has refused to abide by these standard ethics rules. His family runs his business, but nobody honestly believes that the kids are really in charge. President Trump is still calling the shots. His interests are not in a blind trust. He’s made no pledge he won’t do new deals, even with foreign entities, while he’s in office. In fact, he is doing deals seemingly every single week. He is open for business, and every foreign government knows it.
“In fact, it appears that right now the Gulf states are trying to outdo each other to up the price of buying an American President. And because Trump is greedy and he’s insecure – he wants to fit in with the billionaire class – he is traveling to the region with his hat out for further solicitations.
“So let’s ask, what is the going rate right now for a Gulf country to buy access to Donald Trump? To get favorable treatment from the federal government?
“For Qatar, we recently found out, it’s a $400 million luxury plane. This plane has been opulently configured for royal use. It’s not a gift to the U.S. government – it’s a personal gift to the president. The terms of the arrangement apparently include a stipulation that after Trump leaves office, it will be transferred to Trump, to his presidential library – which means Trump gets the so-called ‘floating palace’ for himself.
“This is outrageous. We’ve never seen anything like this before in American history– a foreign government gifting a $400 million luxury plane to the President of the United States. This is spelled out as blatantly unconstitutional by our Founding Fathers. They wrote into the Constitution a specific clause, the emoluments clause, which prohibits federal officeholders from accepting gifts from any King, Prince, or foreign state without the consent of Congress. How much clearer could it be? It’s unconstitutional. It’s illegal. The Founding Father knew it was evil to have members of Congress or the President of the United States accepting expensive gifts from a foreign nation who in exchange want favors from the US government. Donald Trump’s acceptance of the luxury plane from a foreign monarch is basically THE corruption our Founding fathers were seeking to prevent.
“That’s not all he’s getting from Qatar. The Trump Organization recently signed a $5.5 billion golf course and real estate deal with DarGlobal and Qatari Diar, a firm established by Qatar’s sovereign wealth fund. $5.5 billion. While Trump’s in office.
“It would have been unthinkable for any previous president to enter into a $5.5 billion dollar business deal with anybody, nevermind a foreign government, while they were in office. And it still should be unthinkable.
“Now, Qatar is a U.S. ally It’s a very important ally. But they are a complicated country. They have their own interests, some of which do not overlap with ours. A foreign government like Qatar’s should not have a $5 billion chit hanging over the head of a sitting U.S. president, and they should not be gifting him a $400 million plane. That should kind of go without saying.
“For Saudi Arabia, the price is also in the billions. Soon after leaving the White House, in Trump’s first term, his son-in-law Jared Kushner created a private equity firm and got a $2 billion investment from Saudi Arabia. The board of the Saudi sovereign wealth fund questioned such a large investment in an unproven fund, but the Saudi Crown Prince overruled the board, undoubtedly seeing the political advantage of investing directly with the Trump family.
“But this was only the beginning. The Trump family has put things into overdrive during his second term. Within his first three weeks in office, Trump convened a meeting at the White House with the head of the Saudi sovereign wealth fund – not to discuss matters of state, but to negotiate a deal between the PGA and the Saudi-backed LIV golf tour. You want to know why? To try to bring PGA tournaments back to Trump golf courses. Convened a meeting in the White House with the Saudis in order to enrich himself.
“In addition to the $5 billion Qatari real estate deal, the Trump Organization is also partnering with Saudi firm [Dar Global] on a $1 billion Trump-branded hotel and tower in Dubai. The property’s website–this is a Trump-financed property along with a Saudi investment fund offers free 10-year “golden visas,” to the United States, hinting at the opportunity for investors in Trump’s property to buy residency in the United States and a pathway to citizenship.
“For the UAE, the price is somewhere north of $2 billion. Last week, Eric Trump and World Liberty Financial co-founder Zach Witkoff spoke at a conference in Dubai on crypto called Token 2049.
“As an aside here, it’s just so fantastic – and bone chilling – how transparent these guys are in their use of public positions to enrich themselves. I’m going to tell the story of Trump stablecoin and the corruption with the Emiratis, but let’s just pause for a second and consider the fact that the Trump family could have partnered with anybody in the world on their new crypto venture, World Liberty Financial. But of all the people in the world to partner with on this new crypto venture, they chose the son of Trump’s Middle East envoy. Trump’s Middle East envoy, the guy who’s making all the decisions on U.S. policy in the Middle East – just to make it crystal crystal clear to the Gulf countries that when they deal with World Liberty Financial, Trump’s crypto venture, they are dealing directly with the people responsible for making U.S. policy in the Middle East. It’s just stunning. Literally the sons of the president and the sons of the Middle East envoy running a crypto venture and then going directly into the Middle East in order to find their first investment. And guess what? Miracle– they found it.
“MGX, an investment firm backed by the Emirati government at this conference, announced that they had looked at all the crypto companies in the world that they could partner with to invest $2 billion in the crypto exchange Binance and they selected, wait for it, drumroll… the company run by the sons of the President of the United States and the U.S. Middle East envoy. $2 billion. Now World Liberty’s role in this transaction is not that complicated–it’s similar to a bank: MGX, this Emitari firm, deposits $2 billion with the firm and, in return, receives the stablecoin to be used on these crypto exchanges. The firm holds on to these dollars, invests them, and keeps the profits for themselves. So the Trump-Witkoff company just gets basically a gift of capital. And if they just used that $2 billion to invest in Treasury bonds, it would profit around $85 million a year from these investments alone.
“And the money goes directly to Trump. Just directly to Trump. It’s literally not complicated. Emirates. World Liberty Financial. Donald Trump. This isn’t 1990’s Louisiana. Nobody’s hiding it. On World Liberty’s website they say, “an entity affiliated with Donald J. Trump” owns 60% of the equity in the company. And because of this deal, Trump and Witkoff can further capitalize. Because Trump’s stablecoin just became the 5th most valuable stablecoin in the world because of the Emirati investment.
“And if the plane and the real estate deals and the private equity fund investment and the stablecoin weren’t enough for you, Trump has found one last way for Gulf money to flow seamlessly into his pocket: it’s called the Trump meme coin.
“What’s the business model here? Trump gets a huge payment whenever he releases a batch of these meme coins, which by the way have no underlying value other than just the demand that people have for Trump’s coin. And then each time a Trump coin is bought or sold, a small fee is routed directly to the company owned by Trump. According to one analysis, nearly $325 million in fees have been accrued since the coin was launched in January. Just four and half months, $325 million worth of fees.
“Trump hides the buyers of the coin. In this way, the meme coin is kind of a little bit like Louisiana corruption. But we know that the majority of the buyers aren’t Americans who want to help Trump make this nation great again. The majority of the buyers of Trump coin are super-rich foreigners – princes, oligarchs, authoritarians – who are buying the coin in order to get in good with Trump or to get something in exchange.
“Now one great thing about buying the coin is that you get access to Trump and the White House. And again, they’re not hiding this. Two weeks ago, Trump announced that he would host a private dinner at the White House, with seats reserved exclusively for the top 220 Trump coin holders. In two days since the announcement, Trump’s company made $900,000 in fees, because everybody, mostly foreigners–many of them probably in the Gulf–were buying up the coin as quickly as they could in order to get one of these seats.
“If a mayor of a small town was selling meetings at city hall for a thousand bucks, he would be run out of town on a rail. But that’s exactly what Donald Trump is doing, in the Middle East and all over the world, as foreign buyers line up to buy the meme coin guaranteed [to provide] private access to Donald Trump at the White House. You cannot make this up.
“Now, the obvious question for the average American is, okay, what does this mean for me? Somebody living in New Britain, Connecticut, might think it’s kind of gross that Trump is lining his pockets as President, but they want to know, how does this actually affect me?
“Well, the most simple way to think about this is that if the guy that you elected to protect us and make our lives better is spending most of his time alternating between playing golf and cutting deals for himself, he’s not protecting you. He’s not spending any time trying to lower costs or defeat our enemies. Corruption, it can be a full-time job for Donald Trump, and that’s a pretty lousy deal for the American people.
“But more importantly, when our foreign policy is for sale, we are less safe. Let me give you an example relative to the trip that Donald Trump is on right now. These countries aren’t padding Donald Trump’s pockets because they like him. They are paying him in order to get things from the federal government, from the U.S. government, without having to make any actual policy concessions that would benefit the U.S. people.
“Before anybody could begin to process the brazen corruption of the UAE/Trump/Witkoff crypto deal, reports very quickly emerged that the Trump administration was considering changing regulations to make it easier for the country of UAE to purchase highly advanced semiconductors from U.S. manufacturers. This was a huge priority of the Emiratis, but the restrictions are on the UAE for a reason. The UAE has a very troubling and very close security relationship with China, and so the reason why we didn’t allow U.S. companies to sell semiconductors directly to the UAE is because we believed that it would very easily become a conduit to China getting their hands on these advanced semiconductors and being able to leapfrog the United States in the business of advanced AI.
“But all of a sudden, once the cash payment to Trump through the crypto venture was announced, Trump signaled that he was willing to throw our security concerns out the window and transfer this sensitive technology to the UAE, even though it’s likely that China will get their hands on this technology, allowing China to put themselves in a position to leapfrog us in the race for advanced AI. That would be a disaster for the American people. But that’s what’s happening. We might hand AI leadership to China because that’s the price of Trump getting paid, and as long as he gets paid, he doesn’t seem to care about the impact on regular Americans.
“The White House is open for business and the Trump family is proudly advertising to the world where to send the check. They aren’t trying to hide it. A $400 million luxury plane gifted to the president of the United States right as he is going over to negotiate potentially sensitive security arrangements with the Gulf countries. Every American, every Republican, every supposed ‘national security advocate’ in the Senate should be outraged by this.
“We can look the other way, or we can join together, Republicans and Democrats, to stand up for this country and do something about it. I’ve joined with Senators Schatz and Coons and Booker to introduce a resolution condemning the acceptance of the plane. It’s a blatant violation of the Emoluments Clause. We could stand together as a Senate to vote for that resolution. I’ve introduced legislation to make it illegal for presidents or members of Congress and their family members to profit off of crypto coins while they hold federal office. We could join together in that effort. I will personally seek to block any arms sale that is announced as part of this trip with a country that is personally investing in Donald Trump and his family. I will force a full Senate debate and a vote on these sales. Foreign leaders need to know there will be a price for participating in the corruption of the American presidency.
“This level of corruption is so gross that even Trump’s most hardened MAGA sycophants are turning against him. I didn’t think I’d see the day, but people like Ben Shapiro and Laura Loomer, who fawn over Trump, can’t believe he is so crass as to think that it’s ok to accept planes as a gift in exchange for U.S. national security concessions.
“This isn’t America First. This is not what he promised the American people. This is Trump First. He is willing to put our nation’s security at risk, take unconstitutional bribes, just so he can fly himself and his Mar-a-Lago golf buddies around the world in gold plated luxury planes gifted to him by foreign governments. All while at the same time, he tells Americans that they should be okay buying fewer school supplies for their kids, or fewer birthday presents for their grandchildren, because he is driving prices up for non-billionaires in this country. All while at the same time he is kicking 13 million people off of their health care. Trump lines his pockets, he corrupts our foreign policy to enrich himself, while driving up prices and stealing health care from average Americans. It’s a national security disaster and it’s a moral abomination.”

MIL OSI USA News –

May 14, 2025
MIL-OSI United Kingdom: Community Energy Generation Growth Fund opens

Source: Scottish Government

£8 million for community renewable projects.

Communities across Scotland seeking to set up renewable energy generation projects can bid for support from an £8 million government fund which has reopened for applications.

The Community Energy Generation Growth Fund supports local communities to install wind turbines and solar panels or develop other types of renewable energy generation, such as hydro, to meet local needs.

Successful applicants will also be able to earn money from their projects by, for example, allowing them to sell excess energy generated.

The expanded Scottish Government fund, which includes £4 million from Great British Energy, is part of the Scottish Government’s Community and Renewable Energy Scheme (CARES) and builds on last year’s support.

Since its inception, CARES has advised over 1,300 organisations and provided over £67 million in funding to communities throughout Scotland, supporting over 990 projects.

Deputy First Minister Kate Forbes is set to announce the reopening of the fund at the All Energy Scotland conference in Glasgow this morning (Wednesday).

Speaking ahead of the conference, Ms Forbes said: “Scotland is fast becoming a global renewable energy powerhouse, and it is vital that communities share in the benefits from this transition.

“This funding, for stand-alone generation projects, responds to the needs of local groups – has the potential to lever in significant funds for communities. It will also play a key role in our delivery of a just transition – supporting a greener, fairer future for Scots.

“It is also welcome that Great British Energy recognise the valuable role that communities play in our green transition and have provided support for the fund – helping to significantly increase the amount of support available to communities – and providing a catalyst for growth within the community energy sector.

“We will continue to work with our partners to grow the community energy sector to ensure that the delivery of renewable energy comes with benefits for people in Scotland, as well as supporting progress towards net zero.”

Chris Morris from Local Energy Scotland said: “We’re pleased to be building on the success of last year’s Community Energy Generation Growth Fund pilot to support more Scottish communities looking to take the next steps in their renewable energy projects and play an active part in the nation’s transition to net zero.

“Scottish communities demonstrated an appetite to develop new projects during the pilot phase and ideas taken forward include partnering with local authorities to install solar panels on schools, getting approvals for new solar farms and building wind turbines.

We’re looking forward to supporting communities and helping even more of these inspiring projects be realised. For Scottish communities interested, the Local Energy Scotland team is here to help with information and case studies.”

Background

More information on how to apply

MIL OSI United Kingdom –

May 14, 2025
MIL-OSI New Zealand: New bait to control feral cats shows promise

Source: Police investigating after shots fired at Hastings house

Date: 14 May 2025

Feral cats are widespread in New Zealand and have a major impact on our unique native wildlife (such as birds, lizards and bats), as well as spreading diseases like toxoplasmosis. Currently there are limited methods to control feral cats over the large areas where they roam.

As part of the Predator Free 2050 programme, the Department of Conservation (DOC) has been working in partnership with pest control solutions manufacturer, Orillion, to develop a meat sausage bait for application by aircraft for more widespread control of feral cats. DOC is running field trials to test the bait’s effectiveness.

In the first aerial trial last spring, DOC researchers sowed the baits by helicopter over 5000 ha in the St James Conservation Area in North Canterbury. Just one 18 gm sausage was used per hectare or rugby field-sized area.

The results of this field trial are looking promising, says DOC National Eradication Team Manager Stephen Horn.

“We monitored a sample of feral cats fitted with GPS-VHF collars and nine out of ten cats in the trial area quickly found the baits and were killed.

“We also used a grid of 50 cameras to monitor the presence of feral cats before and after the baiting. We detected cats 63 times before the operation and just once after.”

Monitoring through the St James trial also showed stoat and ferret activity declined to very low levels after the operation, most likely from eating baits.

A second trial at Macraes Flat in Otago, which was recently completed, has shown similar results with 100 per cent (11 out of 11) of monitored cats dying, Stephen says.

“It’s exciting – after several years of bait development these trials take us a step closer to being able to register the new bait for wider use.

“A new tool to target feral cats will be a game changer for protecting our vulnerable wildlife, which is found nowhere else in the world.”

The trials involved two applications of bait – the first without toxin to cue feral cats to the sausages and the second using sausages containing small amounts of 1080 (sodium fluoroacetate). They build on earlier research showing the sausage baits are highly attractive to feral cats and not attractive to most native species such as kiwi or to deer.

DOC will carry out a further trial in forested habitat this year. The risk of baits to taonga species like tuna/eel and kea will also be assessed. The results of this work will inform DOC’s application to the Ministry for Primary Industries and Environmental Protection Authority to register the meat bait.

Once registered, DOC plans to use the bait to help remove feral cats from Auckland Island as part of an ambitious plan to eradicate all pests, including feral pigs and mice from this large subantarctic nature reserve. These pests threaten hundreds of native species and have decimated albatross and other seabird populations on the island.

DOC is also working on a second sausage bait using the registered toxin PAPP (para-aminopropiophenone) to directly control stoats. Initial hand-laid field trials show this bait is highly effective. Aerial trials will be carried out this year.

The sausage baits are part of broader work to research and develop new tools and techniques to help achieve New Zealand’s ambitious goal of becoming predator free by 2050.

Background information

Feral cats are found throughout New Zealand in a range of habitats from the coast to alpine areas. They are opportunistic and skilled hunters and prey on native birds, bats and lizards. They have a significant impact on some threatened species such as kea, kakī/black stilt and pukunui/southern New Zealand dotterel.

Contact

For media enquiries contact:

Email: media@doc.govt.nz

MIL OSI New Zealand News –

May 14, 2025
MIL-OSI New Zealand: PSA welcomes alternative Green Budget which restores funding to the public service

Source: PSA

The PSA is welcoming the Green Party alternative Budget which underlines the importance of properly funding the public service to support New Zealanders, in contrast to the Government’s destructive cuts.

The Green Budget, released today, reinstates funding to the public service including areas the Government has sharply cut and underfunded – primary health care, Oranga Tamariki and public housing.

“The Green Party has taken a principled position to restore funding to the public service after the Government’s damaging cuts and the principle of settling pay equity claims so women are paid fairly,” said Fleur Fitzsimons National Secretary for the Public Service Association for Te Pūkenga Here Tikanga Mahi.

“This Budget makes the right choices in terms of supporting a public service that can deliver to the needs of New Zealanders today and tomorrow and acknowledging the role of women in the public service.”

The PSA was consulted on the Budget unlike the Government’s rushed changes to pay equity.

“As we have seen with cuts to the health workforce, to community organisations supporting vulnerable children, and the gutting of Kāinga Ora, to name a few examples, there have been significant impacts on frontline services.

“Women have borne the brunt of these job cuts, making up 62% of the public service and now the dismantling of the pay equity framework will further disadvantage women.

“This speaks to the Government’s priorities. It made a choice to cut taxes for landlords, big tobacco and others instead of properly funding the public service, and paying women fairly – the chickens are coming home to roost – the Green Budget would change that and the PSA welcomes its approach.”

The Public Service Association Te Pūkenga Here Tikanga Mahi is Aotearoa New Zealand’s largest trade union, representing and supporting more than 95,000 workers across central government, state-owned enterprises, local councils, health boards and community groups.

MIL OSI New Zealand News –

May 14, 2025
MIL-OSI Global: As US ramps up fossil fuels, communities will have to adapt to the consequences − yet climate adaptation funding is on the chopping block

Source: The Conversation – USA – By Bethany Bradley, Professor of Biogeography and Spatial Ecology, UMass Amherst

Salt marshes protect shorelines, but they’re already struggling to survive sea-level rise. John Greim/LightRocket via Getty Images

It’s no secret that warming temperatures, wildfires and flash floods are increasingly affecting lives across the United States. With the U.S. government now planning to ramp up fossil fuel use, the risks of these events are likely to become even more pronounced.

That leaves a big question: Is the nation prepared to adapt to the consequences?

For many years, federally funded scientists have been developing solutions to help reduce the harm climate change is causing in people’s lives and livelihoods. Yet, as with many other science programs, the White House is proposing to eliminate funding for climate adaptation science in the next federal budget, and reports suggest that the firing of federal climate adaptation scientists may be imminent.

As researchers and directors of regional Climate Adaptation Science Centers, funded by the U.S. Geological Survey since 2011, we have seen firsthand the work these programs do to protect the nation’s natural resources and their successes in helping states and tribes build resilience to climate risks.

Here are a few examples of the ways federally funded climate adaptation science conducted by university and federal researchers helps the nation weather the effects of climate change.

Protecting communities against wildfire risk

Wildfires have increasingly threatened communities and ecosystems across the U.S., exacerbated by worsening heat waves and drought.

In the Southwest, researchers with the Climate Adaptation Science Centers are developing forecasting models to identify locations at greatest risk of wildfire at different times of year.

Knowing where and when fire risks are highest allows communities to take steps to protect themselves, whether by carrying out controlled burns to remove dry vegetation, creating fire breaks to protect homes, managing invasive species that can leave forests more prone to devastating fires, or other measures.

The solutions are created with forest and wildland managers to ensure projects are viable, effective and tailored to each area. The research is then integrated into best practices for managing wildfires. The researchers also help city planners find the most effective methods to reduce fire risks in wildlands near homes.

Wildland firefighters and communities have limited resources. They need to know where the greatest risks exist to take preventive measures.
Ethan Swope/Getty Images

In Hawaii and the other Pacific islands, adaptation researchers have similarly worked to identify how drought, invasive species and land-use changes contribute to fire risk there. They use these results to create maps of high-risk fire zones to help communities take steps to reduce dry and dead undergrowth that could fuel fires and also plan for recovery after fires.

Protecting shorelines and fisheries

In the Northeast, salt marshes line large parts of the coast, providing natural buffers against storms by damping powerful ocean waves that would otherwise erode the shoreline. Their shallow, grassy waters also serve as important breeding grounds for valuable fish.

However, these marshes are at risk of drowning as sea level rises faster than the sediment can build up.

As greenhouse gases from burning fossil fuels and from other human activities accumulate in the atmosphere, they trap extra heat near Earth’s surface and in the oceans, raising temperatures. The rising temperatures melt glaciers and also cause thermal expansion of the oceans. Together, those processes are raising global sea level by about 1.3 inches per decade.

Adaptation researchers with the Climate Adaptation Science Centers have been developing local flood projections for the regions’ unique oceanographic and geophysical conditions to help protect them. Those projections are essential to help natural resource managers and municipalities plan effectively for the future.

Researchers are also collaborating with local and regional organizations on salt marsh restoration, including assessing how sediment builds up each marsh and creating procedures for restoring and monitoring the marshes.

Saving salmon in Alaska and the Northwest

In the Northwest and Alaska, salmon are struggling as temperatures rise in the streams they return to for spawning each year. Warm water can make them sluggish, putting them at greater risk from predators. When temperatures get too high, they can’t survive. Even in large rivers such as the Columbia, salmon are becoming heat stressed more often.

Adaptation researchers in both regions have been evaluating the effectiveness of fish rescues – temporarily moving salmon into captivity as seasonal streams overheat or dry up due to drought.

In Alaska, adaptation scientists have built broad partnerships with tribes, nonprofit organizations and government agencies to improve temperature measurements of remote streams, creating an early warning system for fisheries so managers can take steps to help salmon survive.

Managing invasive species

Rising temperatures can also expand the range of invasive species, which cost the U.S. economy billions of dollars each year in crop and forest losses and threaten native plants and animals.

Researchers in the Northeast and Southeast Climate Adaptation Science Centers have been working to identify and prioritize the risks from invasive species that are expanding their ranges. That helps state managers eradicate these emerging threats before they become a problem. These regional invasive species networks have become the go-to source of climate-related scientific information for thousands of invasive species managers.

The rise in the number of invasive species projected by 2050 is substantial in the Northeast and upper Midwest. Federally funded scientists develop these risk maps and work with local communities to head off invasive species damage.
Regional Invasive Species and Climate Change Network

The Northeast is a hot spot for invasive species, particularly for plants that can outcompete native wetland and grassland species and host pathogens that can harm native species.

Without proactive assessments, invasive species management becomes more difficult. Once the damage has begun, managing invasive species becomes more expensive and less effective.

Losing the nation’s ability to adapt wisely

A key part of these projects is the strong working relationships built between scientists and the natural resource managers in state, community, tribal and government agencies who can put this knowledge into practice.

With climate extremes likely to increase in the coming years, losing adaptation science will leave the United States even more vulnerable to future climate hazards.

Bethany Bradley receives funding from the US Geological Survey as the University Director of the Northeast Climate Adaptation Science Center.

Jia Hu has receives funding from the US Geological Survey as the University Director of the Southwest Climate Adaptation Science Center.

Meade Krosby receives funding from the US Geological Survey as the University Director of the Northwest Climate Adaptation Science Center.

– ref. As US ramps up fossil fuels, communities will have to adapt to the consequences − yet climate adaptation funding is on the chopping block – https://theconversation.com/as-us-ramps-up-fossil-fuels-communities-will-have-to-adapt-to-the-consequences-yet-climate-adaptation-funding-is-on-the-chopping-block-256307

MIL OSI – Global Reports –

May 14, 2025
MIL-OSI United Kingdom: Boost for British green aviation fuel production to support jobs and lift off emerging industry
Source: United Kingdom – Government Statements

Press release

Boost for British green aviation fuel production to support jobs and lift off emerging industry

New sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) measures will support aviation expansion and meet decarbonisation goals.
new laws introduced today will increase homegrown sustainable aviation fuel, positioning the UK as a world leading destination for the new emerging market

UK revenue certainty for green fuel producers will boost jobs across the country and enable the UK to go further and faster with expansion plans

passengers will be a step closer to more eco-friendly flights, as £400,000 announced to get new fuels to market quicker, delivering on the UK’s clean energy ambitions and powering up economic growth as part of the Plan for Change

New measures to help the UK take off as a world leader in sustainable aviation fuel (SAF), supporting the growth in the industry and jobs across the country, were introduced today in Parliament (14 May 2025).

With decarbonisation key to accelerating expansion plans, the government has also announced an additional £400,000 of funding for producers so that new clean fuels can get to market quicker, speeding up the UK’s path to green flying.

SAF is an alternative to fossil jet fuel, which reduces greenhouse gas emissions on average by 70% on a lifecycle basis. While the fuel is more costly to produce than jet fuel, the government’s SAF measures protect industry and consumers from excessive costs.

In addition, the revenue certainty mechanism (RCM) will keep ticket price changes minimal – keeping fluctuations to £1.50 a year on average – and will be industry funded through a levy on aviation fuel suppliers. The Department for Transport (DfT) will continue to engage with industry on the details of the RCM, including pricing.

A new round of government funding is also being announced, to offer fuel producers a share of £400,000 to support the testing and qualification of green fuels, helping to get them to market quicker. This support for producers follows £63 million of funding made available through the Advanced Fuels Fund this year.

Taken together, the government’s commitments on green fuels will help deliver on its missions to kickstart economic growth via job creation, become a clean energy superpower and will allow the UK to go further and faster with expansion plans, giving a boon to the tourism industry.

Aviation Minister, Mike Kane, said:

I want to see a golden age for green aviation and today sees take off for sustainable flights.

Aviation continues to be one of the fastest growing and most integral parts of the UK’s economy, offering more jobs across engineering, tourism and hospitality – and as we support aviation expansion, we need to move at full throttle towards decarbonisation.

We are making the UK one of the best places in the world to produce sustainable aviation fuel, putting the pedal down on growth and boosting job opportunities across the country as part of the Plan for Change.

The new legislation will help industry meet its requirements under the SAF Mandate, introduced in January this year, which specifies that at least 10% of all jet fuel used in flights taking off from the UK from 2030, be made with sustainable fuel, rising to 22% by 2040.

The new financial mechanism is another display that the UK is rock solid in its commitment to building a prosperous hub for homegrown sustainable fuel production. Furthermore, this vital update provides SAF producers and the industry at large the confidence and stability to plough investment into clean energy.

The government’s approach on low carbon fuels could add up to £5 billion to the economy by 2050 and position the UK as a global hub for SAF production.

Tim Alderslade, Chief Executive of Airlines UK, said:

This is a welcome announcement given the importance of the RCM to commercialising and scaling-up SAF production in the UK, a technology key to decarbonising aviation by 2050. A UK SAF industry, kick-started by the RCM and SAF Mandate, can create tens of thousands of jobs across the country whilst supporting our world-class aviation sector to deliver economic growth.

We look forward to working with government on scheme design and how contracts are allocated, so that we balance the need to deliver the SAF required to support mandate compliance, whilst keeping costs as low as possible through a competitive and transparent bidding process that places the consumer at its heart.

Duncan McCourt, Chief Executive of Sustainable Aviation, said:

We hugely welcome the publication of this important legislation. SAF is a crucial element in the plan to decarbonise aviation as it can be used in existing aircraft with existing infrastructure.

The challenge now is to scale the industry, ensuring we have enough SAF to meet the mandate whilst keeping costs low and create thousands of jobs in the process. This legislation will help to do that.

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Published 14 May 2025
MIL OSI United Kingdom –
May 14, 2025
MIL-OSI USA: Case, Cortez Masto, Ernst, Radewagen Work To Strengthen Strategic Relationships With Pacific Islands

Source: United States House of Representatives – Congressman Ed Case (Hawai‘i – District 1)

(Washington, D.C) — Today, U.S. Senators Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.) and Joni Ernst (R-Iowa), Congressman Ed Case (D-Hawaii-01), and Delegate Aumua Amata Radewagen (R-A.S.), introduced a bipartisan, bicameral bill aimed at strengthening the United States’ strategic partnerships with Pacific Island nations, supporting sustainable development, and combating the increasing Chinese aggression in the region. The Pacific Partnership Act would help the U.S. establish a clear, comprehensive strategy to support diplomatic, security, and economic relationships in the Indo-Pacific region.

“Our Pacific Partnership Act responds directly to the reality that our country’s and world’s future lies in the Indo-Pacific, and that the islands of the Pacific are our indispensable partners in charting that future,” said Congressman Case.

“The Pacific Islands are under increasingly severe economic, environmental and geopolitical stress, and we must expand our generational engagement to assist them where they most need assistance. The Pacific Partnership Act, molded directly on the Pacific Islands’ own blueprint to their collective future, is our roadmap to expanded engagement as well.”

“Supporting our allies and partners in the Indo-Pacific is essential to combating the Chinese Communist Party’s influence and to our long-term national security,” said Senator Cortez Masto. “This bipartisan bill is critical to strengthening our ties with our allies in the Pacific and ensuring they become enduring global relationships.”

“Strengthening America’s partnerships in the Indo-Pacific is critical to deterring Chinese aggression,” said Senator Ernst. “This bipartisan legislation equips us to work with nations in the Pacific that serve as the first line of defense against the Chinese Communist Party and keep Americans safe at home.”

“Thank you to Senator Cortez Masto, Senator Ernst, and Congressman Case for their focus on these important partnerships that are close to home for my congressional district in the South Pacific,” said Congresswoman Radewagen. “We need sustained U.S. engagement for enduring partnerships in the Pacific Islands, keeping China’s influence in check, and strengthening mutual development opportunities.”

The U.S. has a longstanding relationship with the Pacific Islands, and they play a crucial role in U.S. national security, facilitating military operations in support of American allies and partners. Nevada – through the National Guard – collaborates with the Republic of Fiji, the Kingdom of Tonga, and the Independent State of Samoa under the National Guard Bureau’s State Partnership Program, strengthening security cooperation globally.

The Pacific Partnership Act would strengthen these crucial ties by creating a “Strategy for Pacific Partnership”.

This strategy, crafted by the President and presented to Congress every four years, would outline U.S. involvement in the Pacific Islands and highlight combined efforts to combat regional challenges including natural disasters, security threats, and economic development.

Read the full bill here.

###

MIL OSI USA News –

May 14, 2025
MIL-OSI USA: Warner Joins Colleagues in Resolution to Condemn Trump’s $400 Million Airplane Gift from Qatar

US Senate News:

Source: United States Senator for Commonwealth of Virginia Mark R Warner

WASHINGTON — Today, Vice Chairman of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence Mark R. Warner (D-VA) joined 26 of his colleagues in introducing a resolution to condemn the gift of a luxury airplane, valued at $400 million, President Donald Trump announced he will receive from the government of Qatar. According to reports, Trump intends to designate the plane as Air Force One while in office and then transfer it to a foundation for personal use following the end of his term.

In addition to Sen. Warner, this resolution is sponsored by Democratic Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY), and Sens. Brian Schatz (D-HI), Chris Coons (D-DE), Cory Booker (D-NJ), Chris Murphy (D-CT), Jon Ossoff (D-GA), Bernie Sanders (I-VT), Patty Murray (D-WA), Ron Wyden (D-OR), Alex Padilla (D-CA), Jacky Rosen (D-NV), Chris Van Hollen (D-MD), Maria Cantwell (D-WA), Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH), Mazie K. Hirono (D-HI), Dick Durbin (D-IL), Michael Bennet (D-CO), Gary Peters (D-MI), Lisa Blunt Rochester (D-DE), Elissa Slotkin (D-MI), Angus King (I-ME), Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), Tammy Duckworth (D-IL), Jeff Merkley (D-OR), Angela Alsobrooks (D-MD), and Andy Kim (D-NJ). Earlier today, the senators attempted to pass this legislation through the Senate by unanimous consent, but were blocked by Republicans.

“This is corruption plain and simple. The President of the United States accepting a $400 million plane from a foreign government is unheard of, and would require direct consent from Congress,” Sen. Warner said. “This is just the latest act by President Trump that shows his administration has no regard for the rule of law and is ripe to be exploited by foreign actors.”

“President Trump’s penchant for corruption and grift has risen to a new level with the news his presidency is for sale – if you happen to have $400 million dollars,” Leader Schumer said. “This Qatari plane deal would be the largest Presidential bribe in modern history and it’s not just naked corruption, it’s a grave national security threat. Senate Republicans may bury their heads in the sand while Trump tries to enrich himself and his billionaire buddies, but Senate Democrats are going to stand up for the American people and say enough is enough – we condemn this attempt at corruption and gross violation of the Constitution.”

“Air Force One is more than just a plane — it’s a symbol of the presidency and of the United States itself,” Sen. Schatz said. “Any president who accepts this kind of gift, valued at $400 million, from a foreign government creates a clear conflict of interest, raises serious national security questions, invites foreign influence, and undermines public trust in our government. We are asking the Senate to vote to reiterate a basic principle: no president should use public service for personal gain through foreign gifts.”

“We wouldn’t trust another country to decorate the Oval Office, to set up our Situation Room, or to wire the White House briefing room, so why would we let another country build Air Force One for us, which is an airborne version of all three? This isn’t just a massive act of corruption, it’s a national security risk of the highest order,” Sen. Coons said. “If President Trump is so willing to put his own administration in danger for the sake of a $400 million gift, imagine how much danger he’s willing to put the American people in.

“While Republicans plot to gut vital services like Social Security and Medicaid and unleash economic uncertainty onto hardworking Americans, Donald Trump is planning to accept a luxury jet, valued at $400 million, from a foreign government,” Sen. Booker said. “This not only creates a clear conflict of interest, raises serious national security concerns, and undermines public trust in our government, but is a slap in the face to the people across the country who are struggling to make ends meet. All Senators should be able to agree that no one should use public service for personal gain through foreign gifts. I hope my Republican colleagues will support this resolution.”

“The president doesn’t get to trade U.S. foreign policy and national security for a private jet,” Sen. Murphy said. “This resolution sends the message Trump won’t: the Oval Office is not for sale.

“No, Donald Trump cannot accept a $400 million flying palace from the royal family of Qatar. Not only is this farcically corrupt, it is blatantly unconstitutional,” Sen. Sanders said. “Congress must not allow this over-the-top kleptocracy to proceed.”

“President Trump wants to accept a $400 million private jet from a foreign government, have American taxpayers pay to retrofit it as Air Force One, and then keep it for himself to jet around the world as soon as he leaves office. It’s hard to imagine more brazen corruption or a clearer violation of our Constitution’s Emoluments Clause, and there’s no question this outlandish proposal puts our country’s national security at risk,” Sen. Murray said. “Every member of Congress should support this simple resolution condemning violations of the Emoluments Clause and making clear Trump cannot accept a $400 million private jet from Qatar without explicit consent from Congress.”

“If someone came to one of my town halls in Oregon and tried to argue that getting a $400 million jet from the government of Qatar wasn’t corruption, they would be laughed out of town,” Sen. Wyden said. “Instead of securing new allies against adversaries like China or opening new markets for American products, Trump is using America’s clout to get a private jet. It’s corruption plain and simple that fritters away American influence and leaves us weaker.”

“While Republicans in Congress are working to gut Medicaid and Social Security, President Trump is brazenly accepting a luxury jumbo jet from Qatar — for his use during and after he leaves office,” Sen. Padilla said. “Once again, Trump is showing us that he puts his own interests above those of the American people, benefiting himself and leaving working families behind. This foreign gift reeks of corruption, is blatantly against the law, threatens our national security, and will cost taxpayers tens of millions in retrofit costs and security upgrades.”

“Donald Trump is accepting a multimillion dollar plane from a foreign government as a personal gift, while clearly ignoring the Constitution,” Sen. Rosen said. “Trump gets richer off of his position while hardworking families suffer from his reckless actions. This is corruption plain and simple, and I’m supporting this resolution to make our strong opposition clear.”

“Trump’s brazen willingness to accept a luxury jet from Qatar raises the dangerous prospect that the president can be bought and paid for by foreign powers — putting their interests over Americans’ and our national security. Every Senator should join us in rejecting it and blocking the sale of the presidency to the highest bidder,” Sen Van Hollen said.

“Our founding fathers knew that we must protect ourselves from corruption and foreign influence, which is exactly why we have a constitutional provision prohibiting presidents from accepting lavish gifts from foreign governments—a super luxury Boeing 747-8 jumbo jet, reportedly valued at $400 million, is no exception,” Sen. Shaheen said. “Congress and the American public have a right to know the details of any arrangement that calls into question whether the President is acting on behalf of American interests and American interests alone. Further, the security implications of taking a foreign-owned and managed plane and outfitting it with the most sensitive U.S. technology continues to demonstrate a lack of judgement in this administration when it comes to guarding U.S. intelligence.”

“There’s no such thing as a $400 million “no-strings-attached” gift,” Sen. Duckworth said. “This is the mother of all bribes. It puts our national security in jeopardy and erodes public trust—all for the President’s own personal gain. Donald Trump wants to sell our foreign policy and sell out our people.”

“Donald Trump accepting a $400 million gift from a foreign country is corruption in plain sight,” Sen. Hirono said. “Trump’s latest grift undermines our national security, flies in the face of the Constitution, and will cost American taxpayers hundreds of millions, if not billions, in retrofits.”

“The mere notion that the President would cravenly accept a $400 million attempt to win favor from a foreign power is beyond the pale and reeks of corruption. The White House and presidency are sacred trusts from the American people, not venues for Trump to enrich himself and his family with shady deals and influence buying,” Sen. Durbin said. “Our resolution reaffirms what our Constitution makes clear – no President should receive gifts from a foreign power.”

“While President Trump claims to target fraud and abuse, his actions continue to prove that his priorities are his own interests and those of his wealthy friends,” Sen. Bennet said. “His plan to accept a $400 million luxury jet from the Qatari government for use as Air Force One is an act of blatant corruption and a violation of our Constitution that poses severe counterintelligence risks, needlessly undermining U.S. national security.”

“This is corruption in plain sight. Under no circumstance should a sitting president be accepting luxury gifts from a foreign government, especially while negotiating an arms sale,” Sen. Blunt Rochester said. “This is yet another example of President Trump focusing on enriching himself rather than improving the lives of everyday Americans. I’m joining with my colleagues on this resolution to protect national security, to stand up for our constituents, and to uphold the rule of law.”

“If an ordinary government official accepted a gift even a fraction as valuable as this, there would be a full investigation, and potential firings due to concerns of foreign influence,” Sen. Slotkin said. “Now the President is taking a $400 million foreign gift. Beyond the perception of corruption, the idea that a foreign country would have access to Air Force One, as the buyer, during production, leaves it incredibly vulnerable to bugs, tracking devices, and whatever else they or other countries may attempt to manipulate.”

“This is corruption, plain and simple. The U.S. is not for sale, and we cannot allow the presidency to be bought by foreign interests,” Sen. Klobuchar said.

“Just when you think the Trump Administration can’t sink to a new low of ethical misconduct, he accepts a luxury jet from a foreign nation. Corruption on full display,” Sen. Merkley said.

“We’re beyond foreign interference at this point. We’re watching a President invite a foreign government to buy him off,” Sen. Alsobrooks said. “American values are actively being flushed down the toiled by this corrupt President.”

The full text of the resolution is available here.

MIL OSI USA News –

May 14, 2025
MIL-OSI USA: May 9th, 2025 Heinrich, Colleagues Urge Trump to Press for Immediate Resumption of Humanitarian Aid to Gaza, Return to Israel-Gaza Hostage & Ceasefire Negotiations

US Senate News:

Source: United States Senator for New Mexico Martin Heinrich

WASHINGTON — U.S. Senator Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.), a member of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, sent a letter to President Trump in advance of the president’s upcoming travel to the Middle East next week, urging him to take an active role in pressing for humanitarian aid and a return to ceasefire negotiations between Israel and Hamas in order to ensure Israel’s security and end more than 15 months of devastating conflict in Gaza.
When Trump took office, the January 15 ceasefire deal negotiated under the presidential transition of the Biden administration was in effect — 30 Israeli hostages were reunited with their families, Hamas’ military capacity had been effectively obliterated, and humanitarian aid was reaching Gaza. In the months since Trump’s inauguration, however, negotiations towards long-term regional security have collapsed, and dozens of hostages remain imprisoned by Hamas.
Before next week’s visit, the senators wrote to President Trump that, “The United States is not providing much needed leadership to drive peace forward in the region.” President Trump’s planned visit to the region does not include a stop in Israel. He has chosen to conclude a truce with Houthi terrorists even as they pledge to continue striking Israel. He also appears to be turning a blind eye towards the core task of ensuring Israel’s security for today and for the long term.
In the letter, the senators described Gaza’s catastrophic humanitarian crisis under a months-long blockade of aid. More than 116,000 metric tons of food assistance have been stuck outside Gaza, and an estimated 90 percent of Gaza’s population face high levels of acute food and water insecurity. According to the United Nations, most civilians face emergency or crisis levels of hunger.
This week, Israel also announced its intent to expand military operations and pursue a long-term occupation of Gaza. “The announcement has already escalated tensions in the Middle East, once again threatening to engulf the volatile region in conflict,” the senators wrote. “The Houthis struck Israel’s Ben Gurion airport on May 4 and have vowed to further retaliate against the proposed occupation. Jordan, one of our most important regional security partners, is facing intensifying pressure amid continued public anger over Gaza. Saudi Arabia has made it clear there can be no progress towards normalization with Israel without a pathway toward Palestinian statehood.”
“Israel’s proposed occupation plans take us further away from permanently ending the Israel-Gaza war and upholding Israel’s security, both goals that you have promised to achieve under your administration,” the senators added.
Specifically, the senators asked Trump to press all parties to agree to a deal that:

Secures the immediate release of all remaining hostages;

Ushers in a ceasefire;

Works towards the creation of a security force backed by Arab partners to administer Gaza without Hamas; and

Creates a path toward a lasting solution that will allow the Israeli and Palestinian people to live in security, dignity, and prosperity.

The senators ended the letter by reaffirming their unequivocal commitment to Israel’s security and its right to defend itself.
“It has been nearly 20 months since Hamas murdered more than 1,200 people and took about 250 hostages, including American citizens,” the senators concluded. “This period has also been marked by severe humanitarian suffering of civilians in Gaza, where more than 52,000 Palestinians have been killed and millions displaced. All of us are longstanding advocates of the U.S.-Israel security partnership, and we will continue to fight for the defense of the Israeli people. That is why, today, we stand with the nearly three-quarters of the Israeli public who are fighting for the release of the remaining hostages in Gaza in exchange for a ceasefire.”
The letter was is by U.S. Senators Chris Coons (D-Del.), Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.), Jack Reed (D-R.I.), Mark Warner (D-Va.), and Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii). Alongside Heinrich, the letter is signed by U.S. Senators Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.), Michael Bennet (D-Colo.), Lisa Blunt Rochester (D-Del.), Cory Booker (D-N.J.), Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.), Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), Mazie Hirono (D-Hawaii), Tim Kaine (D-Va.), Mark Kelly (D-Ariz.), Angus King (I-Maine), Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), Edward Markey (D-Mass.), Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), Patty Murray (D-Wash.), Tina Smith (D-Minn.), Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.), Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Peter Welch (D-Vt.), and Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.).
The full text of the letter is here and below:
Dear President Trump:

When you took office in January 2025, we were on a path to peace in the Israel-Gaza conflict, thanks in part to your team’s efforts during the Presidential transition. A ceasefire was in effect and 30 hostages were reunited with their families. Hamas’s military capacity had been effectively obliterated, with the IDF calling it a “guerilla terror group” that could no longer mount a sustained military operation against the people of Israel – a testament to both Israel’s military prowess and the United States’ unflinching support. But today, the United States is not providing critically needed leadership to drive peace forward, which is why we write to express our deep concern in advance of your upcoming travel to the Middle East.
Since March of this year, the situation on the ground has deteriorated dramatically. Fighting in Gaza has resumed, negotiations towards long-term regional security have collapsed, and dozens of hostages remain imprisoned by Hamas. In fact, we have not had a single hostage return home since February 26. In addition, we are witnessing a humanitarian catastrophe in the third month of Israel’s full blockade of food, water, and medicine into Gaza. This is the longest closure Gaza has ever faced. While the World Food Program ran out of food stocks inside Gaza on April 25, they report that more than 116,000 metric tons of food assistance – enough to feed one million people for up to four months – has been positioned outside Gaza at aid corridors, unable to enter. According to the United Nations, an estimated 90 percent of Gaza’s population faces high levels of acute food and water insecurity, with most civilians facing emergency or crisis levels of hunger. Against this backdrop, the Israeli government’s new aid proposal is simply not viable. It would limit aid distribution to just a few sites in southern Gaza secured by private U.S. contractors, and nearly all aid groups operating in the region note this would only increase insecurity and displacement. Roughly half of Gaza’s 2.1 million people are children; a generation of starving children today would prevent a secure and peaceful Israel tomorrow.
This week, the Israeli government announced a plan to expand military operations and pursue a sustained, long-term occupation of Gaza. This is a dangerous inflection point for Israel and the region, and while we support ongoing efforts to eliminate Hamas, a full-scale reoccupation of Gaza would be a critical strategic mistake. The announcement has already escalated tensions in the Middle East, once again threatening to engulf the volatile region in conflict. The Houthis struck Israel’s Ben Gurion airport on May 4 and have vowed to further retaliate against the proposed occupation. Jordan, one of our most important regional security partners, is facing intensifying pressure amid continued public anger over Gaza. Saudi Arabia has made it clear there can be no progress towards normalization with Israel without a pathway toward Palestinian statehood. In this context, Israel’s planned actions would severely undermine Jerusalem’s path to a more secure, stable and regionally integrated future, which you championed in your first term through the Abraham Accords.
Israel’s proposed occupation plans take us further away from permanently ending the Israel-Gaza war and upholding Israel’s security, both goals that you have promised to achieve under your administration. As such, in advance of your upcoming visit, we urge you to oppose a permanent reoccupation of Gaza and to press for the immediate resumption of neutral and impartial humanitarian assistance, access, and distribution that fully meets the needs of innocent Palestinian civilians in Gaza.
You also have a unique opportunity to press the parties to agree to a deal that:
(1) secures the immediate release of all remaining hostages;
(2) ushers in a ceasefire;
(3) works towards the creation of a security force backed by Arab partners to administer Gaza without Hamas; and
(4) creates a path towards a lasting solution that will allow the Israeli and Palestinian people to live in security, dignity, and prosperity.
Mr. President, like you, we are unequivocal in our commitment to Israel’s right to defend itself. It has been nearly 20 months since Hamas murdered more than 1,200 people and took about 250 hostages, including American citizens. This period has also been marked by severe humanitarian suffering in Gaza, where more than 52,000 Palestinians have been killed and millions displaced. All of us are longstanding advocates of the U.S.-Israel security partnership, and we will continue to fight for the defense of the Israeli people. That is why, today, we stand with the nearly threequarters of the Israeli public who are fighting for the release of the remaining hostages in Gaza in exchange for a ceasefire.

MIL OSI USA News –

May 14, 2025
MIL-OSI USA: Burlison and Grothman Announce Hearing on the Inflation Reduction Act’s Harm to American Energy and Medicine
Source: United States House of Representatives – Representative Eric Burlison (R-Missouri 7th District)

WASHINGTON—Subcommittee on Economic Growth, Energy Policy, and Regulatory Affairs Chairman Eric Burlison (R-Mo.) and Subcommittee on Health Care and Financial Services Chairman Glenn Grothman (R-Wis.) announced a joint hearing on “Mandates, Meddling, and Mismanagement: The IRA’s Threat to Energy and Medicine.” This hearing will highlight how the Biden Administration used the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) as a tool to raise taxes on businesses, increase environmental spending, and imperil Medicare premiums. The IRA politicized spending to fund the partisan “Green New Deal” and subsidized the “green” energy purchases of wealthy households while the Biden Administration overlooked waste, fraud, and abuse in funding streams to left-wing groups.

“The IRA has wasted billions of taxpayer funds to advance the Democrats’ radical climate agenda and restrict Medicare plan choices for Americans who need it most. The IRA’s energy subsidies and Medicare premium hikes could now cost American taxpayers trillions over the next 10 years unless Congress takes action to stop it. This hearing will expose wasteful spending under the IRA and investigate the ways Congress can protect taxpayer dollars from being spent on misguided, partisan priorities,” said the lawmakers.

WHAT: Hearing on “Mandates, Meddling, and Mismanagement: The IRA’s Threat to Energy and Medicine”

DATE: May 20, 2025

TIME: 10:00 a.m. ET

LOCATION: HVC-210, U.S. Capitol Visitor Center

WITNESSES:
- Mr. Ben Lieberman, Senior Fellow, Competitive Enterprise Institute
- Dr. Erin Trish, Ph.D., Co-Director, USC Schaeffer Center and Associate Professor, Department of Pharmaceutical and Health Economics, USC Mann School of Pharmacy
- Dr. William McBride, Ph.D., Chief Economist and Stephen J. Entin Fellow in Economics, Tax Foundation
WATCH: The hearing will be livestreamed here.

###

MIL OSI USA News –
May 14, 2025
MIL-OSI Security: Coast Guard scheduled to oversee in-situ burn

Source: United States Coast Guard

News Release

U.S. Coast Guard 8th District Heartland
Contact: 8th District Public Affairs
Office: 504-671-2020
After Hours: 618-225-9008
Eighth District online newsroom

Port conditions change based on weather forecasts, and current port conditions can be viewed on the following Coast Guard homeport webpages:

For more information follow us on Facebook and Twitter.

MIL Security OSI –

May 14, 2025
MIL-OSI Security: Justice Department Announces Results of Operation Restore Justice: 205 Child Sex Abuse Offenders Arrested in FBI-Led Nationwide Crackdown, Including Two in the Southern District of Georgia

Source: Federal Bureau of Investigation FBI Crime News (b)

May 12, 2025 – Today, the Department of Justice announced the results of Operation Restore Justice, a coordinated enforcement effort to identify, track and arrest child sex predators. The operation resulted in the rescue of 115 children and the arrests of 205 child sexual abuse offenders in the nationwide crackdown. The coordinated effort was executed over the course of five days by all 55 FBI field offices, the Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section in the Department’s Criminal Division, and United States Attorney’s Offices around the country.

Two individuals were arrested in the Southern District of Georgia. To date, both have been charged federally.

Michael Alexander James, 44, of Waynesboro, GA and Martin Lindner, 52, of Augusta, GA were both charged in newly unsealed federal indictments with one count of Possession of Child Pornography, said Tara M. Lyons, Acting U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Georgia.

“The Department of Justice will never stop fighting to protect victims — especially child victims — and we will not rest until we hunt down, arrest, and prosecute every child predator who preys on the most vulnerable among us,” said Attorney General Pamela Bondi. “I am grateful to the FBI and their state and local partners for their incredible work in Operation Restore Justice and have directed my prosecutors not to negotiate.”

“Every child deserves to grow up free from fear and exploitation, and the FBI will continue to be relentless in our pursuit of those who exploit the most vulnerable among us,” said FBI Director Kash Patel. “Operation Restore Justice proves that no predator is out of reach and no child will be forgotten. By leveraging the strength of all our field offices and our federal, state and local partners, we’re sending a clear message: there is no place to hide for those who prey on children.”

“Possessing child pornography perpetuates the victimization of child sexual abuse survivors,” said Acting U.S. Attorney Lyons. “As exemplified in Operation Restore Justice, we will continue to collaborate with our law enforcement partners to protect our most vulnerable citizens.”

Others arrested around the country are alleged to have committed various crimes including the production, distribution, and possession of child sexual abuse material, online enticement and transportation of minors, and child sex trafficking. In Minneapolis, for example, a state trooper and Army Reservist was arrested for allegedly producing child sexual abuse material while wearing his uniforms. In Norfolk, VA, an illegal alien from Mexico is accused of transporting a minor across state lines for sex. In Washington, D.C., a former Metropolitan Police Department Police Officer was arrested for allegedly trafficking minor victims.

In many cases, parental vigilance and community outreach efforts played a critical role in bringing these offenders to justice. For example, a California man was arrested eight hours after a young victim bravely came forward and disclosed their abuse to FBI agents after an online safety presentation at a school near Albany, N.Y.

This effort follows the Department’s observance of National Child Abuse Prevention Month in April, and underscores the Department’s unwavering commitment to protecting children and raising awareness about the dangers they face. While the Department, including the FBI, investigates and prosecutes these crimes every day, April serves as a powerful reminder of the importance of preventing these crimes, seeking justice for victims, and raising awareness through community education.

The Justice Department is committed to combating child sexual exploitation. These cases were brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice. Led by U.S. Attorneys’ Offices and CEOS, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to better locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, visit www.justice.gov/psc.

The Department partners with and oversees funding grants for the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC), which receives and shares tips about possible child sexual exploitation received through its 24/7 hotline at 1-800-THE-LOST and on missingkids.org.

The Department urges the public to remain vigilant and report suspected exploitation of a child through the FBI’s tipline at 1-800-CALL-FBI (225-5324), tips.fbi.gov, or by calling your local FBI field office.

Other online resources:

Electronic Press Kit

Violent Crimes Against Children

How we can help you: Parents and caregivers protecting your kids

An indictment is merely an allegation. The defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

MIL Security OSI –

May 14, 2025
MIL-OSI Security: U.S. Marshals NY/NJ Regional Fugitive Task Force Arrests 14-Year-Old Wanted in Bronx Shooting

Source: US Marshals Service

New York, NY – Deputies and Task Force Officers from the U.S. Marshals NY/NJ Regional Fugitive Task Force today apprehended a juvenile suspect wanted for fatally shooting a 16-year-old girl in the Bronx Monday.

The NY/NJ RFTF adopted the case today. Deputy U.S. Marshals of the Southern District of New York, along with Task Force Officers of the NYPD from the NY/NJ RFTF, quickly developed information through sources regarding the suspect’s whereabouts and set up surveillance in the vicinity of the 900 block of Rev James A. Polite Avenue in the Bronx.

The juvenile suspect was observed attempting to get to the rear of the building and was immediately taken into custody. Surveillance footage showed a fight break out between a group of teens outside Bronx Latin School Monday afternoon.

The 14-year-old suspect was punched in the face and knocked to the ground by another boy. At some point, someone slipped the suspect a pistol, and he is alleged to have fired three shots into the crowd, hitting the girl, an innocent bystander, in the head.

“Today, we have arrested a suspect in the shooting that tragically took the life of an innocent young girl,” said Jhovanny Gomez, U.S. Marshal for the Southern District of New York. “This senseless act deeply affected our community. With the suspect now in custody, we’re confident justice will be served. I commend the tireless efforts of the U.S. Marshals NY/NJ Regional Fugitive Task Force, the Southern District of New York, and our state and local partners for bringing this case to a close.”

The NY/NJ RFTF began operations in April 2002 and was the first regional fugitive task force to become fully operational following the Presidential Threat Protection Act of 2000. The NY/NJ RFTF was the flagship that allowed seven other regional fugitive task forces to be created across the country. With partnership agreements with over 90 federal, state, or local agencies and 13 fully operational offices, the NY/NJ RFTF has successfully apprehended over 95,000 fugitives since inception.

MIL Security OSI –

May 14, 2025
MIL-OSI: The Keg Royalties Income Fund Announces Trustee Election Results for its 2025 Unitholder Meeting

Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

VANCOUVER, British Columbia, May 13, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — The Keg Royalties Income Fund (the “Fund”) (TSX: KEG.UN) is pleased to announce that all of the nominees listed in its information circular dated March 31, 2025 were elected as trustees of the Fund at its annual meeting of unitholders held on May 13, 2025 (the “Meeting”). The results of the voting for each nominee are as follows:

Nominee Votes For Votes Withheld

No. % No. %

Christopher Charles Woodward 8,173,330 93.26 % 590,798 6.74 %

Tim Kerr 8,299,010 94.69 % 465,118 5.31 %

In addition, the Fund reports that the appointment of KPMG LLP as the Fund’s auditors for the 2025 fiscal year was passed by a majority of the votes represented at the Meeting.

About The Keg Royalties Income Fund

The Fund is a limited purpose, open-ended trust established under the laws of the Province of Ontario that, through The Keg Rights Limited Partnership, a subsidiary of the Fund, owns certain trademarks and other related intellectual property used by Keg Restaurants Ltd. (“KRL”). In exchange for use of those trademarks, KRL pays the Fund a royalty of 4% of gross sales of Keg restaurants included in the royalty pool.

With approximately 10,000 employees, over 100 restaurants and annual system sales exceeding $700 million, Vancouver-based KRL is the leading operator and franchisor of steakhouse restaurants in Canada and has a substantial presence in select regional markets in the United States. KRL continues to operate The Keg restaurant system and expand that system through the addition of both corporate and franchised Keg steakhouses. KRL has been named the number one restaurant company to work for in Canada in the latest edition of Forbes “Canada’s Best Employers 2025” survey.

The Trustees of the Fund have approved the contents of this press release.

The MIL Network –

May 14, 2025
MIL-OSI USA: Carbajal’s Bipartisan Bill to Reduce Wildfire Threat Passes House

Source: United States House of Representatives – Representative Salud Carbajal (CA-24)

Today, U.S. Representative Salud Carbajal (D-CA-24) announced his bipartisan legislation to reduce wildfire risks passed the U.S. House of Representatives. Rep. Carbajal’sFire Safe Electrical Corridors Act would reduce the procedural steps needed for removing hazardous vegetation near power lines, cutting red tape to allow for a more streamlined process to combat wildfire risk.

U.S. Representatives David Valadao (R-CA-22), Jim Costa (D-CA-21), and Brian Fitzpatrick (R-PA-01) are co-sponsors of the legislation. U.S. Senators Alex Padilla (D-CA) and Steve Daines (R-MT) lead companion legislation in the Senate.

The Congressman spoke on the floor earlier today advocating for the passage of his bill. Watch the full speech here.

“The Western United States continues to experience catastrophic wildfires, and we need common-sense solutions that balance sustainable forest management practices with reducing wildfire risks,” said Rep. Carbajal. “My bipartisan bill strives to find this balance and is a common sense solution to protect our communities.”

“California is no stranger to destructive wildfires, and in the Central Valley, we live with the consequences,” said Rep. Valadao. “Far too often, bureaucratic red tape gets in the way of proper forest management, and it directly impacts air quality in the Valley. It shouldn’t be so hard to remove the dead trees we know make fires worse, and I’m glad to see this commonsense step toward reducing wildfire risk cross the finish line in the House.”

“As our communities continue to recover from devastating wildfires, the House took the right step by passing the Fire Safe Electrical Corridors Act to help prevent future disasters,” said Rep. Costa. “This legislation will cut red tape, streamline the removal of hazardous vegetation near power lines, and strengthen our infrastructure to better protect homes and businesses.”

“As Co-Chair of the Congressional Fire Services Caucus, I’ve worked to advance practical, prevention-first solutions to reduce wildfire risks. The House’s bipartisan passage of the Fire Safe Electrical Corridors Act is a meaningful step forward—cutting through red tape to allow for the safe removal of hazardous vegetation near power lines on federal lands. This commonsense measure will help protect lives, support our firefighters, and make our communities more resilient in the face of growing wildfire threats,” said Rep. Fitzpatrick.

“The catastrophic Southern California fires were a blaring warning call for smarter, proactive solutions to strengthen fire resilience across the country,” said Sen. Padilla. “Expediting the removal of hazardous fuels — like brush and other vegetation — near power lines is a commonsense, bipartisan solution to reduce the threats of catastrophic megafires that are devastating American communities. I am glad to see the House move our bipartisan bill forward and will continue exploring all avenues to keep California residents safe from the wildfire crisis.”

“Montanans are tired of breathing in smoke and this bill is a commonsense approach to addressing the root of the problem. I commend the House for passing this bipartisan legislation and thank Montana Representatives Ryan Zinke and Troy Downing for their support,” said Sen. Daines.

The legislation would allow the U.S. Forest Service or Bureau of Land Management to approve the removal of hazardous trees near power lines on federal land – including national forests like Los Padres National Forest – without requiring a timber sale, easing a serious threat that has in the past been a major cause of destructive wildfires.

Currently, utility companies are required to keep trees and branches away from powerlines on federal land. But fallen or dead trees cannot be cleared currently without a timber sale, creating an administrative step that can slow clearing of hazardous fuel and potential triggers for a wildfire on federal land.

The bill was adopted as an amendment to the bipartisan Fix Our Forests Act.

The bill was first introduced in 2023 with California Representatives Carbajal, Jim Costa (D-CA-21), and David Valadao (R-CA-22) leading in the House and U.S. Senators Dianne Feinstein and Alex Padilla leading in the Senate.

The bill was approved by the House Natural Resources Committee unanimously in September 2024.

MIL OSI USA News –

May 14, 2025
MIL-OSI USA: Rep. Becca Balint Announces 2025 Congressional Art Competition Winner

Source: United States House of Representatives – Congresswoman Becca Balint (VT-AL)

Randolph, VT – On Friday, Rep. Becca Balint (VT-AL) announced the winners of the 2025 Congressional Art Competition. This year, 100 high school students from 12 counties and 28 schools across Vermont sent in artwork for submission to the annual competition. This year’s art show marks the 44th anniversary of the competition that Vermont’s then-Congressman James Jeffords began in 1982.

This year’s winner from Vermont is Xinyi Cassy Pan, a sophomore at Lyndon Institute in Lyndon Center, Vermont. Xinyi’s teacher is Elly Barksdale. Her art will be on display with other 2025 Congressional Art Competition winners in the US Capitol.

“The Congressional Art Competition provides a unique opportunity to bring together young artists to share their work and showcase the talent across our state’s high schools,” said Rep. Balint. “I’m so thankful to represent a state that values and celebrates contributions to the arts and arts education. As a former teacher, as a mom, as a writer, I know how important it is to foster creativity, a love of the arts in our students, and to make it a continued priority in schools.”

“I want to congratulate Xinyi for receiving the Grand Prize for her piece ‘Awakening Through New Eyes’ in this year’s Congressional Art Competition. I’m so impressed by her work, and I look forward to seeing a piece of Vermont every day in the US Capitol,” continued Rep. Balint.

In addition to the Grand Prize Winner, awards were given to the following students:

County Winners:

·         Addison County – Lola Rollins “.5”, Vergennes Union High School – Teacher: Anna Macijski

·         Bennington County – Willa Seo “Host Father”, Burr and Burton Academy – Teacher: Anharad Llewelyn

·         Caledonia County – Jenna Thomas “Papa’s Garden”, Lyndon Institute – Teacher: Elly Barksdale

·         Chittenden County – Jacklyn Whittier “Hideaway”, Champlain Valley Union High School – Teacher: Jason Fearon

·         Franklin County – Ryah Whitehead “A Moment of Joy”, Enosburg Falls High School – Teacher: Sabrina Bolduc

·         Lamoille County – Adam Lewis “Hat Day”, Stowe High School – Teacher: Carleen Zimbalatti

·         Orange County – Caroline Watts “Sick Day”, Thetford Academy – Teacher: Karyn Neubauer

·         Orleans County – Morgan Breitenbach “Flower Garden”, Lake Region Union High School – Teacher: Stephanie Harper

·         Rutland County: Carmen Decato “Fighting for Survival”, Stafford Technical Center – Teacher: Karen Kysar

·         Washington County: Knives Dryfoos “Just Dance”, U-32 High School – Teacher: Kristine Chartrand

·         Windham County: Jada Wood “Cards”, Leland and Gray Union High School – Teacher: Emily Mulcrone

·         Windsor County: Jonah Libens-Mavodones “Lost in Those Deceptively Small Keys”, Hartford High School – Teacher: Patrick Kelly

Thematic Winner:

·         Eva Fewell “Little Moments”, Champlain Valley Union High School – Teacher: Jason Fearon

People’s Choice Winner:

·         Clark Clark “A Spot at the Table”, Champlain Valley Union High School – Teacher: Emily McLean

Judge’s Choice Winners:

·         Nikolai Stonorov “Raw Hemmed”, Montpelier High School – Teacher: Colleen Flanagan

·         Sage Wyndorf “I Spotted-Touch-Me-Not!”, Burlington Technical Center – Teacher: Ashley Stagner

·         Clark Clark “A Spot at the Table”, Champlain Valley Union High School – Teacher: Emily McLean

To see a gallery of the student artwork, please visit: https://balint.house.gov/services/submit-artwork.htm

Photos attached of Xinyi Cassy Pan and Congresswoman Balint and of her artwork. Courtesy of the Office of Rep. Becca Balint.

MIL OSI USA News –

May 14, 2025
MIL-OSI USA: Hageman’s Expedited Appeals Review Act Passes the House of Representatives
Source: United States House of Representatives – Wyoming Congresswoman Harriet Hageman

Washington, D.C. – Today, Congresswoman Hageman’s Expedited Appeals Review Act (EARA) passed the House of Representatives. The bill will provide those individuals and businesses appealing before the Department of the Interior’s Board of Land Appeals (IBLA) the opportunity to file for an expedited review so they can quickly go to court in front of a neutral arbiter.

Under current law, challengers of an agency decision within the Department of Interior (DOI), must appeal to the IBLA, an administrative court that is also housed within the DOI itself. The use of administrative courts poses a variety of constitutional issues, including in relation to the separation of powers, as the agencies who adopt the regulations then pursue enforcement of them through their own in-house court system, such as the IBLA. This system tips the scale in favor of the agency who enjoy outsized success before their own courts, with the DOI winning 98% of the challenges that are filed before the IBLA and decided on the merits.

“After spending three decades practicing law and witnessing cases argued before agency-appointed judges on numerous occasions, and then being forced to wait as the IBLA delayed issuing a decision, it is fulfilling to see this bill to move forward,” Hageman stated. “The government works for the people, not the other way around. The EARA creates an alternative path for expedited review, allowing stakeholders to request an accelerated decision of their appeals within six months of the request. It gives parties the opportunity to expedite the process and pursue an impartial route in circumstances where the IBLA is failing to timely address matters under its review.”

House Natural Resource Committee Chairman Bruce Westerman (AR-04) said in support of the bill, “As of today, there are more than 650 backlogged appeals before the Interior Board of Land Appeals, some a decade old. Ms. Hageman’s bill will revive the process and ensure appellants get their day in court by requiring the board to issue final decisions in a timely manner. I thank her for her work on this bill.”

The Expedited Appeals Review Act ensures that if IBLA fails to make a decision within 18 months of the appeal being filed, the applicant can demand an expedited review. The IBLA then has six months to resolve the case. Failure to do so allows for the non-agency party to proceed to an Article III district court where they will be granted the opportunity to conduct discovery and develop the administrative record.

Background:
- The IBLA is a regulatorily constructed, pseudo-judicial, administrative court within the Department of the Interior. It oversees appeals of agency actions, including those from the Bureau of Land Management, Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement, Office of Natural Resources Revenue, and Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement.
- The IBLA currently has a backlog of over 650 pending appeals dating back to 2014. The IBLA receives, on average, 290 appeals per fiscal year. Of those cases that are not resolved on jurisdictional or procedural grounds, only 2 percent are decided in favor of the appellant.
- During an appeal, the agency establishes the administrative record. Frequently, the record is heavily redacted and purposefully excludes documents that favor the appellant. In fact, IBLA judges have explicitly found that the Department compiled administrative records in bad faith and in a biased manner.
- As a member of the House Judiciary Committee, last year Rep. Hageman spearheaded an oversight hearing titled “Reining in the Administrative State: Agency Adjudication and Other Agency Action” which exposed the unconstitutionality of administrative courts. She has also introduced the Seventh Amendment Restoration Act to enact broader reforms for all administrative courts.
- Prior to taking office as Wyoming’s lone congressional member, Harriet Hageman was an attorney defending individuals and entities against government agencies, winning cases against several of the agencies that are within the Department of Interior.
###

MIL OSI USA News –
May 14, 2025
MIL-OSI Submissions: Africa – Speak Up Africa galvanizes private sector engagement to accelerate malaria-elimination efforts in Africa

SOURCE: Speak Up Africa

The agreement builds on a five-year collaboration between Speak Up Africa and Canal+ Group, which has contributed more than $1.5 million in airtime and in-kind support

ABIDJAN, Ivory Coast, May 13, 2025/ — On the sidelines of the Africa CEO Forum, Speak Up Africa (www.SpeakUpAfrica.org), in collaboration with the RBM Partnership to End Malaria, the African Leaders Malaria Alliance (ALMA), and Malaria No More UK, launched the Francophone chapter of the Change the Story campaign and unveiled a new report, Change the Story, Save Lives: The Private Sector’s Role in Ending Malaria.

The campaign aims to amplify the voices of women and girls and mobilize the African private sector to accelerate malaria elimination. With the upcoming Global Fund 8th Replenishment and rising funding gaps, 2025 represents a critical moment to unlock new resources and scale up impact.

“This is your moment to co-invest for impact, because when Africa’s private sector leads, the world pays attention,” said Dr. Michael Adekunle Charles, CEO of the RBM Partnership to End Malaria. “The Global Fund has saved millions of lives and strengthened health systems. Your investments now can safeguard both economic resilience and public health.”

The accompanying report calls on businesses to:

Provide direct or in-kind support to national malaria control efforts

Channel resources into the Global Fund’s 8th Replenishment

Join End Malaria Councils to drive multisectoral advocacy and resource mobilization

Invest in the new Voix EssentiELLEs Fund for Malaria Elimination, focused on women-led, community-driven efforts.

Africa’s fight against malaria needs to be bold and the private sector is a vital partner in that mission.” said Joy Phumaphi, Executive Secretary of ALMA and Board Chair of the RBM Partnership to End Malaria “By joining End Malaria Councils and Funds and investing in community-led solutions, companies can unlock the innovations and resources needed to deliver impact, protect lives, power economies, and achieve a malaria-free future.”

Launched during the event, the Voix EssentiELLEs Fund for Malaria Elimination aims to mobilize $4 million by 2030 to support flexible malaria funding for women and girls, and regional advocacy aligned with national priorities.

“To avoid losing years of progress in the fight against malaria, securing new and diversified sources of funding is urgent,” said Pierre N’gou Dimba, Minister of Health, Public Hygiene and Universal Health Coverage of Côte d’Ivoire. “The private sector has a direct stake in malaria elimination. Healthy communities lead to thriving economies.”

Women and girls continue to carry the greatest burden of malaria, yet remain underrepresented in decision-making and funding. “Investing in women and girls accelerates development. Women leaders strengthen communities, drive innovation, and help lift families out of poverty. And we know that for every $1 invested in malaria control, we gain up to $60 in economic returns. Malaria-free communities are not just healthier, they are more resilient, productive, and profitable” said Yacine Djibo, Executive Director of Speak Up Africa.

A 2024 study found that reducing malaria incidence by 90% by 2030 could boost the continent’s GDP by $126.9 billion. Malaria is not just a health issue, it is an economic barrier that weakens productivity, drives household spending, and constrains growth.

As part of Speak Up Africa’s ongoing work with the private sector, the organization signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Canal+ Côte d’Ivoire and the National Malaria Control Program. The agreement builds on a five-year collaboration between Speak Up Africa and Canal+ Group, which has contributed more than $1.5 million in airtime and in-kind support.

“Through our platform, we are proud to drive awareness and contribute to the fight against malaria,” said Adama Koné, Director General of Canal+ Côte d’Ivoire. “Together with Speak Up Africa and their partners, we are committed to changing the story to end malaria in Africa.”

Download (apo-opa.co/44Dl9bq) the ‘Change the Story, Save Lives: The private sector’s role in ending malaria’ Report (https://apo-opa.co/3EZagGp).

Media Contact:
Maelle Ba
maelle.ba@speakupafrica.org

Speak Up Africa:
Speak Up Africa is an African-led, Senegal-based organization dedicated to building an Africa where growth and sustainable development are driven by Africa’s own citizens. Speak Up Africa convenes, enables and advocates. Focusing on strategic communications and advocacy, the organization is dedicated to supporting African leaders and citizens to take an active role in identifying and developing solutions to tackle the challenges facing the African continent — including malaria, NTDs, immunization, sanitation, gender equality and global health research and development. From its strategic base in Dakar, Senegal, the Speak Up Africa team partners with African leaders and change-makers to put in place the right policies and secure sufficient resources to achieve our sustainable development goals and the African Union’s Agenda 2063.

MIL OSI – Submitted News –

May 14, 2025
MIL-OSI New Zealand: RBNZ Stats Alert Business Expectations Survey: Launch of regular publication set for 21 May

Source: Reserve Bank of New Zealand

RBNZ stats alert: 14 May 2025 – Kia ora koutou, On 21 May 2025 we will be launching the Tara-ā-Umanga Business Expectations Survey (BES), publishing results for the June quarter. Publication will be in advance of the 28 May Monetary Policy Statement, in line with the timing of our other expectations surveys.

We would like to thank all the businesses that have made the development and launch of the new Tara-ā-Umanga Business Expectations Survey possible and enabled us to build a representative sample survey of New Zealand businesses.

This new survey includes several hundred businesses from different sectors around the country, from small to large firms. It is separate from the existing Survey of Expectations focusing on expert forecasters and economists, and industry leaders (Table M14, from 1987 onwards), which will continue.

Business Expectations Survey publication on 21 May, after 3pm

The launch of BES marks the beginning of the regular quarterly publication of the survey and the conclusion of a successful development phase that involved public consultation and pilots to build the sample and test content and methodology. The launch will feature a new web table with population estimates of economy-wide expectations:

M15 Business Expectations Survey

The sample size and design enable new breakdowns by business size and industry, which will be published in the data file accompanying Table M15. The initial publication will include our Stats Insight, a background note as a guide to interpret the new survey results, and a description of our survey methodology.

It should be noted that while this survey represents a significant uplift in our expectations data, more observations are needed (beyond the short historical timeseries that will be available at launch) to enable us to estimate the relationship between these data and ultimate inflation outcomes. We anticipate that the results of this survey will become key statistical series used by central banks, researchers, financial institutions and commentators.

Background information

Inflation expectations are important because households and businesses reflect their expectations in their price- and wage-setting decisions. Improving the quality of our expectation surveys is part of the wider response to our 2022 review of how we formulate and implement our monetary policy. In this review, we identified several areas where better data could support high quality monetary policy decision-making.

For further information please see: Tara-ā-Umanga Business Expectations Survey: Survey design and development: https://govt.us20.list-manage.com/track/click?u=bd316aa7ee4f5679c56377819&id=b66e552e95&e=f3c68946f8

RBNZ’s existing expectations surveys:
Survey of expectations (M14): https://govt.us20.list-manage.com/track/click?u=bd316aa7ee4f5679c56377819&id=16ac7517ae&e=f3c68946f8
Household inflation expectations (H1): https://govt.us20.list-manage.com/track/click?u=bd316aa7ee4f5679c56377819&id=da9067ab97&e=f3c68946f8

Additional wholesale interest rate data now being published

From 12 May 2025, the Reserve Bank of New Zealand – Te Pūtea Matua began publishing two new daily series on Table B2, making more data available on wholesale interest rates that apply to large institutions in New Zealand markets.

The new daily series on Table B2 are:

Overnight Deposit Rate: the rate of remuneration ESAS account holders receive for funds that are held overnight in their account at the Reserve Bank of New Zealand – Te Pūtea Matua. For further information please see: What is ESAS

Overnight Reverse Repo Rate: the rate that is charged to borrow funds lent overnight via the Reserve Bank’s Overnight Reverse Repo Facility (ORRF). For further information on the key standing facilities provided to market participants, including the ORRF, please see: Facilities at a glance – Reserve Bank of New Zealand – Te Pūtea Matua

This data will add to the wide range of information that is available to support the analysis of the New Zealand financial system and understanding the transmission of monetary policy through wholesale interest rates quoted in New Zealand markets.

MIL OSI New Zealand News –

May 14, 2025
MIL-OSI Security: U.S. Attorneys for Southwestern Border Districts Charge More than 1400 Illegal Aliens with Immigration-Related Crimes During the Second week in May as part of Operation Take Back America

Source: United States Attorneys General

Since the inauguration of President Trump, the Department of Justice is playing a critical role in Operation Take back America, a nationwide initiative to repel the invasion of illegal immigration, achieve total elimination of cartels and transnational criminal organizations (TCOs), and protect our communities from perpetrators of violent crime. Operation Take Back America streamlines efforts and resources from the Department’s Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETFs) and Project Safe Neighborhood (PSN).

Last week, the U.S. Attorneys for Arizona, Central California, Southern California, New Mexico, Southern Texas, and Western Texas charged more than 1400 defendants with Criminal violations of U.S. immigration laws.

The Southern District of California filed 176 border-related cases this week, including charges of assault on a federal officer, bringing in aliens for financial gain, reentering the U.S. after deportation, and importation of controlled substances. These included Two complaints which charged five people with participating in a human smuggling event that led to the deaths of at least three migrants, including a 14-year-old boy from India. His 10-year-old sister is still missing at sea and presumed dead; their father is in a coma and mother is also hospitalized.

The Central District of California filed criminal charges against 34 defendants this week who allegedly were found in the U.S. following removal. Many of the defendants charged were previously convicted of felonies before they were removed from the United States.

The District of New Mexico charged approximately 300 defendants with border-related crimes, including 91 defendants charged with Illegal Reentry After Deportation (8 U.S.C. 1326). In addition, 209 individuals charged with Illegal Entry (8 U.S.C. 1325) were also charged with violation of a military security regulation (50 U.S.C. 797) because they unlawfully entered the National Defense Area in New Mexico.

The Southern District of Texas filed a total of 300 cases, charging 302 people from May 2-8 in continuing efforts to secure the southern border. As part of the cases, 93 face allegations of illegally reentering the country. The majority have prior felony convictions for narcotics, prior immigration crimes and more. A total of 193 people face charges of illegally entering the country, while 11 cases allege various instances of human smuggling with the remainder involving other immigration-related crimes.

The Western District of Texas filed 316 new immigration and immigration-related criminal cases from May 2 through May 8. Among the new cases, Cirilo Delgado-Alderete, Dilan Karim Valenzuela-Baca, and Antelmo Eligio Ramirez-Bernardo were arrested at an alleged stash house in Anthony, New Mexico. According to an affidavit, U.S. Border Patrol and Homeland Security Investigations agents observed three vehicles that had been identified as being used to smuggle illegal aliens to Albuquerque, New Mexico, parked at the residence. When agents questioned Ramirez-Bernardo, a Guatemalan national, they allegedly discovered he possessed a key to the residence on his keychain. Agents then located 25 individuals inside the residence who admitted to being citizens of Mexico, Peru, Honduras, Guatemala, Dominican Republic, and Pakistan without documentation to be in the U.S. Two of the individuals, Delgado-Alderete and Valenzuela-Baca, were identified as alleged stash house caretakes and drivers to harbor and transport the illegal aliens. Delgado-Alderete, Valenzuela-Baca, and Ramirez-Bernardo are charged with one count of conspiracy to transport illegal aliens and one count of conspiracy to harbor illegal aliens. The drivers allegedly picked up aliens in El Paso before transporting them to New Mexico.

The District of Arizona brought immigration-related criminal charges against 314 defendants. Specifically, the United States filed 117 cases in which aliens illegally re-entered the United States, and the United States also charged 166 aliens for illegally entering the United States. In its ongoing effort to deter unlawful immigration, the United States filed 25 cases against 31 individuals responsible for smuggling illegal aliens into and within the District of Arizona.

We are grateful for the hard work of our border prosecutors in bringing these cases and helping to make our border safe again.

MIL Security OSI –

May 14, 2025
MIL-OSI Security: Delaware Man Convicted of Sex Trafficking and Forced Labor

Source: United States Attorneys General

A federal jury in the District of Delaware convicted Clifton H. Gibbs, 68, of Sussex County today on multiple counts of sex trafficking and forced labor. Specifically, the jury convicted Gibbs of seven counts of sex trafficking seven adult victims, five counts of forced labor, and one count of interstate transportation for purposes of prostitution.

According to the evidence at trial, Gibbs exploited the victims’ heroin addiction and fears of withdrawal sickness to compel the victims to engage in commercial sex, panhandle, perform demanding manual labor on his property, and to steal goods for him to resell. Gibbs’ co-defendant, Brooke Waters, 46, previously pled guilty to sex trafficking, forced labor, and interstate transportation for purposes of prostitution charges.

“Today’s conviction vindicates the rights of multiple victims who the defendant trafficked over several years within the District of Delaware,” said Assistant Attorney General Harmeet K. Dhillon of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division. “This defendant preyed on individuals suffering from opiate addiction and cruelly exploited them for his own profit. The Justice Department is committed to aggressively fighting human trafficking and seeking justice for its victims.”

“I hope that today’s verdict brings some measure of closure for the victims in this case,” said Acting U.S. Attorney Shannon T. Hanson for the District of Delaware. “I commend the victims’ bravery and willingness to testify to bring this defendant to justice. Our communities are much safer, and this verdict should serve as a warning to other individuals who exploit victims for personal gain.”

“The conviction of Clifton H. Gibbs highlights the strong partnership between Homeland Security Investigations and the Department of Justice in the fight against human trafficking,” said Special Agent in Charge Edward V. Owens of HSI Philadelphia. “Gibbs preyed on vulnerable individuals, feeding their addiction for profit through forced labor and commercial sex. HSI remains committed to working alongside our federal partners to dismantle trafficking networks, bring perpetrators to justice, and through our victim centered approach, support victims as they reclaim their lives.”

“The crimes uncovered in this case are among the most egregious that Homeland Security Investigations encounters,” said Special Agent in Charge Michael McCarthy of HSI Maryland. “Exploiting vulnerable individuals through coercion, abuse, and manipulation is nothing short of reprehensible. This kind of predatory behavior destroys lives and undermines the fundamental values of human dignity and freedom. HSI remains unwavering in its mission to dismantle criminal networks, bring perpetrators to justice, and protect the safety and well-being of our communities, especially those who are unable to protect themselves.”

The evidence presented at the seven-day trial demonstrated that Gibbs sought out individuals, often young women, who were addicted to heroin, and without any money or a stable place to live, promising to take care of them by giving them housing, food, clothing, and easy access to drugs. He then provided many of them with heroin for free to ease their withdrawal sickness. He allowed them to live in trailers or campers on his two rural properties in Sussex County. He then instructed the women to engage in commercial sex, instructing his co-defendant to take photos of them and post online advertisements for them to do “dates” with commercial sex buyers. Gibbs kept all the proceeds from the commercial sex acts and provided the women with small amounts of heroin and cocaine to avoid withdrawal sickness. Gibbs positioned himself to control the victims’ access to heroin and thereby controlled the onset of withdrawal sickness. Exploiting the victims’ fear of withdrawal sickness, Gibbs profited from the commercial sex acts in which he compelled the women to engage. Gibbs and his co-defendant also recruited heroin-addicted individuals to “boost” or steal goods for him to re-sell, panhandle, and do manual labor on his properties. In the same way he did with the young women he compelled to engage in commercial sex, Gibbs exploited the victims’ fear of withdrawal sickness to coerce this labor for his profit.

Gibbs also used physical force with some of his victims by hitting, kicking, or threatening to shoot those who disobeyed his orders or talked back.

A sentencing hearing will be scheduled at a later date. Gibbs faces a minimum penalty of 15 years in prison and a maximum penalty of life in prison as well as mandatory restitution. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

Homeland Security Investigations investigated the case. Assistant United States Attorney Briana Knox for the District of Delaware and Trial Attorneys Christina Randall-James and Leah Branch of the Civil Rights Division’s Human Trafficking Prosecution Unit prosecuted the case.

Anyone who has information about human trafficking should report that information to the National Human Trafficking Hotline toll-free at 1-888-373-7888, which is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week. For more information about human trafficking, please visit www.humantraffickinghotline.org. Information on the Justice Department’s efforts to combat human trafficking can be found at www.justice.gov/humantrafficking.

MIL Security OSI –

May 14, 2025
MIL-OSI USA: Delaware Man Convicted of Sex Trafficking and Forced Labor

Source: US State of North Dakota

A federal jury in the District of Delaware convicted Clifton H. Gibbs, 68, of Sussex County today on multiple counts of sex trafficking and forced labor. Specifically, the jury convicted Gibbs of seven counts of sex trafficking seven adult victims, five counts of forced labor, and one count of interstate transportation for purposes of prostitution.

According to the evidence at trial, Gibbs exploited the victims’ heroin addiction and fears of withdrawal sickness to compel the victims to engage in commercial sex, panhandle, perform demanding manual labor on his property, and to steal goods for him to resell. Gibbs’ co-defendant, Brooke Waters, 46, previously pled guilty to sex trafficking, forced labor, and interstate transportation for purposes of prostitution charges.

“Today’s conviction vindicates the rights of multiple victims who the defendant trafficked over several years within the District of Delaware,” said Assistant Attorney General Harmeet K. Dhillon of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division. “This defendant preyed on individuals suffering from opiate addiction and cruelly exploited them for his own profit. The Justice Department is committed to aggressively fighting human trafficking and seeking justice for its victims.”

“I hope that today’s verdict brings some measure of closure for the victims in this case,” said Acting U.S. Attorney Shannon T. Hanson for the District of Delaware. “I commend the victims’ bravery and willingness to testify to bring this defendant to justice. Our communities are much safer, and this verdict should serve as a warning to other individuals who exploit victims for personal gain.”

“The conviction of Clifton H. Gibbs highlights the strong partnership between Homeland Security Investigations and the Department of Justice in the fight against human trafficking,” said Special Agent in Charge Edward V. Owens of HSI Philadelphia. “Gibbs preyed on vulnerable individuals, feeding their addiction for profit through forced labor and commercial sex. HSI remains committed to working alongside our federal partners to dismantle trafficking networks, bring perpetrators to justice, and through our victim centered approach, support victims as they reclaim their lives.”

“The crimes uncovered in this case are among the most egregious that Homeland Security Investigations encounters,” said Special Agent in Charge Michael McCarthy of HSI Maryland. “Exploiting vulnerable individuals through coercion, abuse, and manipulation is nothing short of reprehensible. This kind of predatory behavior destroys lives and undermines the fundamental values of human dignity and freedom. HSI remains unwavering in its mission to dismantle criminal networks, bring perpetrators to justice, and protect the safety and well-being of our communities, especially those who are unable to protect themselves.”

The evidence presented at the seven-day trial demonstrated that Gibbs sought out individuals, often young women, who were addicted to heroin, and without any money or a stable place to live, promising to take care of them by giving them housing, food, clothing, and easy access to drugs. He then provided many of them with heroin for free to ease their withdrawal sickness. He allowed them to live in trailers or campers on his two rural properties in Sussex County. He then instructed the women to engage in commercial sex, instructing his co-defendant to take photos of them and post online advertisements for them to do “dates” with commercial sex buyers. Gibbs kept all the proceeds from the commercial sex acts and provided the women with small amounts of heroin and cocaine to avoid withdrawal sickness. Gibbs positioned himself to control the victims’ access to heroin and thereby controlled the onset of withdrawal sickness. Exploiting the victims’ fear of withdrawal sickness, Gibbs profited from the commercial sex acts in which he compelled the women to engage. Gibbs and his co-defendant also recruited heroin-addicted individuals to “boost” or steal goods for him to re-sell, panhandle, and do manual labor on his properties. In the same way he did with the young women he compelled to engage in commercial sex, Gibbs exploited the victims’ fear of withdrawal sickness to coerce this labor for his profit.

Gibbs also used physical force with some of his victims by hitting, kicking, or threatening to shoot those who disobeyed his orders or talked back.

A sentencing hearing will be scheduled at a later date. Gibbs faces a minimum penalty of 15 years in prison and a maximum penalty of life in prison as well as mandatory restitution. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

Homeland Security Investigations investigated the case. Assistant United States Attorney Briana Knox for the District of Delaware and Trial Attorneys Christina Randall-James and Leah Branch of the Civil Rights Division’s Human Trafficking Prosecution Unit prosecuted the case.

Anyone who has information about human trafficking should report that information to the National Human Trafficking Hotline toll-free at 1-888-373-7888, which is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week. For more information about human trafficking, please visit www.humantraffickinghotline.org. Information on the Justice Department’s efforts to combat human trafficking can be found at www.justice.gov/humantrafficking.

MIL OSI USA News –

May 14, 2025
MIL-OSI USA: New Hampshire Doctor Pleads Guilty to Illegally Prescribing Opioids

Source: US State of California

A New Hampshire doctor pleaded guilty today to unlawfully distributing a controlled substance. This is the first conviction of a doctor in the District of New Hampshire from a joint investigation by the New England Strike Force and the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

According to court documents, Robert G. Soucy Jr., D.O., 72, of Columbia, New Hampshire, illegally prescribed opioids from his home in Columbia, New Hampshire. Dr. Soucy knew that pharmacies in and around Colebrook, New Hampshire, would not fill his prescriptions for several of his patients. To have the unlawful prescriptions filled, Dr. Soucy specifically instructed a patient to bring his prescriptions to a pharmacy in another location. Dr. Soucy also continued to prescribe opioids to the patient, who the defendant knew had a substance-abuse disorder, without conducting any medical evaluation or testing and after the patient had moved out of New England.

Dr. Soucy faces a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison. He surrendered his DEA registration and is no longer authorized to prescribe controlled substances.

Matthew R. Galeotti, Head of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, Acting United States Attorney Jay McCormack for the District of New Hampshire, Acting Special Agent in Charge Stephen Belleau and Acting Diversion Program Manager George Lutz of the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) New England Division, and Deputy Inspector General for Investigations Christian J. Schrank of the Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General (HHS-OIG) made the announcement.

The DEA and HHS-OIG investigated the case.

Trial Attorneys Thomas D. Campbell and Danielle H. Sakowski of the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section are prosecuting the case.

The Fraud Section leads the Criminal Division’s efforts to combat health care fraud through the Health Care Fraud Strike Force Program. Since March 2007, this program, currently comprised of nine strike forces operating in 27 federal districts, has charged more than 5,800 defendants who collectively have billed federal health care programs and private insurers more than $30 billion. In addition, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, working in conjunction with HHS-OIG, are taking steps to hold providers accountable for their involvement in health care fraud schemes. More information can be found at www.justice.gov/criminal-fraud/health-care-fraud-unit.

Anyone needing access to opioid treatment services can contact HHS-OIG’s Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration 24/7 National Helpline for referrals to treatment services at 1-800-662-4359.

MIL OSI USA News –

May 14, 2025
MIL-OSI USA: Luke Letlow Post Office Established in Rayville, Louisiana

Source: United States House of Representatives – Congresswoman Julia Letlow (LA-05)

RAYVILLE, LA – Today in Richland Parish, the Rayville Post Office was officially renamed the “Luke Letlow Post Office Building” in honor of the late Congressman-elect Luke Letlow.

Congresswoman Letlow lost her husband Luke to COVID-19 on December 29, 2020, following his election to Congress and after years of service in both the federal and state governments.

The recognition in Letlow’s home parish was made possible by legislation carried by House Majority Leader Steve Scalise and signed into law late last year.

Congresswoman Julia Letlow, former Congressman Ralph Abraham, and a large crowd of family and friends gathered at the post office today to celebrate the recognition.

“The Luke Letlow Post Office will stand as a monument to Luke’s servant’s heart and his dedication to the rural communities in north Louisiana,” said Congresswoman Julia Letlow. “Luke was passionate about bringing people together – especially in places like Richland Parish. He never met a stranger, and he considered helping others through public service to be his highest calling. With this recognition, his legacy will live on in the place he called home.”

MIL OSI USA News –

May 14, 2025
MIL-OSI USA: Strickland, Salazar Reintroduce Bipartisan Effort to Eliminate 90-Day State Residency Requirement for Military Spouses Applying for Citizenship

Source: United States House of Representatives – Congresswoman Marilyn Strickland (WA-10)

Washington, D.C. – Today, following Military Spouse Appreciation Day, U.S. Representatives Marilyn Strickland (WA-10) and Maria Salazar (FL-27) reintroduced the Ensuring Security for Military Spouses Act, a bipartisan effort to eliminate the 90-day state residency requirement for spouses of servicemembers on active duty who apply for naturalization.

“Military spouses are the backbone of our nation’s military, serving the nation right alongside our servicemembers,” said Strickland. “To ensure national security, address recruitment and retention issues, and maintain readiness, we must support green card-holding military spouses who want to become citizens.”

“Our active duty servicemembers and their families make an enormous sacrifice to keep us safe,” said Salazar. “This bill ensures fairness for the spouses of servicemen seeking U.S. citizenship by updating state residency requirements for green-card holders. In doing so, these aspiring Americans are not penalized due to the orders they receive while serving our nation.”

The Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) requires lawful permanent residents – i.e. green card holders – to reside for at least 90 days within the state in which they file their naturalization application. This can adversely impact military spouses, who are sometimes required to move on short notice when their servicemember spouse receives orders.

Currently, lawful permanent resident spouses of servicemembers stationed abroad are not subject to a single state residency requirement. The Ensuring Security for Military Spouses Act would create parity for spouses of active-duty servicemembers stationed at home and abroad, and provide flexibility in meeting the demands of military service and the requirements of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration policy.

The Ensuring Security for Military Spouses Act has the support of the National Immigration Forum.

You can read the full bill text here.

Congresswoman Marilyn Strickland (WA-10) serves on the House Armed Services Committee and the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee. She is Whip of the New Democrat Coalition, Secretary of the Congressional Black Caucus, and is one of the first Korean-American women elected to Congress.

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MIL OSI USA News –

May 14, 2025
MIL-OSI Security: ICYMI-Deputy Secretary Edgar: “An Illegal Immigrant Killed Two Teenagers In My Community. Under The Trump Administration, He Will Face Justice”

Source: US Department of Homeland Security

ICYMI-Deputy Secretary Edgar: “An Illegal Immigrant Killed Two Teenagers In My Community. Under The Trump Administration, He Will Face Justice”

Oscar Ortega-Anguiano is set to be released from prison after serving just three-and-a-half years of his 10-year sentence for the killing of Anya Varfolomeev and Nikolay Osokin

WASHINGTON – Today, the Washington Examiner published Homeland Security Deputy Secretary Troy Edgar’s Op-Ed in the Washington Examiner titled, “An Illegal Immigrant Killed Two Teenagers In My Community. Under the Trump Administration, He Will Face Justice.”

The Op-Ed highlights the story of Anya Varfolomeev and Nikolay Osokin, two 19-year-olds that were killed in 2021 by an illegal alien who was driving under the influence in the Deputy Secretary’s home state of California.

Recently, it was revealed that Oscar Ortega-Anguiano—the teens’ killer—is set to be released from a California state prison after serving just three-and-a-half years of a 10-year sentence. However, the Trump administration is intervening to ensure Ortega-Anguiano does not walk free.

The worst call you could ever receive as a parent is one telling you that your teenage son or daughter has been in a car accident. It’s a lifechanging call that would go down as one of the worst days of your life. It could be even worse though: What if you also found out that the driver that caused the accident was in our country illegally? This tragic circumstance is a reality for the parents of Anya Varfolomeev and Nikolay Osokin.

At just 19 years old, these two young people from Orange County, California had their whole lives ahead of them. Varfolomeev was a bright young woman, who was a dedicated ballerina and scout. Osokin was a gifted student at Pepperdine University who excelled in both music and academics. But in November 2021, their lives were senselessly stolen in a fiery crash caused by a criminal illegal alien who should have never been in this country in the first place.

Oscar Eduardo Ortega-Anguiano was driving drunk, high on drugs, and speeding at nearly 100 mph on the 405 freeway when he crashed into a vehicle carrying Varfolomeev and Osokin. Even worse, Ortega-Anguiano was a repeat criminal, with a track record that includes multiple felonies and convictions for driving without a license. Despite being deported, he re-entered our country illegally twice.

Now, four years later, Ortega-Anguiano is set to be released from California state prison after serving just 3.5 years of his 10-year sentence. I’ve spoken to Anya’s father, and he is outraged. So am I.

This story hits especially close to home because I served as mayor and city council member of Los Alamitos for over a decade, and this tragic incident happened in our community. It also represents so much that is wrong with our broken immigration system. As Deputy Secretary of Homeland Security, I work relentlessly under the leadership of President Donald Trump and Secretary Kristi Noem to carry out their priorities to protect our communities from brutal criminals who should not be loose on American streets.

Under the Trump administration, DHS is enforcing our nation’s immigration laws and seeking to punish criminals to the fullest extent of the law, and this has my direct attention. Immigration and Customs Enforcement has placed a detainer for Ortega-Anguiano with the California Department of Corrections. If state authorities do not honor the ICE detainer, federal agents will take custody of Ortega-Anguiano and deport him immediately upon release. The U.S. Attorney for the Central District of California has also filed a felony immigration charge against Ortega-Anguiano, which could put him behind bars for an additional 20 years.

Under the secretary’s leadership, the department is also giving support to victims by reopening the ICE’s Victims of Immigration Crime Engagement office. VOICE was first launched in 2017 by the Trump administration as a dedicated resource for those who have been victimized by crime that has a nexus to immigration. The Biden administration shuttered the office, leaving victims and their families without access to key resources and support services–but we will not allow their stories to be silenced any longer.

Every day, the Trump Administration is working to prevent these tragedies from happening in another town, to another family. We owe it to Anya and Nikolay, and every family like theirs, to never stop fighting for justice and safety. That starts with removing the worst of the worst– and making sure they never return.

Not in my town. Not in any American town.

MIL Security OSI –

May 14, 2025

Nominee	Votes For			Votes Withheld
Nominee	No.	%		No.	%
Christopher Charles Woodward	8,173,330	93.26	%	590,798	6.74	%
Tim Kerr	8,299,010	94.69	%	465,118	5.31	%

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