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Category: Politics

  • MIL-OSI USA: Newhouse Votes to Secure the Border in Homeland Security Appropriations Bill

    Source: United States House of Representatives – Congressman Dan Newhouse (4th District of Washington)

    Headline: Newhouse Votes to Secure the Border in Homeland Security Appropriations Bill

    WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, Rep. Dan Newhouse (WA-04) released the following statement upon committee passage of the Fiscal Year 2026 Homeland Security Appropriations Bill. 

    “Border security is national security, and today my colleagues and I on the Appropriations committee passed strong government funding legislation that reflects that belief,” said Rep. Newhouse. 

    Newhouse continues, “I am proud of the work we have done in securing critical investments for a secure border, fighting fentanyl as smugglers attempt to poison our communities, and boosting our cybersecurity capabilities to combat growing threats. This legislation refocuses the Department of Homeland Security on its fundamental mission: ensuring the safety of Americans and secure national borders.” 

    “I was also able to secure funding for the Yakima Valley Office of Emergency Management to help open a fully operational Emergency Operation Center in Yakima County. This center will deliver rapid, coordinated responses to natural disasters such as wildfires, landslides, and severe weather that impact Central Washington every year.” 

    The Homeland Security Appropriations Bill provides a total discretionary allocation of $66.36 billion. The defense portion of the allocation is $3.29 billion, which is $41 million (1.22%) below the Fiscal Year 2025 enacted level. The non-defense portion of the allocation is $63.08 billion, which is $1.37 billion (2.05%) above the Fiscal Year 2025 enacted level. 

    The bill includes $6.3 billion in discretionary appropriations that are offset by fee collections and $26.47 billion as an allocation adjustment for major disaster response and recovery activities. 

    Rep. Newhouse secured the following project funding in this legislation for Washington’s Fourth Congressional District. 

    Yakima Valley Office of Emergency Management 

    Amount: $2,250,000 

    Description: Yakima Valley Office of Emergency Management will transform an existing facility into a dedicated, fully operational 3,866 square-foot Emergency Operation Center (EOC) in Yakima County, Washington, the second-largest county in the State. Residents span 4,311 square miles and well-coordinated emergency response efforts are critical for the protection of life and property. Yakima County is vulnerable to wildfires, earthquakes, landslides, and severe weather events, all of which demand rapid and coordinated emergency response. Recent emergencies, including the Retreat fire and Rattlesnake Ridge Landslide, have demonstrated the challenges of operating with inadequate space. Emergency responders were delayed in their ability to coordinate and execute timely responses because a multipurpose training room that is shared by multiple agencies is temporarily repurposed as an ad hoc EOC, a process takes several hours to a day. These makeshift conditions will be eliminated with a dedicated EOC to serve as the central hub for coordinating emergency response efforts. The proposed EOC will provide a comprehensive range of services to support emergency management efforts, including real-time incident coordination, advanced communication systems, data analysis and situational awareness, public information dissemination, resource allocation and logistics support, training, and preparedness programs, and wildfire emergency response coordination. The establishment of a dedicated EOC in Yakima County is an urgent and necessary investment. The current reliance on repurposed spaces for emergency coordination is inefficient, costly, and unsustainable. A permanent EOC will allow emergency response coordination to begin immediately, minimize disaster impacts, and ultimately protect lives, property, and public well-being. Beyond strengthening the region’s emergency management capabilities, this investment will contribute to a safer and more resilient community for years to come.

    Bill text, before adoption of amendments, is available here. 

    ### 

    MIL OSI USA News –

    June 25, 2025

  • MIL-OSI USA: LEADER JEFFRIES: “WHAT IS THE TRUMP ADMINISTRATION RUNNING AWAY FROM?”

    Source: United States House of Representatives – Congressman Hakeem Jeffries (8th District of New York)

    Today, House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries held a press conference with Democratic Whip Katherine Clark and Democratic Caucus Chair Pete Aguilar where they demanded that the American people receive answers from the Trump administration on how they plan to avoid another deadly war in the Middle East.

    LEADER JEFFRIES: Article I, Section VIII, Clause XI of the United States Constitution gives Congress the power to declare war. The Trump administration undertook an offensive military strike in the Middle East and chose to ignore the constitutional requirement to get approval from the United States Congress. The American people deserve to know the facts and the truth, as it related to the decision to strike Iran without securing congressional approval. What was the imminent nature of the threat to the safety and security of the American people that justified the strike that took place?

    What was the result of the military strike in terms of potentially setting back the Iranian nuclear program and their aspirations? We agree that Iran should never be permitted to become nuclear-capable. Iran is a sworn enemy of the United States of America and a sworn enemy of our allies, including Israel and Jordan. But there are real questions that need to be answered so that the American people have a full understanding of the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth. Is it, in fact, the case that Iran’s nuclear program has been completely and totally obliterated?

    There apparently are reasons to believe that that was a blatant misrepresentation made by Donald Trump to the American people. That’s one of the questions that needs to be answered by the Trump administration. What are they running away from? Why was this briefing, which is already days late, postponed? Why is the Trump administration playing political games on questions of war and peace that relate directly to the safety and security of the American people? We’re ready to undertake our constitutional responsibility on behalf of the American people on these serious issues, which include the need to get an answer to the question as to what is Donald Trump’s plan to avoid another costly and deadly war in the Middle East, which the American people want no part of, Democrats, independents and Republicans.

    Full press conference can be watched here.

    ###

    MIL OSI USA News –

    June 25, 2025

  • MIL-OSI New Zealand: Speech at 2025 Looking Ahead Infrastructure Symposium: Building Common Ground

    Source: New Zealand Government

    Opening 
     
    Good morning. It’s great to be here today for the release of the draft National Infrastructure Plan – or the NIP.
     
    I’d like to thank Raveen Jaduram, Geoff Cooper, and the entire team at the Infrastructure Commission for hosting this Symposium and for their hard work on putting the NIP together. 
     
    I’d also like to welcome you all to Parliament.
     
    Improving how we plan, fund, maintain and build our infrastructure is critical to lifting productivity, boosting economic growth, and increasing peoples’ living standards.
     
    The government has made infrastructure a top priority.
     
    So, I welcome today’s draft report by the independent Infrastructure Commission.
     
    We need a Plan, and action
     
    As Minister for Infrastructure, I hear regularly that – “what New Zealand needs is a long-term infrastructure plan that transcends political cycles”. 
     
    I agree – a plan will give the private sector more certainty so that they can invest in people and equipment. It will also help New Zealanders build consensus on what our future infrastructure system should look like.
     
    But a plan is only as good as it’s execution. So, the NIP will only be successful if it is – at least in part – accepted and adopted across successive governments over the long term. 
     
    As I’m sure most of you know, this isn’t our first plan; we have been here before. New Zealand had infrastructure plans in 2010, 2011, and 2015.
     
    Some recommendations in these older plans are identical to those put forward in this Plan – over a decade later. 
     
    I’m thinking of things like agencies completing 10-year capital plans and making better use of pricing tools.
     
    What differentiates this Plan is that it has been developed independently by the Infrastructure Commission – separate from the Government of the day.
     
    The NIP is not this Government’s Plan, it is New Zealand’s Plan. 
     
    That is why each political party represented in Parliament was offered a briefing on the NIP last year. And I would like to thank the opposition spokespeople for infrastructure for being here today.
     
    Building greater consensus on infrastructure is, unfortunately, not as simple as different political parties getting in a room and convincing each other of the other’s view.
     
    That’s not realistic. Instead, consensus will be enabled by strong system and institutions, robust investment frameworks, high-quality evidence of our infrastructure needs, and advocacy for projects and policies from a better-informed public.
     
    That’s what this Plan is about – independent experts advising New Zealand on the current state of infrastructure, what we need in the future, and the projects and policy reforms that will bridge this gap in the most effective and value for money way.
     
    People often say we need a bipartisan infrastructure pipeline, as if that will solve all problems.
     
    We do have a robust infrastructure pipeline. The Commission has been running it for over five years, and it’s been progressively improved over that time.
     
    The Pipeline includes over 8,000 initiatives underway and in planning from 114 contributing organisations. It represents over $200 billion in investment value – with over $110 billion of the Pipeline having a funding source confirmed. 
     
    I can’t claim to speak for all the parties in Parliament, but I suspect that almost all of the projects underway right now are supported by everyone. 
     
    It’s the high profile and high-cost disagreements that make the headlines. But it’s the low profile and often low-cost projects that actually make New Zealand.
    A lot of people don’t know we have a pipeline. It’s actually really cool – you can go online and search projects by region, timeline, project status, project value, provider, procurement type, and much more. 
     
    The Commission is strengthening the Pipeline by aiming to cover all infrastructure providers. There are 14 laggard councils who aren’t contributing, and I’ll be writing to them to get them on board. Having visibility over everything that’s happening, and going to happen, is very important.
     
    But I reckon we need to move away from the rhetoric of needing a bipartisan pipeline and instead build bipartisan consensus on the idea that governments of all flavours should use best-practice to plan, select, fund and finance, deliver, and look after infrastructure.
     
    That’s not the case at the moment.
     
    We need change
     
    It is quite clear that our infrastructure system needs to change. It’s one of my biggest takeaways from our first 18 months in government. I’ve been shocked at the near systemic neglect of the underlying institutional settings and policy frameworks. 
     
    Contrary to many perceptions, New Zealand spends a lot on infrastructure. 
     
    We are in the top 10 per cent of the OECD for infrastructure investment over the last decade – but in the bottom 10 per cent when it comes to getting quality and “bang for buck” from our spending. 
    The cause of our problem is not isolated – it is spread across every stage of a project’s life, across different players in the system, and is perpetuated by decades of poor practice across successive governments. 
     
    Over the last few years, New Zealanders have seen and felt the consequences of poor practice including:

    assets that are wearing out and failing,
    project cost blowouts,
    poor value for money investments, and
    a growing infrastructure deficit.  

     
    If we keep doing things the way we are now, we won’t be able to deal with “business as usual”, let alone get a grip on the challenges we are facing like:

    a significant backlog of maintenance and renewal activity,
    population change,
    natural hazards,
    and global inflation. 

     
    To put this in perspective – over the next 30 years, every year, central government’s existing infrastructure assets is expected to wear out by $9.3 billion.
     
    To keep up with this and other challenges, as the Commission says, we need to “lift our game”.
     
    Taking action
     
    Over the last 18 months I’ve been focused on six priorities as Infrastructure Minister:
     
     

    Developing a 30-year National Infrastructure Plan,
    Establishing National Infrastructure Funding and Financing Ltd (NIFFCo),
    Improving infrastructure funding and financing
    Improving the consenting framework
    Improving education and health infrastructure, and
    Strengthening asset management.

     
    I didn’t pick these priorities randomly. They reflect findings and recommendations from the Infrastructure Commission’s Infrastructure Strategy, developed in 2022, and are also based on a big programme of work we undertook in opposition engaging with experts from here and overseas.
     
    I am really pleased to see that many of the recommendations of the draft NIP reflect these priorities. This indicates that as a government we’re heading in the right direction.
     
    I want to mention a few in particular as they pick up on a few themes coming through in the draft NIP.
     
    Improving infrastructure funding and financing 
     
    Let’s start with improving infrastructure funding and financing. 
     
    Public infrastructure in New Zealand has historically been primarily funded by taxpayers or ratepayers. 
     
    But our reliance on this blunt approach is not serving us 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 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 these in detail today, but the key takeaway is that we are moving to a system and to tools where councils can fully recover the costs of housing growth, and where infrastructure providers can recover costs of significant and city-shaping projects.  
     
    I am happy to see the draft National Infrastructure Plan make recommendations that align with our Government’s direction on funding and financing – such as making better use of pricing, user charging, and beneficiary pays.
     
    Improving the consenting framework
     
    Secondly, our consenting environment.
     
    As successive reports from the Commission have noted, our consenting system for infrastructure is broken.
     
    It takes too long and costs way too much.
     
    We are on track to replace the RMA with new legislation next year. Our new system will be effects based, embrace standardisation, and be far more permissive and enabling – while also protecting the environment. 
     
    We also aren’t willing to wait for a growth-enabling planning system, so in the meantime, last year we introduced the Fast Track Approvals Act. It’s underway now.
     
    We’re consulting right now on a big programme of National Direction changes under the RMA, including developing a National Policy Statement on Infrastructure. It’s baffling that we haven’t had one.
     
    We are also progressing our second RMA amendment Bill, which will pass into law in a matter of weeks. 
     
    This Bill is a precursor to full replacement of the RMA and will make it quicker and simpler to consent renewable energy and boost housing supply.
     
    Strengthening asset management 
     
    Lastly, before we move onto the draft Plan – I want to talk about my strengthening asset management.
     
    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.
     
    Last year, I was shocked and quite frankly embarrassed to hear that New Zealand ranks fourth to last in the OECD for asset management, and dead last for the metric on Accountability and Professionalism. 
     
    But this is not surprising when you look at the performance of our central government investment system.
     
    Over half of all capital-intensive government agencies do not have robust, comprehensive asset registers or asset management plans in place. Maintenance spending is also regularly diverted to building new infrastructure, resulting in costly catch-up spending later. 
     
    Years of poor asset management has led to 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. 
     
    This is not good enough.
     
    In May this year, Cabinet agreed to a comprehensive work programme that will improve asset management practice across central government.
     
    The aim of this work is to provide safer, longer lasting and more reliable and resilient infrastructure services; and to achieve better value for money by making the most of what we have.
     
    This work programme will take place across two phases and will be led by Treasury and the Infrastructure Commission. 
     
    Phase 1 is about giving agencies better tools to help them succeed. This includes detailed guidance that agencies will need to follow on asset management; long-term planning; and related performance, assurance, and accountability indicators
     
    Phase 2 is about driving more fundamental changes to system settings and will actually be informed by the National Infrastructure Plan – particularly Chapters 4, Setting up Infrastructure for Success; and Chapter 5, Driving Excellence from the Core.
     
    Draft National Infrastructure Plan
     
    So, let’s talk about the National Infrastructure Plan. 
     
    I haven’t had a chance to read the document in full as it was released today – but three things instantly stood out to me:
     

    The first is the Needs Analysis, or “Forward Guidance”,
    The second is the Infrastructure Priorities Programme, which InfraCom has put in Chapter 6, and
    The third is how we can change the Investment Management System to get better infrastructure outcomes.

     
    Forward guidance
     
    On the Forward Guidance, it was interesting to see how our investment mix will need to change to meet future demand. 
     
    While total spend on infrastructure will increase, the relative priority between sectors will change overtime. 
    This is due to long-term trends that boost demand for some infrastructure and reduce it for others. For example, an aging population will increase relative demand for healthcare and hospitals; and decrease relative demand for education services and schools. 
     
    The Commission suggests that over the next 30 years hospitals, social housing, and electricity and gas sectors should all experience a rising share of infrastructure investment.
     
    I also found it helpful that the Commission’s Forward Guidance outlines a rough indication of how much we should expect to be spending by sector.
     
    In my view, forward guidance would be significantly strengthened in future if all agencies had provided the Commission with 10-year capital investment plans and asset management plans. This way, the Commission could provide more detailed and specific guidance on what bundle of projects across all sectors governments should be prioritising. 
     
    Infrastructure Priorities Programme 
     
    Moving on to the Infrastructure Priorities Programme, or the IPP – which is a structured independent review of unfunded infrastructure proposals. 
     
    The IPP is just starting out and it will take some time to scale and provide a robust investment menu, but I am glad to see the Commission received 48 submissions for their first round of evaluations.
     
    17 projects were positively endorsed, and three projects have been identified as being ‘investment ready’ – these are New Zealand Defence Forces’ Accommodation, Messing, and Dining Modernisation Project; Defence Forces’ Ohakea Base Project; and Hamilton City Council’s Ruakura Eastern Transport Corridor.
     
    I encourage all government agencies to submit their significant projects and programmes to the IPP. 
     
    A positive independent review will strengthen your case for investment.
     
    Improving the Investment Management System 
     
    Lastly, there are a number of recommendations in the draft Plan that aim to improve the Government’s investment system – which is made up of the rules and processes for how we plan, prioritise, fund and finance, delivered, and looked after investments – including infrastructure.
     
    For our Government to boost productivity, reduce the cost of living, and lift peoples’ prosperity, we need to get better value for money from our new infrastructure and do a better job at looking after our existing assets.   
     
    So, I am open to hearing about stronger rules such as legislative requirements for central government agencies and entities to prepare and publish long-term asset management plan, asset registers, and investment plans. 
     
     
    I am also open to legislative requirements for performance reporting to keep central government infrastructure entities accountable – like we do for regulated utilities and local government, who both face much stronger regulations and information disclosures requirements compared to central government. 
     
    We need to stop holding others to a higher standard than we do ourselves. 
     
    Overall, I am pleased to see the draft Plan makes recommendations that align with existing Government priorities, such as:

    making better use of user pricing to fund investment,
    adopting spatial planning,
    relaxing land-use restrictions,
    transport system reform,
    prioritising infrastructure through the resource management system, and
    drastically improving asset management. 

     
    The Government will continue to advance these policy priorities, and we will benefit from insights from the Plan. 
     
    The final National Infrastructure Plan will be given to me by the end of 2025. As the Plan is an independent Strategy report, the Government will provide a formal response to the Plan in 2026. 
     
    As part of that response, I will be engaging with other political parties in Parliament, and I intend to ask the Business Committee to hold a special Parliamentary debate on the final Plan early next year. 
     
    Conclusion
     
    I’d like to finish by thanking the Infrastructure Commission for its hard work in delivering this draft National Infrastructure Plan.
     
    I encourage everyone including agencies, local government, opposition parties, the private sector, the public to have their say on the draft Plan through the consultation process – and I look forward to receiving the final Plan by the end of this year.
     
    ENDS

    MIL OSI New Zealand News –

    June 25, 2025

  • MIL-OSI USA: Lankford Leads Senate Resolution After Deadly Antisemitic Attacks

    US Senate News:

    Source: United States Senator for Oklahoma James Lankford

    Bipartisan resolution condemns antisemitic attacks in Washington, DC, and Boulder, Colorado

    WASHINGTON, DC — US Senators James Lankford (R-OK) and Jacky Rosen (D-NV) introduced a bipartisan resolution condemning antisemitism and the recent antisemitic attacks in the United States, specifically the brutal murders of Sarah Milgrim and Yaron Lischinsky in Washington, DC, and the violent attack in Boulder, CO. Lankford and Rosen serve as co-chairs of the Senate Bipartisan Task Force for Combating Antisemitism.

    “The recent brutal murders of Sarah Milgrim and Yaron Lischinsky and the violent attack in Boulder are horrific reminders of the unfortunate rise in antisemitism across our country,” said Lankford. “This resolution makes it clear: we unequivocally condemn antisemitism in all its forms. Our Jewish friends and neighbors should not live in fear because of their faith and heritage, and this resolution affirms the right to live their faith freely.”

    “Communities across our country are experiencing an increase in antisemitic vandalism, threats, and violence that endangers the safety of Jewish Americans, like the recent attacks in Washington and Colorado,” said Rosen. “We have a responsibility to call out antisemitism and do everything we can to combat acts of hate in all of its forms. Senator Lankford and I introduced this bipartisan resolution to condemn recent attacks and recommit to doing all we can to tackle the alarming rise of antisemitic incidents. As one of the co-chairs of the Senate Bipartisan Task Force for Combating Antisemitism, I look forward to continuing this important work.”

    “There is no place for antisemitism in our society,” said Senate Majority Leader John Thune. “We must forcefully condemn antisemitic hate and do everything we can to stand with and protect our Jewish neighbors. I thank Senator Lankford for leading this bipartisan resolution and hope for a day where antisemitism is a thing of the past.”

    Joining Lankford and Rosen in co-sponsoring the resolution are Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) and Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY), as well as Sens. Michael Bennet (D-CO), John Hickenlooper (D-CO), Dave McCormick (R-PA), John Fetterman (D-PA) and Jerry Moran (R-KS).

    You can read the full text of the resolution HERE.

    Background

    The resolution comes amid a documented surge in antisemitic threats, violence, and rhetoric across the United States, particularly following the October 7, 2023, terrorist attack by Hamas on Israel. In 2024, the Anti-Defamation League recorded over 9,000 antisemitic incidents nationwide—a historic high—with more than half linked to anti-Israel sentiment. Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) data also shows that Jewish Americans, who make up just 2.4% of the US population, were the target of 68% of all reported religiously motivated hate crimes in 2023.

    The resolution specifically condemns two recent antisemitic attacks: the May 21, 2025, shooting that killed Sarah Milgrim and Yaron Lischinsky outside an American Jewish Committee event in Washington, DC, and the June 1, 2025, Molotov cocktail attack during a peaceful walk in Boulder, Colorado showing support for the hostages still held captive by Hamas. The resolution rightfully labels both attacks as the result of antisemitism, extremism, and political violence, which are threats not only to Jewish individuals but to all of society in the United States.

    Sarah Milgrim, a Jewish American from Kansas, and Yaron Lischinsky, an Israeli-German dual citizen, were both staffers at the Israeli Embassy in Washington. They were engaged in Middle East diplomacy, united by a shared passion for peacebuilding, and were planning their future together before their lives were tragically cut short.

    Lankford, who recently traveled to the Middle East, remains committed to defending religious liberty and combating antisemitism both at home and abroad.

    You can read the exclusive published in Jewish Insider HERE.

    MIL OSI USA News –

    June 25, 2025

  • MIL-OSI USA: Murphy, Blumenthal, Democratic Caucus Introduce Bill to Restore Abortion Access Nationwide on 3rd Anniversary of Roe Being Overturned

    US Senate News:

    Source: United States Senator for Connecticut – Chris Murphy

    June 24, 2025

    WASHINGTON—U.S. Senators Chris Murphy (D-Conn.), a member of the U.S. Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, and Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) today, on the third anniversary of the U.S. Supreme Court overturning Roe v. Wade, joined the entire Democratic caucus in introducing the Women’s Health Protection Act of 2025, legislation to guarantee access to abortion everywhere across the country and restore the right to comprehensive reproductive health care for millions of Americans. The bill’s introduction comes as the Trump Administration further attacks a woman’s right to choose and Congressional Republicans barrel ahead with a bill that defunds Planned Parenthood. Put together, Trump and Congressional Republicans’ assault on Americans’ reproductive rights is a backdoor national abortion ban, ripping away millions of women’s access to abortion care and right to control their bodies.   

    “In the three years since Roe was overturned, newly enacted, draconian abortion bans have put women’s lives at risk all over the country. Women – not politicians or radical right-wing judges – should be in charge of decisions about their health care, but Donald Trump and Republicans are hellbent on chipping away at women’s reproductive rights so they can eventually pass a nationwide abortion ban. This legislation would stop Republicans from turning back the clock on women’s freedom in this country and restore the right to reproductive health care,” said Murphy.

    “This issue is about more than health care; it is about women’s rights, individual rights, and human rights. The foundation of the Women’s Health Protection Act is simply the right to make your own health care decisions. Three years after Dobbs, American women don’t have that right. Today, thanks to Republican lawmakers and conservative courts, a woman in America might walk into an ER and faint, bleeding, and be refused treatment. That woman might die,” said Blumenthal. “By restoring abortion access and implementing basic protections against medically unnecessary restrictions on health care, the Women’s Health Protection Act overturns the death sentence handed down by Dobbs.”

    President Trump appointed the Supreme Court Justices who ruled in the Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization case to overturn Roe v. Wade and nearly 50 years of precedent. Since the Dobbs decision, 19 states have banned abortion or severely restricted women from being able to access the procedure, leaving one in three American women without access to safe, legal abortion care. Additionally, state legislatures across the country have introduced hundreds of bills to include medically unnecessary restrictions that limit access to abortion care.

    In his second term, President Trump has continued to relentlessly attack reproductive rights, including freezing Title X funding for clinics that offer reproductive care, cutting Biden-era emergency abortion protections, pardoning anti-abortion extremists, and fighting to defund Planned Parenthood. Additionally, the House-passed Republican budget bill kicks 16 million people off their health insurance and defunds Planned Parenthood – threatening the closure of 200 health centers across the country and putting access to vital reproductive care for millions of families at risk.

    The Women’s Health Protection Act creates federal rights for patients and providers to protect abortion access. Specifically, the Women’s Health Protection Act would:

    • Prohibit states from imposing restrictions that jeopardize access to abortion earlier in pregnancy, including many of the state-level restrictions in place prior to Dobbs, such as arbitrary waiting periods, medically unnecessary mandatory ultrasounds, or requirements to provide medically inaccurate information.
    • Ensure that later in pregnancy, states cannot limit access to abortion if it would jeopardize the life or health of the mother.
    • Protect the ability to travel out of state for an abortion, which has become increasingly common in recent years.

    U.S. Senators Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.), Patty Murray (D-Wash.), Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), Angela Alsobrooks (D-Md.), Michael Bennet (D-Colo.), Lisa Blunt Rochester (D-Del.), Cory Booker (D-N.J.), Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.), Chris Coons (D-Del.), Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.), Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.), Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), John Fetterman (D-Pa.), Ruben Gallego (D-Ariz.), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.), Maggie Hassan (D-N.H.), Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.), John Hickenlooper (D-Colo.), Mazie Hirono (D-Hawaii), Tim Kaine (D-Va.), Mark Kelly (D-Ariz.), Andy Kim (D-N.J.), Angus King (I-Maine), Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), Ben Ray Luján (D-N.M.), Ed Markey (D-Mass.), Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), Jon Ossoff (D-Ga.), Alex Padilla (D-Calif.), Gary Peters (D-Mich.), Jack Reed (D-R.I.), Jacky Rosen (D-Nev.), Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii), Adam Schiff (D-Calif.), Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.), Elissa Slotkin (D-Mich.), Tina Smith (D-Minn.), Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.), Mark Warner (D-Va.), Raphael Warnock (D-Ga.), Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Peter Welch (D-Vt.), Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.), and Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) also cosponsored the bill.

    Full text of the bill is available HERE. A one-pager on the bill is available HERE.

    MIL OSI USA News –

    June 25, 2025

  • MIL-OSI United Kingdom: Pre-loved tech will help to bridge digital divide under new government charter 

    Source: United Kingdom – Government Statements

    Press release

    Pre-loved tech will help to bridge digital divide under new government charter 

    Organisations can sign up to the IT Reuse for Good charter on GOV.UK and then work with their chosen charity partner to distribute devices.

    Pre-loved tech bridging digital divide under new government charter.

    Big names like Deloitte, Vodafone and Three alongside leading charity Good Things Foundation are uniting with government to encourage organisations to donate pre-loved tech to digital excluded Brits.

    Organisations can sign up to the IT Reuse for Good charter on gov.uk from today and then work with their chosen charity partner to distribute devices.  

    The Charter encourages organisations to change how they manage and dispose of IT assets, with the aim of increasing device donations to the 1.5 million people in the United Kingdom who lack access to a basic laptop, tablet and smartphone.  

    With technology transforming essential services like healthcare access, job applications and housing, government is doubling down on commitment to improve skills and technology access for all – breaking down barriers to opportunity as part of our Plan for Change.

    Telecoms Minister Sir Chris Bryant said:

    Britain is leading the way when it comes to technological advancements with everyday essentials such as doctor’s appointments and job applications becoming increasingly digital. But to maximise the full potential of technology, we need to bring everyone along with us on this journey.  

    This Charter represents a significant step forward in our mission to bridge the digital divide and create a more sustainable approach to technology. By working together with industry and charity partners, we’re helping more people access the digital tools they need to improve their lives while reducing harmful electronic waste.

    Research also shows that digitally excluded people face higher costs for things like home insurance, train travel and food paying up to 25% more on average than consumers who are online.  

    The charter sets out principles for organisations to adhere to including ensuring devices are securely wiped, professionally refurbished and fit for purpose so they can be provided free of charge to those who need them.

    Ryan, a single father from Essex, struggled without access to a laptop. “Job searching felt impossible,” he said. “I couldn’t keep up and felt like I was falling behind.”

    Through a donation from Vodafone’s Great British Tech Appeal to the National Device Bank, an initiative led by Good Things Foundation, Ryan received a laptop that transformed his prospects. “This laptop isn’t just a piece of equipment – it’s a lifeline,” Ryan shares. Now, he can actively search for jobs, attend online training, and build a better future.

    “I want my kids to see what’s possible with determination and the right support,” Ryan says.

    Helen Milner OBE, CEO of Good Things Foundation, said:

    Alongside the government, Vodafone, Three and Deloitte, Good Things Foundation has developed the IT Reuse for Good Charter, tackling the UK’s digital divide and e-waste crisis head-on. With 1.5 million adults lacking essential devices and 1.45 million tons of e-waste discarded yearly, we’re proud to lead the charge for a more inclusive and sustainable future.  The Charter builds on the success of our National Device Bank and will be a game-changer, unlocking thousands of devices. We have also launched a Playbook to help businesses to navigate IT reuse for good, and bake it into their organisations.

    Richard Houston, Senior Partner and CEO Deloitte UK said:

    Since 2021, we’ve donated 20,000 devices to schools and charities through our network of social impact partners. I’m incredibly proud that we have been able to help thousands of people continue education, find employment, and connect with loved ones through technology. Yet I know there is so much more that can be done. I encourage all organisations, whatever size, to consider the role you can play, and together, we can bridge the digital divide.  

    Rich Marsh, Responsible Business Director at BT Group, said:

    As well as being a leader in sustainability for more than 30 years, at BT we’ve seen first-hand the positive impact that digital inclusion projects are having across the UK – supported by our networks, social tariffs and digital skills programs.  

    We warmly welcome the ‘IT Re-Use for Good’ Charter, which brings these 2 things together and gives a second life to our devices. Now we’re committing to donate even more devices, helping play our part in providing people with the tech they need in today’s digital society.

    Notes to editors

    Signatories must donate their first device within 6 months of signing the charter. Progress will be monitored by self-reporting every 6 months.  

    Digital Inclusion Action Plan documents

    • Digital Inclusion Action Plan
    • Research shows that digitally excluded people face higher costs for things like home insurance, train travel and food paying up to 25% more on average than consumers who are online. Centre for Social Justice – Left Out (2023): How to tackle digital exclusion and reduce the poverty premium (page 5)
    • 1.5 million people in the UK currently lack access to a basic laptop, tablet or smartphone Access: Expert Overview – August 2024, Good Things Foundation

    Paula Coughlan, Chief People, Communications and Sustainability Officer said:

    At Currys, everything we do is to help everyone enjoy amazing technology. Within that, we’re very aware that not everyone can afford or have access to the amazing tech we sell. Through our work to date, it’s clear to see the positive, transformative power of just one digital device for a child or for a family, and how isolating not having access to the digital world really is. That’s why we were founding members of the Digital Poverty Alliance, and why we’re committed to doing everything we can to help make digital poverty a thing of the past. It’s been wonderful to work with Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT) on this important new Charter and we’re proud to be signatories. The more we can do as a society, as businesses, working together with government with solutions to bridge the digital divide, the more likely we are to really make a difference.

    DSIT media enquiries

    Email press@dsit.gov.uk

    Monday to Friday, 8:30am to 6pm 020 7215 3000

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    Published 25 June 2025

    MIL OSI United Kingdom –

    June 25, 2025

  • MIL-OSI USA: ICYMI: In Floor Speech, Warren Slams Trump’s War in Iran, Exposes 10 Ways Big Beautiful Bill Increases Costs

    US Senate News:

    Source: United States Senator for Massachusetts – Elizabeth Warren
    June 24, 2025
    “American families don’t need another war – they need good jobs and lower prices, and that is what we should be focused on.”
    Video of Floor Speech (YouTube)
    Washington, D.C. — In a speech on the floor of the U.S. Senate, Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) underscored the recklessness of President Trump’s decision to bomb Iran and highlighted ten ways Republicans’ ‘Big, Beautiful Bill’ raise costs for American families.  
    “We all agree that Iran should not and cannot have a nuclear weapon…But the only successful strategy for preventing Iran from developing a nuclear weapon is diplomacy, something Trump had been pursuing right up until Netanyahu began bombing Iran,” said Senator Warren.
    “American families don’t need another war – they need good jobs and lower prices, and that is what we should be focused on,” she continued. 
    Senator Warren also called out the hypocrisy of President Trump’s promise to lower costs “on Day 1” while instead he has been working to rip health care away from over 16 million people to pay for tax cuts for the wealthy. She then highlighted ten ways the bill would raise costs for families, from rent to groceries to prescription drug prices. 
    “But what makes the bill worse is that the money you lose doesn’t pay down the national debt or help us rebuild our roads and bridges. The money you lose will be handed directly to a handful of giant corporations and billionaires in the form of new tax giveaways,” said Senator Warren. 
    Senator Warren called for her Republican colleagues to stand up for American families and say no to the dangerous bill. 
    “We still have time to stop it—and that’s exactly what we should do. Democrats will vote NO. We just need a few courageous Republicans, people who care more about working people instead of billionaires, to join us and stop the Big Beautiful Betrayal from passing,” she concluded. 
    Transcript: Floor Speech on Iran, ‘Big, Beautiful Bill’U.S. Senate FloorJune 24, 2025
    As Prepared for Delivery
    Senator Elizabeth Warren: Bombing another country is an act of war.
    And last week, Donald Trump launched an attack that could spin the United States into another endless war in the Middle East. 
    What followed from that decision can only be described as pure madness.
    Trump declared total victory. Iran threatened retaliation. Americans in the region were forced to shelter in place. Trump’s own team admitted no one knows where the nuclear materials are and what nuclear capacity Iran may still have. Trump called for regime change. And then last night, for a moment, we hoped and believed there was a ceasefire, only for us to wake up to frantic posts on social media by the president begging both sides to stop shooting missiles and rockets at each other.
    Today the Deputy commander of Central Command could describe nothing about what kind of contingency plans the Defense Department was making or even whether they did—or didn’t—have plans for U.S. boots on the ground. And the classified briefing scheduled for right now so that all the senators can ask questions about what has happened and what is currently happening in Iran has just been scrapped for another 48 hours. 
    There is no grand plan. There is no careful effort to develop a responsible U.S. foreign policy to keep us all safe. Once again, Trump serves up chaos—dangerous chaos that threatens the long-term security of the American people. 
    New reporting by CNN and the New York Times suggest Donald Trump’s bombing of Iran failed to destroy its nuclear program. The media reports highlight that the strikes only set back Iran’s nuclear program by a few months.
    A few months – while risking another war in the Middle East. 
    We all agree that Iran should not and cannot have a nuclear weapon. We are committed to that. But the only successful strategy for preventing Iran from developing a nuclear weapon is diplomacy, something Trump had been pursuing right up until Netanyahu began bombing Iran. 
    That is what we need right now: for all sides to come to the table to build an agreement that’s sturdy and that cements lasting peace. 
    But Trump’s reckless action, backed by many Republicans in Congress, makes it more likely this crisis escalates into a deadly cycle of violence.
    Trump’s reckless action puts American lives at risk.
    Trump’s reckless action risks initiating another endless war that could last months – or even decades – as it did in Iraq and Afghanistan.
    We have the power to put a stop to this madness now. Senator Kaine has introduced a War Powers Resolution to stop Donald Trump from turning these Iran bombings into another endless war in the Middle East.
    American families don’t need another war – they need good jobs and lower prices, and that is what we should be focused on.
    When Donald Trump ran for President, he promised over and over that he would lower costs “on Day 1.” His words—on Day 1. After he was elected, and he was told that his policies would drive up costs, Trump said he “couldn’t care less.” 
    Now we’re at Day 154, and costs are up. Families are paying more for gas. More for housing. More for electricity. Prices are even going up on baby strollers — or as Donald Trump calls it, “the thing you carry the babies around in.” Yes, Donald Trump, the man of the people. 
    So logically, right now, Republicans in Congress are ramming through Trump’s “Big Beautiful Bill.” A bill that’s not designed to bring down costs, but that will rip health care away from over 16 million people and hand that money over to every billionaire CEO who paid to be in the front row of Trump’s inauguration.
    For anyone who is watching, I’m here today to read into the record ten ways Trump and Republicans’ “Big Beautiful Bill” will make your life more expensive:
    One, your utility bills may go up. The Republicans’ bill will get rid of investments we’ve made in clean energy. We need that energy, and the Republican bill takes our country backwards. It also means that the price of electricity will go up for American families like yours.
    Two, your rent could go up. How? Republicans are trying to block state and local governments from fighting schemes that predatory housing companies use to artificially jack up the price of rent.
    Three, if you’re a kid from a working-class family and don’t have the money to write one check to pay for college, Republicans will make that even more expensive for you. That’s right – Republicans are cutting Pell Grants.
    Four, Republicans are making your student loan payments go up. Independent experts explain that by changing how student loan repayment plans work, Republicans could raise your student loan payments by an average of $400 a month.
    Five, Republicans are making it more expensive to go to medical school. I can’t believe I have to say this, but rich kids shouldn’t be the only people who can become doctors. But this bill would limit how much you can take out in loans to go to medical school.
    Six, Republicans are making the cost of groceries go up. They are cutting food assistance – or SNAP – by nearly $200 per person per year. More than seven million people will have less help, including more than four million people who will lose their food assistance altogether.
    Seven, Republicans are increasing the cost of prescription drugs for millions of Americans. By demanding that states require higher copays for prescription drugs – from $4 to $35 – the cost of a prescription will go up nearly 900% for low-income people on Medicaid.
    Eight, Republicans will send your Affordable Care Act premiums skyrocketing, pushing them up by thousands – and in some cases tens of thousands – of dollars every year. 
    Nine, Republicans’ will drive up the cost of private health insurance. More than half of all Americans get their insurance from their employer. When a portion of the uncompensated care is shifted to private insurers, experts estimate that the costs to your family will increase by hundreds of dollars a year. 
    Ten, Republicans are ripping health insurance away entirely from 16 million people. For those people who will be uninsured, the cost of essential services like X-rays and blood tests will go up. A trip to the emergency room, if God forbid there’s an accident, could mean they go bankrupt.
    That’s just ten ways this bill could raise your costs. That’s bad. But what makes the bill worse is that the money you lose doesn’t pay down the national debt or help us rebuild our roads and bridges. The money you lose will be handed directly to a handful of giant corporations and billionaires in the form of new tax giveaways. Yes, Republicans are stealing your health care to pay for Jeff Bezos’ third yacht.
    And at the same time working families are worried about war and are scraping together enough money to put food on the table, Jeff Bezos is already celebrating by renting out Venice for his ten-million-dollar wedding.
    With control of the White House, the Senate, and the House of Representatives, this is what the Republicans decided to do with their power: drive up your costs and rip health care coverage from millions of people. 
    Really, imagine that: the Republicans have virtually unlimited power, and they want to use it to kick newborn babies out of the hospital and take wheelchairs away from people with disabilities – all so they can give that money to their billionaire friends and corporate donors. 
    It’s sickening. And I am angry.
    I’m angry because I believe that it isn’t just rich kids who should be able to afford a trip to the hospital when they fall down and break an arm.
    Because I believe it isn’t just babies from wealthy families who should be able to see a pediatrician when they get an ear infection.
    Because I believe it isn’t just parents who are Wall Street bankers who should be able to pay for cancer treatment for their kids.
    Our nation is better than that.
    My Republican colleagues should feel ashamed. Experts have run the numbers. Fifty-one thousand more people will die a year – unnecessarily – if the Republican bill becomes law. 
    The Republican reaction? Senator Joni Ernst proclaimed, “well, we’re all going to die.”
    And as recently as today, Senator Mitch McConnell is telling Republicans behind closed doors that their party can take a sledgehammer to Medicaid and ignore people’s concerns because quote “they’ll get over it.”
    Really?
    Seniors in nursing homes who get kicked to the curb won’t “get over it.”
    Little kids who find their mom or dad on the kitchen floor after they couldn’t afford insulin won’t “get over it.”
    Parents who rely on Medicaid to take care of their kid with a disability won’t “get over it.”
    Because make no mistake: people won’t stop getting sick—they’ll just stop getting care. And it doesn’t matter if you’re in a red state or blue state, either. 
    And no, if Senate Republicans cut Medicaid, we will not get over it. We will hold you accountable at the ballot box. 
    But this bill isn’t law. We still have time to stop it—and that’s exactly what we should do. Democrats will vote NO. We just need a few courageous Republicans, people who care more about working people instead of billionaires, to join us and stop the Big Beautiful Betrayal from passing.

    MIL OSI USA News –

    June 25, 2025

  • MIL-OSI USA: After Pressure From Social Security War Room, SSA Confirms Has Not Recategorized Employees as “Schedule F”

    US Senate News:

    Source: United States Senator for Massachusetts – Elizabeth Warren

    June 24, 2025

    Warren underscores concerns with potential reclassification of Social Security workers to on strip civil service protections, pave way for mass firings

    Text of SSA Response (PDF) | Text of Letter (PDF)

    Washington, D.C. – In a response to a recent letter from U.S. Senators Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), and Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.), Commissioner of the Social Security Administration (SSA) Frank Bisignano confirmed that SSA has not yet reclassified any frontline SSA workers as Schedule F policy-making employees. The confirmation follows pressure from the lawmakers, who sounded the alarm on SSA’s plans to recategorize critical employees, stripping them of their civil service protections and making it easier to fire them without cause.

    “Donald Trump’s plan to reclassify Social Security staff was always about laying the groundwork to fire frontline workers without reason and replace them with DOGE lackeys — ultimately making it harder for Americans to access their services and benefits,” said Senator Warren. “We’ve kept up the pressure to make sure Trump and Bisignano don’t move forward with this reckless plan, and we’ll keep sounding the alarm.”

    Shortly after Commissioner Bisignano was sworn in, the lawmakers pressed him on reported plans to recategorize thousands of Social Security workers as Schedule F policy-making employees. 

    The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) proposed “Schedule F” as a new category of government employees that have “important policy-determining, policy-making, policy-advocating, or confidential duties.” Schedule F workers are employed at-will, meaning they can be fired at any point and do not have the same rights that protect federal government employees from termination absent “misconduct, neglect of duty, (and) malfeasance.” Additionally, it is not clear that Schedule F employees are included in collective bargaining units or eligible for union representation.

    “SSA’s broad reclassification of employees under seemingly false pretenses appears to be a deliberate effort to allow DOGE to purge SSA of the employees who work dutifully to make sure Americans receive their earned benefits,” wrote the lawmakers.

    Senate Dems’ Social Security War Room is a coordinated effort to fight back against the Trump administration’s attack on Americans’ Social Security. The War Room coordinates messaging across the Senate Democratic Caucus and external stakeholders; encourages grassroots engagement by providing opportunities for Americans to share what Social Security means to them; and educates Senate staff, the American public, and stakeholders about Republicans’ agenda and their continued cuts to Americans’ Social Security services and benefits.

    MIL OSI USA News –

    June 25, 2025

  • MIL-OSI USA: After Pressure From Social Security War Room, SSA Confirms Has Not Recategorized Employees as “Schedule F”

    US Senate News:

    Source: United States Senator for Massachusetts – Elizabeth Warren

    June 24, 2025

    Warren underscores concerns with potential reclassification of Social Security workers to on strip civil service protections, pave way for mass firings

    Text of SSA Response (PDF) | Text of Letter (PDF)

    Washington, D.C. – In a response to a recent letter from U.S. Senators Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), and Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.), Commissioner of the Social Security Administration (SSA) Frank Bisignano confirmed that SSA has not yet reclassified any frontline SSA workers as Schedule F policy-making employees. The confirmation follows pressure from the lawmakers, who sounded the alarm on SSA’s plans to recategorize critical employees, stripping them of their civil service protections and making it easier to fire them without cause.

    “Donald Trump’s plan to reclassify Social Security staff was always about laying the groundwork to fire frontline workers without reason and replace them with DOGE lackeys — ultimately making it harder for Americans to access their services and benefits,” said Senator Warren. “We’ve kept up the pressure to make sure Trump and Bisignano don’t move forward with this reckless plan, and we’ll keep sounding the alarm.”

    Shortly after Commissioner Bisignano was sworn in, the lawmakers pressed him on reported plans to recategorize thousands of Social Security workers as Schedule F policy-making employees. 

    The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) proposed “Schedule F” as a new category of government employees that have “important policy-determining, policy-making, policy-advocating, or confidential duties.” Schedule F workers are employed at-will, meaning they can be fired at any point and do not have the same rights that protect federal government employees from termination absent “misconduct, neglect of duty, (and) malfeasance.” Additionally, it is not clear that Schedule F employees are included in collective bargaining units or eligible for union representation.

    “SSA’s broad reclassification of employees under seemingly false pretenses appears to be a deliberate effort to allow DOGE to purge SSA of the employees who work dutifully to make sure Americans receive their earned benefits,” wrote the lawmakers.

    Senate Dems’ Social Security War Room is a coordinated effort to fight back against the Trump administration’s attack on Americans’ Social Security. The War Room coordinates messaging across the Senate Democratic Caucus and external stakeholders; encourages grassroots engagement by providing opportunities for Americans to share what Social Security means to them; and educates Senate staff, the American public, and stakeholders about Republicans’ agenda and their continued cuts to Americans’ Social Security services and benefits.

    MIL OSI USA News –

    June 25, 2025

  • MIL-OSI USA: Kaine, Colleagues Highlight Trump Administration Hypocrisy on National Debt While It Guts IRS, Pushes Giant Tax Cuts for Billionaires

    US Senate News:

    Source: United States Senator for Virginia Tim Kaine

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — U.S. Senators Tim Kaine (D-VA), Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), Angus King (I-ME), and Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) sent a letter to Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Internal Revenue Service (IRS) Commissioner Billy Long regarding the hypocrisy of their claims that they want to cut the deficit while simultaneously slashing the IRS workforce and cutting taxes for the ultra-wealthy. 

    In June last year, Secretary Bessent said he was “alarmed by the size of [the government’s] deficit,” and publicly championed a plan to cut the annual deficit from 6.4 percent of GDP to three percent. In an interview in April, Deputy Treasury Secretary Faulkender reiterated that the Administration’s intent is to “bring the deficit down.” When pressed by senators in written questions, Secretary Bessent affirmed his commitment to lowering the deficit to three percent of GDP by the end of President Trump’s term.

    However, according to the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office, an extension of the 2017 Republican tax bill, also known as the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, would add $52 trillion to the national debt over the next 30 years, adding more debt to the nation’s balance sheet in three decades than ever before.

    Additionally, earlier this year, the Trump administration began reductions in force at the IRS, including a plan to reduce IRS employee headcount by 40 percent. Tens of thousands of workers have left the agency since President Trump’s inauguration. The IRS division that audits billionaires and the ultra-wealthy has already lost 38 percent of its employees and had its funding rescinded by President Trump and Congressional Republicans. Even before these massive layoffs, IRS audits were already at a 23-year low.

    Treasury Secretary Bessent last week took a victory lap, touting increased IRS revenue in the most recent filing season — but planned mass layoffs at the IRS did not go into effect until after the post-filing season, meaning the impacts of significant Trump Admin staffing cuts are not reflected in revenue for the 2025 season. The planned layoffs, spearheaded by Bessent, will kneecap the agency’s ability to do its basic job. If IRS staffing levels are nearly halved, as the Administration has promised, these cuts could drive up the deficit and lead to $2.4 trillion in lost revenue over the next decade.

    “Further cutting IRS staff means less staff to monitor wealthy tax cheats and collect the tax revenue that will help offset our budget deficit,” wrote the lawmakers. 

    Continued layoffs will also significantly damage the agency’s customer service capacity. When reductions in force began at the IRS this spring, personnel essential to the tax filing season operations were required to continue working until mid-May, which limited the impact of staffing losses on tax revenue for the 2025 season. But the continuing layoffs at the IRS will kneecap the agency’s ability to do its basic job. 

    “These actions are inconsistent with your public commitments to meaningfully reduce the federal deficit and will undo the improvements made to the IRS’s taxpayer services,” the lawmakers concluded. 

    The senators requested an explanation for the administration’s cuts to the IRS and the agency’s plans to retain adequate levels of customer service by June 30, 2025. 

    A copy of the letter is available here.  

    MIL OSI USA News –

    June 25, 2025

  • MIL-OSI USA: Kaine, Colleagues Highlight Trump Administration Hypocrisy on National Debt While It Guts IRS, Pushes Giant Tax Cuts for Billionaires

    US Senate News:

    Source: United States Senator for Virginia Tim Kaine

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — U.S. Senators Tim Kaine (D-VA), Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), Angus King (I-ME), and Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) sent a letter to Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Internal Revenue Service (IRS) Commissioner Billy Long regarding the hypocrisy of their claims that they want to cut the deficit while simultaneously slashing the IRS workforce and cutting taxes for the ultra-wealthy. 

    In June last year, Secretary Bessent said he was “alarmed by the size of [the government’s] deficit,” and publicly championed a plan to cut the annual deficit from 6.4 percent of GDP to three percent. In an interview in April, Deputy Treasury Secretary Faulkender reiterated that the Administration’s intent is to “bring the deficit down.” When pressed by senators in written questions, Secretary Bessent affirmed his commitment to lowering the deficit to three percent of GDP by the end of President Trump’s term.

    However, according to the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office, an extension of the 2017 Republican tax bill, also known as the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, would add $52 trillion to the national debt over the next 30 years, adding more debt to the nation’s balance sheet in three decades than ever before.

    Additionally, earlier this year, the Trump administration began reductions in force at the IRS, including a plan to reduce IRS employee headcount by 40 percent. Tens of thousands of workers have left the agency since President Trump’s inauguration. The IRS division that audits billionaires and the ultra-wealthy has already lost 38 percent of its employees and had its funding rescinded by President Trump and Congressional Republicans. Even before these massive layoffs, IRS audits were already at a 23-year low.

    Treasury Secretary Bessent last week took a victory lap, touting increased IRS revenue in the most recent filing season — but planned mass layoffs at the IRS did not go into effect until after the post-filing season, meaning the impacts of significant Trump Admin staffing cuts are not reflected in revenue for the 2025 season. The planned layoffs, spearheaded by Bessent, will kneecap the agency’s ability to do its basic job. If IRS staffing levels are nearly halved, as the Administration has promised, these cuts could drive up the deficit and lead to $2.4 trillion in lost revenue over the next decade.

    “Further cutting IRS staff means less staff to monitor wealthy tax cheats and collect the tax revenue that will help offset our budget deficit,” wrote the lawmakers. 

    Continued layoffs will also significantly damage the agency’s customer service capacity. When reductions in force began at the IRS this spring, personnel essential to the tax filing season operations were required to continue working until mid-May, which limited the impact of staffing losses on tax revenue for the 2025 season. But the continuing layoffs at the IRS will kneecap the agency’s ability to do its basic job. 

    “These actions are inconsistent with your public commitments to meaningfully reduce the federal deficit and will undo the improvements made to the IRS’s taxpayer services,” the lawmakers concluded. 

    The senators requested an explanation for the administration’s cuts to the IRS and the agency’s plans to retain adequate levels of customer service by June 30, 2025. 

    A copy of the letter is available here.  

    MIL OSI USA News –

    June 25, 2025

  • MIL-OSI USA: Kaine, Colleagues Highlight Trump Administration Hypocrisy on National Debt While It Guts IRS, Pushes Giant Tax Cuts for Billionaires

    US Senate News:

    Source: United States Senator for Virginia Tim Kaine
    WASHINGTON, D.C. — U.S. Senators Tim Kaine (D-VA), Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), Angus King (I-ME), and Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) sent a letter to Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Internal Revenue Service (IRS) Commissioner Billy Long regarding the hypocrisy of their claims that they want to cut the deficit while simultaneously slashing the IRS workforce and cutting taxes for the ultra-wealthy. 
    In June last year, Secretary Bessent said he was “alarmed by the size of [the government’s] deficit,” and publicly championed a plan to cut the annual deficit from 6.4 percent of GDP to three percent. In an interview in April, Deputy Treasury Secretary Faulkender reiterated that the Administration’s intent is to “bring the deficit down.” When pressed by senators in written questions, Secretary Bessent affirmed his commitment to lowering the deficit to three percent of GDP by the end of President Trump’s term.
    However, according to the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office, an extension of the 2017 Republican tax bill, also known as the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, would add $52 trillion to the national debt over the next 30 years, adding more debt to the nation’s balance sheet in three decades than ever before.
    Additionally, earlier this year, the Trump administration began reductions in force at the IRS, including a plan to reduce IRS employee headcount by 40 percent. Tens of thousands of workers have left the agency since President Trump’s inauguration. The IRS division that audits billionaires and the ultra-wealthy has already lost 38 percent of its employees and had its funding rescinded by President Trump and Congressional Republicans. Even before these massive layoffs, IRS audits were already at a 23-year low.
    Treasury Secretary Bessent last week took a victory lap, touting increased IRS revenue in the most recent filing season — but planned mass layoffs at the IRS did not go into effect until after the post-filing season, meaning the impacts of significant Trump Admin staffing cuts are not reflected in revenue for the 2025 season. The planned layoffs, spearheaded by Bessent, will kneecap the agency’s ability to do its basic job. If IRS staffing levels are nearly halved, as the Administration has promised, these cuts could drive up the deficit and lead to $2.4 trillion in lost revenue over the next decade.
    “Further cutting IRS staff means less staff to monitor wealthy tax cheats and collect the tax revenue that will help offset our budget deficit,” wrote the lawmakers. 
    Continued layoffs will also significantly damage the agency’s customer service capacity. When reductions in force began at the IRS this spring, personnel essential to the tax filing season operations were required to continue working until mid-May, which limited the impact of staffing losses on tax revenue for the 2025 season. But the continuing layoffs at the IRS will kneecap the agency’s ability to do its basic job. 
    “These actions are inconsistent with your public commitments to meaningfully reduce the federal deficit and will undo the improvements made to the IRS’s taxpayer services,” the lawmakers concluded. 
    The senators requested an explanation for the administration’s cuts to the IRS and the agency’s plans to retain adequate levels of customer service by June 30, 2025. 
    A copy of the letter is available here.  

    MIL OSI USA News –

    June 25, 2025

  • MIL-OSI United Kingdom: expert reaction to study looking at global childhood vaccination coverage

    Source: United Kingdom – Executive Government & Departments

    June 24, 2025

    A study published in the Lancet looks at global trends in routine childhood vaccination coverage.

    Dr Simon Clarke, Associate Professor in Cellular Microbiology, and Head of Division of Biomedical Sciences & Biomedical Engineering, University of Reading, said:

    “These figures indicate a worrying level of children in the UK who are completely unvaccinated against childhood diseases.  While the comparative data do not show the specific causes of this rising trend over recent decades, the WHO and others are right to highlight it as a worrying trend.

    “This is a very large assessment of multiple and large data sources, combined with models which are used to provide consistency between the data and provide forecasts into the future.  Such methodology provides both a clear overview of the past trajectories of immunisation rates along with an effective range of possible scenarios for the future, which appears to be robust and based on sound data.  The authors are clear about the limitations of their study but these do not detract from the overall message.

    “The current move away from funding global health schemes through international aid in order to spend more on defence puts the whole world at greater risk of future epidemics and pandemics.  Our security against this in the UK is improved by supporting efforts to not let dangerous diseases take hold in populations elsewhere in the world.  Our experience of Covid reminds us that lethal human diseases can be very hard to contain on the other side of international borders.”

    Dr David Elliman, Honorary Senior Associate Professor, UCL, said:

    “Vaccination is one of the most cost-effective ways that the health service can improve the lives of children around the world. It is a great success story with more vaccines being introduced all the time.  Not only does vaccination save lives, but it often saves money. However, in the last ten to twenty years, many countries, worldwide, have seen a reduction in the proportion of children receiving all the available vaccines. This article by a large group of researchers has documented the decline.  It may be difficult to measure uptake of vaccination accurately, but the researchers have allowed for this.  It is clear that the decline in uptake is happening around the world.  This has resulted in outbreaks of disease, for examples measles and whooping cough in USA and Europe (including UK) as well as in resource poor countries.  These diseases can and do kill children.  While part of the fall in vaccination is related to COVID, the trend was clear before then.

    “Declining vaccination rates are often blamed on misinformation, but there are many reasons, of which this is only one. Access to vaccines is often overlooked or underestimated as a factor, even in the UK.  Around the world, the increasing number of countries torn apart by civil unrest and wars, combined with the drastic cuts in foreign aid from rich nations, such as USA and UK, makes it difficult to get vaccines to many populations.  With the political changes in USA where it appears that policy is being made on the basis of ill-informed opinion, rather than science, we have a perfect storm. The researchers’ recommendations to strengthen primary health-care systems, address vaccine misinformation and hesitancy, and adapt to local contexts can, and should, be applied to all countries, including the UK.  In addition we should ensure that vaccines are available to all.

    “It is in everyone’s interest that this situation is rectified.  Not only is it a moral imperative to improve the health of ALL children, wherever possible, but as was said during the COVID pandemic, no-one is safe, until everyone is safe. While vaccine-preventable infectious diseases, occur anywhere in the world, we are all at risk. Universal vaccination is a perfect example of ‘enlightened self interest’.”

    Prof Sir Andrew Pollard FRCPCH FMedSci FRS, Director of the Oxford Vaccine Group, and Ashall Professor of Infection and Immunity, Pandemic Sciences Institute, University of Oxford, said:

    “The study uses an established approach to track the global burden of disease and immunisation coverage and the authors have tried hard to get the most accurate data by using multiple sources and account for regional variation and inequalities. These types of study will always be limited by the lack of high quality national data from most countries in the world which means there has to be extrapolation and assumption.  Nevertheless these are important data providing a concerning picture of recent declines in vaccine coverage and an increase in the number of zero dose children which risks the future health and lives of millions of children.

    “Incredible progress has been made in the past 50 years since the global expanded programme of immunisation was launched 50 years ago and over 150 million lives, mostly children, have been saved by the programme. The story is the same here in the UK with the launch of our own national programme by JCVI 62 years ago: deaths from infectious diseases of childhood have plummeted here too. The rarity of childhood severe disease and death from infection risks that we become complacent. But the danger remains out there: all of the diseases for which vaccines can protect children remain at large, only kept at bay by the shield which is provided by immunuisation. Unvaccinated children are vulnerable to a wide range of awful life-threatening bacteria and viruses, just as was the case for our population in the first half of the 20th century. There is a worrying trend of falling vaccine coverage worldwide which has been manifest in the last year as the outbreaks in Europe and North America of measles and whooping cough, with measles deaths in Texas in 2025. Falling global vaccine coverage, an increase in the numbers of children receiving no vaccines, and delays in vaccination mean that more children will be hospitalised, permanently damaged and die from fully preventable diseases if the trend is not reversed. Alas, the cuts in global health funding mean that this situation is set to deteriorate. This is a big concern for the future of our health and global health security.”

    Dr Ed Parker, Assistant Professor and Co-Director of the Vaccine Centre, London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine (LSHTM), said:

    “This is a timely study that attempts to quantify global trends in childhood vaccine coverage since 1980.  The findings highlight the remarkable progress that has been made to deliver life-saving vaccines across the globe, while painting a clear picture of the challenges faced following disrupted vaccination during the COVID-19 pandemic and the stagnation in vaccination rates that preceded it.

    “Underpinning the work is an immense data curation effort, drawing together data from household surveys, national coverage reports, and various other sources from across the globe. The study team estimated coverage trends with careful consideration of the biases, gaps, and inconsistencies that are inherent in these data, providing strong foundations for the study’s conclusions.

    “A key uncertainty – acknowledged by the authors – is that it is too early to know what effect proposed funding cuts might have on vaccination programmes globally. The recent resurgence of measles, polio, and diphtheria – all preventable by vaccination – serves as a reminder of what is at stake if high and equitable vaccine coverage is not sustained.”

    Prof Helen Bedford, Professor of Children’s Health, UCL, said:

    “It is often said that, after clean water, vaccination is the most effective intervention for protecting the health of our children. While it can be challenging in many settings to measure vaccine uptake accurately, the researchers publishing the latest data from the World Health Organization have made allowance for this and it provides powerful evidence. It is estimated that vaccination has prevented an estimated 154 million deaths, mostly in the under-fives, across the globe in the last 50 years. However, we cannot rest on our laurels; this progress is stalling in many countries including the UK. In UK, although vaccination is the norm, with the overwhelming majority of parents vaccinating their babies, infants and children without hesitation, there has been a small but gradual decline in the number of parents doing so each year over the past 12 years with increasing inequity in uptake between social groups. This has resulted in recent outbreaks of disease with the largest number of confirmed cases of measles since the 1990s and the tragic deaths of eleven babies from whooping cough in 2024.

    “The reasons for declining vaccine uptake are numerous and complex but require commitment and resource to meet the challenges of increasing social inequity, readily available mis-information about vaccine safety and necessity and improving public confidence in vaccination programmes. Vaccination remains one of our most powerful tools for protecting child health, but its continued success depends on sustained investment, equity, and public trust.”

    ‘Global, regional, and national trends in routine childhood vaccination coverage from 1980 to 2023 with forecasts to 2030: a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2023’ by GBD 2023 Vaccine Coverage Collaborators was published in the Lancet at 23:30 UK time on Tuesday 24 June 2025. 

    DOI: 10.1016/S0140-6736(25)01037-2

    Declared interests

    Dr Simon Clarke: “No conflicts of interest.”

    Dr David Elliman: “No conflicts of interest.”

    Prof Sir Andrew Pollard: “Professor Pollard is chair of JCVI which provides independent scientific advice on vaccines to DHSC.  The comment above is given in a personal capacity.”

    Dr Ed Parker: “No COIs to declare.”

    Prof Helen Bedford: “No conflicts.”

    MIL OSI United Kingdom –

    June 25, 2025

  • MIL-OSI USA: Nadler Statement on Dobbs Anniversary

    Source: United States House of Representatives – Congressman Jerrold Nadler (10th District of New York)

    WASHINGTON, DC – Today, Congressman Jerrold Nadler (NY-12) issued the following statement on the third anniversary of the Supreme Court’s decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, which overturned Roe v. Wade and eliminated the constitutional right to abortion:

    “Three years ago today, six Justices on the Supreme Court issued a decision that overturned nearly half a century of settled law and ripped away a constitutional right that millions of Americans had relied on: the right to access abortion care.

    The consequences have been devastating. In the wake of Dobbs, 22 states have enacted bans or severe restrictions on abortion, resulting in deeply troubling violations of individual rights and medical ethics. In Georgia, for example, a woman who had been declared brain dead while pregnant was kept on life support for months against her family’s wishes, not because of medical necessity, but because of the state’s abortion law.

    These harms are not incidental. They are the predictable result of the Republican Party’s coordinated campaign to roll back reproductive freedom. President Trump, who appointed the justices responsible for the Dobbs decision, has since taken additional steps to undermine access to care. He has pardoned individuals convicted of violence against abortion providers, withheld federal funding from reproductive health care providers, and rescinded guidance that ensured pregnant patients could receive emergency medical care. Trump is also targeting mifepristone, a safe and effective abortion medication used in more than half of all abortions nationwide, by seeking to restrict access even in states where abortion remains legal.

    Congressional Republicans are following his lead. House Republicans’ recently passed a dangerous reconciliation bill that would kick 16 million people off of their health coverage by slashing Medicaid. Medicaid allows millions of Americans to access birth control, family planning services, prenatal care, and other essential services. The same bill would also defund Planned Parenthood, which provides routine care to millions of patients each year.

    The American people overwhelmingly support the right to make personal health care decisions without political interference. Yet Republican leaders continue to pursue a national abortion ban, regardless of the consequences for women, families, and our most basic freedoms.

    I remain firmly committed to restoring the protections once guaranteed by Roe, to defending reproductive rights, and to ensuring that every individual, no matter where they live, can make their own health care decisions free from government intrusion.”

    ###

    MIL OSI USA News –

    June 25, 2025

  • MIL-OSI Australia: More than $7,000 cut in child care costs as cheaper child care delivers cost of living relief

    Source: Murray Darling Basin Authority

    Two years in, more than 1 million Australian families have benefited from the Albanese Government’s Cheaper Child Care, delivering real cost of living relief to household budgets.

    For a family earning $168,000, with one child in care 30 hours a week, Cheaper Child Care has cut out of pocket costs by around $7,440 than they otherwise would be.

    This is good for children, good for families, and good for Australia.

    Since the 2022 election there are 1,200 more early education services, around 95,000 more children in early education and around 48,000 more early childhood workers, but there is more work to do. 

    The Albanese Labor Government is rolling out a 15 per cent pay rise to early educators and capping fee increases for families.

    The Government will also implement the 3 Day Guarantee which will replace the current Activity Test from January 2026 with guaranteed 3 days a week of access to the Child Care Subsidy.

    Eligible families earning between $50,000 and $100,000 are expected to save on average $1,460 per year under the 3 Day Guarantee.

    Under the 3 Day Guarantee, more than 100,000 families will be entitled to more hours of subsidised education and care.

    The Government will also roll out the $1 billion Building Early Education Fund, which will boost access to early education and care in areas of need, including in the outer suburbs and regional Australia.

    This builds on the new, mandatory child safety measures to strengthen child safety in early childhood education and care services.

    Quotes attributable to Minister for Education Jason Clare:

    “We have made child care cheaper for more than 1 million families. 

    “We are delivering a 15 per cent pay rise to build the early education workforce. 

    “And next year we will roll out the 3 Day Guarantee to give more families access to the Child Care Subsidy.  

    “This is a key part of our plans to build a universal early education system.” 
     
    Quotes attributable to Minister for Early Childhood Education Dr Jess Walsh:

    “We are delivering more affordable early education and care so that children and families can benefit.

    “Easing the family budget is one of the key parts of our reforms to create affordable, accessible and quality early learning.

    “The 3 Day Guarantee will provide at least three days of subsidies for early education for families eligible for the Child Care Subsidy, that would otherwise be locked out.”
     

    MIL OSI News –

    June 25, 2025

  • MIL-OSI Security: PHOTO RELEASE: Secretary Kristi Noem Observes Repatriation Flight of Criminal Illegal Aliens in Panama

    Source: US Department of Homeland Security

    Removing illegal aliens from Panama saves U.S. taxpayer dollars and helps stop the flow of illegal aliens to the U.S.

    PANAMA – Today, Secretary Noem observed a repatriation flight of illegal aliens from Panama and Colombia. Deportees included aliens convicted of drug trafficking, sex crimes and aggravated robbery. 

    This deportation program creates drastic savings for U.S. taxpayers— costing about half as much in U.S. taxpayer dollars to remove an illegal alien from Panama compared to the removal process from the U.S. 

    Secretary Noem extended a memorandum of understanding between the U.S. and Panama, originally signed on July 1, 2024. This extension allows continued U.S. funding—including an additional $7 million commitment—for the Panamanian government’s deportation flights and supports Panama’s efforts to curb illegal immigration across the continent, including southbound migration from the United States. Under this understanding, 2,044 migrants without legal grounds to remain in Panama were deported to 23 countries between August 2024 and June 2025. 

    This partnership underscores the importance of our partner countries to help keep violent criminal illegal aliens from entering the U.S. 

    The agreement, along with President Trump’s strong leadership, has contributed to the closure of the Darién region to illegal migratory flows into Panama en route to the United States. Under President Trump, migration through Panama’s Darien Gap, a dangerous pathway illegal aliens use to get to the U.S. southern border, is down 99%.

    Secretary Noem observed a repatriation flight of illegal aliens from Panama and Colombia 

    These flights send a clear message to the world: If you come to either the U.S. or Panama illegally, you will be caught, arrested, and removed 

    This partnership underscores the importance of our partner countries to help remove violent criminal illegal aliens from the U.S. and save U.S. taxpayer dollars 

    Secretary Noem met with Panamanian President Mulino and other government officials where they discussed ways the U.S. and Panama can continue our partnership to halt illegal immigration 

    ###

    MIL Security OSI –

    June 25, 2025

  • MIL-OSI Security: PHOTO RELEASE: Secretary Kristi Noem Observes Repatriation Flight of Criminal Illegal Aliens in Panama

    Source: US Department of Homeland Security

    Removing illegal aliens from Panama saves U.S. taxpayer dollars and helps stop the flow of illegal aliens to the U.S.

    PANAMA – Today, Secretary Noem observed a repatriation flight of illegal aliens from Panama and Colombia. Deportees included aliens convicted of drug trafficking, sex crimes and aggravated robbery. 

    This deportation program creates drastic savings for U.S. taxpayers— costing about half as much in U.S. taxpayer dollars to remove an illegal alien from Panama compared to the removal process from the U.S. 

    Secretary Noem extended a memorandum of understanding between the U.S. and Panama, originally signed on July 1, 2024. This extension allows continued U.S. funding—including an additional $7 million commitment—for the Panamanian government’s deportation flights and supports Panama’s efforts to curb illegal immigration across the continent, including southbound migration from the United States. Under this understanding, 2,044 migrants without legal grounds to remain in Panama were deported to 23 countries between August 2024 and June 2025. 

    This partnership underscores the importance of our partner countries to help keep violent criminal illegal aliens from entering the U.S. 

    The agreement, along with President Trump’s strong leadership, has contributed to the closure of the Darién region to illegal migratory flows into Panama en route to the United States. Under President Trump, migration through Panama’s Darien Gap, a dangerous pathway illegal aliens use to get to the U.S. southern border, is down 99%.

    Secretary Noem observed a repatriation flight of illegal aliens from Panama and Colombia 

    These flights send a clear message to the world: If you come to either the U.S. or Panama illegally, you will be caught, arrested, and removed 

    This partnership underscores the importance of our partner countries to help remove violent criminal illegal aliens from the U.S. and save U.S. taxpayer dollars 

    Secretary Noem met with Panamanian President Mulino and other government officials where they discussed ways the U.S. and Panama can continue our partnership to halt illegal immigration 

    ###

    MIL Security OSI –

    June 25, 2025

  • MIL-OSI USA: McConnell on American Leadership; Standing with Israel and Ukraine

    US Senate News:

    Source: United States Senator for Kentucky Mitch McConnell

    Washington, D.C. – U.S. Senator Mitch McConnell (R-KY), Chairman of the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Defense, delivered remarks on the Senate floor today regarding U.S. national security interests in standing with Israel, supporting Ukraine, and investing sufficiently in our own defense. Prepared text of his speech follows:

    “When Iran’s proxies launched a full-scale war on Israel on October 7th, 2023, President Biden pledged an ‘unwavering commitment to Israel’s security’. This was the right message in the moment. But as I warned publicly at the time, Israel needed more than rhetorical solidarity.

    “Like Ukraine, Israel needed precious time, space to maneuver, and material support to defeat a shared enemy. And yet, as in Ukraine, America’s commitment has indeed wavered. Our support has not been ironclad.

    “Instead, under the previous Administration, American support was delayed, restricted, and paired with attempts to micromanage Israeli operations and even interfere with Israeli politics. And at every turn, the progressive left and isolationist right hyperventilated about the specter of so-called forever war.

    “Fortunately, Israel held its ground. Israelis weren’t enthused about a ground war in Gaza. Their leaders knew that war would be difficult. But they knew it was unavoidable so long as Hamas terrorists still refused to release its hostages. They also knew lasting security meant changing Iran’s calculus…Not just responding to attacks from its proxies. So Israel decided to turn Iran’s terrorist assets into liabilities.

    “Despite the pearl-clutching here in Washington, our ally simultaneously decapitated Hizballah and crippled Hamas. Their bold operations created a new opportunity for Lebanon to claw back its sovereignty from a terrorist state within a state.

    “Meanwhile, the collapse of the brutal Assad regime in Syria brought down a Russian vassal and Iran’s favorite corridor of weapons and terrorist finance. These are the circumstances President Trump inherited. What to do with them has been the subject of some debate. Some of his advisors and supporters came with Obama-Biden-era talking points, ready to urge him to continue his predecessor’s policy of constraining Israel. Some had argued publicly that America had no vital or existential interests in the Middle East or claimed the region was a distraction from other priorities. They warned of forever war. Some seemed to push for nuclear negotiations with parameters eerily similar to the nuclear deal he withdrew from during his first term. They even proposed Iran could keep enriching uranium, until the President rightly quashed that idea.

    “These mixed messages emboldened Iran and its proxies. After all, why give up if Administration officials saw the Middle East as little more than a distraction?…or if they seem as fearful of restoring deterrence as the previous guys? So Hamas kept holding hostages. The Houthis kept targeting Israel and Red Sea commerce. And the Islamic Republic kept marching toward a nuclear weapon. And in response, Israel took the next logical step to restore deterrence.

    “Once again, innovative and decisive strikes destroyed Iran’s air defenses and imposed immediate costs on Tehran. And leaders from across Israel’s politics stood united behind the daring operations. But here in America, the same restrainers, anti-Israel progressives, and self-proclaimed realists warned again of regional conflagration if the President intervened alongside – or even supported – Israel’s strikes.

    “The President’s own Director of National Intelligence traveled to Hiroshima to record a bizarre video message – not as a warning against Tehran’s nuclear ambitions but, presumably, against American or Israeli operations to blunt them.

    “Fortunately, the President rejected the pleas of appeasers and isolationists. The strikes he ordered dealt a massive blow to Iran’s nuclear program, bolstered American credibility, and strengthened U.S. and Israeli leverage to end Iran’s pursuit of nuclear weapons and its support for terrorism for good.

    “Thanks to Israel’s heroic efforts for more than a year and a half, Iran’s ability to threaten regional stability is massively degraded. Not since before the Islamic revolution has there been such an opportunity for America, Israel, and our Arab partners to reset regional dynamics on such favorable terms. Achieving it has required no large-scale deployment of U.S. ground forces. It required only supporting our friends. Israel is a close ally and a strategic asset. Not a liability. And the strategic return on our investment in assisting Israel is incalculable.

    “Standing with our Israeli friends offers a powerful lesson about American leadership, the value of alliances and partnerships, and the real nature of peace through strength. And this lesson extends far beyond the Middle East. If America refuses to apply it elsewhere – like Ukraine – we do so at grave risk to our own interests. But that’s exactly what some in Washington seem to be doing. Congress recently learned that a senior DoD official conducted a review of DoD security assistance efforts and concluded that the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative (USAI), among other programs, was wasteful. This is a Republican Administration panning a program created by a Republican Congress in 2015 to counter President Obama’s toothless response to Russia’s initial invasion of Ukraine. I’d like to see the analysis behind the Administration’s decision to zero out USAI in its FY26 request. I’d like to hear them try to explain away the massive return on investment of America’s security assistance to Ukraine and the precious lessons we’ve learned from our Ukrainian partners.

    “The Secretary of the Army has rightly called Ukraine ‘the Silicon Valley of warfare’. Do his colleagues at the Pentagon think this assessment is wrong, or do they just not think access to the cutting edge of modern combat is valuable? Here’s the truth: USAI and other security assistance efforts have helped us measurably address shortcomings in strategy, capabilities, and production capacity that would have gone ignored until it was too late.

    “It’s an inconvenient reality for isolationists and restrainers, but – for a tiny percent of our defense budget – we helped a smaller military resist invasion by a vastly larger one and degrade a major U.S. adversary.

    “As with Israel, Ukraine is fighting an adversary of the United States. Our support does not entangle us in a far-off foreign conflict. For Russia, Iran, China, and North Korea, America is the main enemy – the great Satan. If these adversaries beat our friends, the threat to America become a thousand times greater. We should be grateful for friends so willing to defend our collective interests against common foes.

    “Partnership with Ukraine is teaching us what modern warfare could mean for U.S. forces when they do face direct conflict. It has tested our assumptions about munitions inventories, expenditure rates, electronic warfare, and the duration of conflict. Without Ukraine’s experience with U.S. weapons, we would have been surprised to find some advanced systems quickly rendered inoperable on future battlefields.

    “The money we invest in USAI on weapons for Ukraine expands our own production capacity in the process and will improve the quality of our own munitions. Supplemental appropriations on Ukraine and Israel, in turn, backfill our own stocks with brand-new capabilities – not just 155mm rounds, but air defenses and long-range fires, with specific investment in solid rocket motors. These investments help us prepare for conflict in the Indo-Pacific. And production would be slower in the absence of our partnership with Ukraine. Not doing more to address our growing defense needs isn’t a failure of foresight. It’s a failure of political will. Everyone wants to see an end to Russia’s war in Ukraine. But the price of peace matters. If we want enduring stability in Europe, we can’t fall for an illusory peace.

    “We should know enough history not to dismiss this as merely ‘a quarrel in a faraway country, between two people of whom we know nothing’. It’s a major war of conquest in Europe…The most significant since the days of Nazi Germany…And allies and adversaries half a world away are watching it closely for clues about America’s resolve. Certainly, Europe’s deepening commitments to collective defense will make real peace more enforceable. The President’s insistence has driven much of this progress; Putin’s brutality has reinforced it.

    “Since 2022, our European NATO allies have made historic investments in defense – often buying American. And many are preparing to make even larger commitments at this week’s NATO Summit. This is good news. But we can’t expect allies to continue signing up for 3.5% and 5% commitments if America insists on falling further behind. Likewise, we can’t expect Putin to end his aggression if he thinks America’s abandonment of Ukraine is only a matter of time. And we can’t expect anyone to take America’s threats and commitments seriously if we’re content to let our own strength atrophy.

    “A base budget request that cuts defense spending in real terms doesn’t show Moscow we’re serious – let alone Beijing. Leading from behind would be bad enough, but this is just plain falling behind. The strongest deterrence is denying an adversary’s objectives through military means. Israel is restoring this deterrence in the Middle East. Ukraine is achieving it by holding its own against Russia. But it needs help.

    “Recently, I’ve asked Administration officials simple questions, like: Who is the aggressor in this conflict? The answer is obvious. But a second, equally simple question seems to trip them up: Who do we want to win?

    “The President made the right call to stand with Israel. I hope he’ll also decide to stand with Ukraine, prevent Russian victory, and start reversing a dangerous, downward trend in our defense budgets. I hope he’ll recognize Russia’s attempt to ‘tap him along’ for what it is. Putin is getting mixed messages from Washington. He thinks he has time. He believes the West is weak and divided. But the President – at very little cost – can shatter this illusion. It’s time to impose sanctions, raise the price of Russia’s aggression, redouble security assistance to Ukraine, and drive the Kremlin to seek peace. It’s time for deterrence through denial.

    “There’s no surer path to just and enduring peace…No better way to demonstrate that peace through strength actually means something…No clearer sign to allies and adversaries watching closely from the Western Hemisphere to the Indo-Pacific that America still has the will to lead.”

     

    MIL OSI USA News –

    June 25, 2025

  • MIL-OSI Russia: IMF Staff Completes 2025 Article IV Mission to Vietnam

    Source: IMF – News in Russian

    June 24, 2025

    End-of-Mission press releases include statements of IMF staff teams that convey preliminary findings after a visit to a country. The views expressed in this statement are those of the IMF staff and do not necessarily represent the views of the IMF’s Executive Board. Based on the preliminary findings of this mission, staff will prepare a report that, subject to management approval, will be presented to the IMF’s Executive Board for discussion and decision.

    • Vietnam’s economy started 2025 strongly, with 6.9% year-on-year growth in the first
    • quarter. However, the outlook is more challenging amid global trade tensions and high uncertainty.
    • There is room for greater support by fiscal policy to cushion the impact of global shocks if needed. Allowing more flexibility in the exchange rate and strengthening the financial system will be important.
    • Implementation of the ambitious reform agenda encompassing institutional overhauls, private sector strengthening, and infrastructure improvements present an opportunity to raise medium-term growth. Further reforms to boost productivity, strengthen governance, and improve the business environment are also critical.

    Hanoi: An International Monetary Fund (IMF) team, led by Mr. Paulo Medas, held discussions for the 2025 Article IV consultation with the Vietnamese authorities from June 11-24, 2025. The team exchanged views with Deputy Prime Minister Ho Duc Phoc, senior officials of the State Bank of Vietnam (SBV), the Ministry of Finance, the National Assembly, and other government agencies. It also met with representatives from the private sector, think tanks, and other stakeholders.

    At the conclusion of the mission, Mr. Medas issued the following statement:

    “The Vietnamese economy rebounded strongly in 2024, growing at 7.1 percent backed by robust exports, resilient foreign direct investment (FDI), and supportive policies. This momentum continued into the first quarter of 2025, with economic activity expanding by 6.9 percent (y/y). Inflation remained contained. The current account surplus reached a record 6.6 percent of GDP in 2024.

    “The outlook is heavily dependent on the outcome of trade negotiations and is constrained by elevated global uncertainty on trade policies and economic growth. Our projections, in line with the IMF April 2025 World Economic Outlook, assumes high tariffs take effect in the third quarter. In such a scenario, economic growth is projected to slow to 5.4 percent in 2025 and decelerate further in 2026.  However, if global trade tensions subside, the economic outlook would improve significantly.

    “Downside risks are high. A further escalation in global trade tensions or a tightening of global financial conditions could weaken further exports and investment. Domestically, financial stress could re-emerge from tighter financial conditions and high corporate indebtedness. On the upside, achieving nondiscriminatory trade agreements and successfully implementing planned infrastructure and structural reforms could significantly boost medium-term growth.

    “Given the uncertain outlook, policy priorities should focus on preserving macro-financial stability while navigating economic adjustments. Fiscal policy, supported by low level of public debt, should take the lead in cushioning the near-term impact especially under downside scenarios. Accelerated implementation of public investment and strengthening social safety nets would be important.

    “Monetary policy has much more limited room and should be decisively focused on anchoring inflation expectations. Allowing the exchange rate flexibility will be critical as the economy adjusts to the external shock. Some monetary easing could be considered if global interest rates decline as expected and inflation falls. Vigilance is needed to monitor and act against inflation pressures arise, including due to external shocks. These challenges underscore the importance of modernizing the monetary policy framework to enhance its effectiveness and anchor stability, including by replacing credit growth limits with an improved prudential framework.

    “Further efforts are needed to strengthen financial sector soundness. To bolster banking system resilience, priorities include strengthening bank supervision, build liquidity and capital buffers, and further improving the bank resolution framework.

    “The government’s plans for an ambitious reform agenda are very welcome and could boost medium-term growth, but implementation will be key. The government’s focus on institutional reforms to enhance efficiency, strengthen private sector development, and plans to scale up public investment is a major step forward. It will be important to develop and implement concrete reforms to improve key infrastructure (e.g., logistics, energy), functioning of capital markets, education and training, and productivity.  To maximize the return on large investments, it is critical to strengthen public investment management and adopt a sound macro-fiscal strategy to preserve the health of public finances. Efforts to strengthen economic governance are essential, including strengthening the AML/CFT regime, and efforts in this regard are welcome. Vietnam’s rapid economic growth is outpacing the development of its economic statistics and urgent efforts are needed to close data gaps to support effective policymaking and risk management.

    “The team is grateful to the authorities for their warm hospitality and the candid and insightful discussions.”

    IMF Communications Department
    MEDIA RELATIONS

    PRESS OFFICER: Pavis Devahasadin

    Phone: +1 202 623-7100Email: MEDIA@IMF.org

    @IMFSpokesperson

    https://www.imf.org/en/News/Articles/2025/06/24/pr-25214-vietnam-imf-staff-completes-2025-article-iv-mission

    MIL OSI

    MIL OSI Russia News –

    June 25, 2025

  • MIL-OSI New Zealand: MEDIA ADVISORY: Recruit wing graduation tomorrow Thursday 26 June

    Source: New Zealand Police

    Media are invited to the 385 Glenda Hughes Police recruit wing graduation.

    What:   Graduation of the New Zealand Police Glenda Hughes 385 Recruit Wing.
    Who:   For families and friends to celebrate with the newly attested Police officers.
    Why:   Completion and graduation from their initial training course.
    Where:  Te Rauparaha Arena, 17 Parumoana Street, Porirua.
    When:  Thursday 26 June at 2pm – media will need to be in place by 1.45pm.
    How:    RSVP the Police Media Centre if you’re attending: media@police.govt.nz

    Deputy Commissioner Tania Kura will be attending the ceremony, along with Minister of Police Hon Mark Mitchell and Her Worship Anita Baker, the Mayor of Porirua. Also attending will be members of the Police executive and Wing Patron, former police officer Glenda Hughes.

    Three police officers have won two awards each between them. Two will deploy to Counties Manukau and one to Central District. 

    The 385 Wing Patron:

    Glenda Hughes has had a multifaceted career in sports, law enforcement, media and public relations, and local and central government.
    Her athletic achievements as a Commonwealth Games shot put champion and captain of the New Zealand Athletics Team are paralleled by her years of service in the New Zealand Police, where she handled serious criminal investigations, including drug investigations and high-profile cases such as the Rainbow Warrior affair. She was on the frontline of the Springbok Tour and Bastion Point protests. Beyond her police career, Glenda has made significant contributions in media as a consultant, journalist, and public relations expert who has trained New Zealand’s top athletes in media communications. She is the author of Looking for Trouble and has contributed to Last Man Standing by James Shepherd and Organised Deception: My Story by Sharon Armstrong, both focusing on the dangerous world of international drug trafficking.
    Her leadership roles include Independent Chairperson of the New Zealand Racing Board and the Racing Integrity Unit, a member of the New Zealand Parole Board, Trustee of KidsCan and Chair of Pet Refuge. These highlight her commitment to serving the community.
    Glenda’s academic background in sociology, criminology, and communications underscores her deep understanding of societal dynamics.
    Glenda values perseverance, integrity, compassion, and service. She credits her time in Police for her understanding of behaviours, motives, and options for handling various incidents. She believes Police offers a strong foundation for career development and the camaraderie fosters many lifelong friendships.

    ENDS

    More details about statistics, prize winners and other recruits will be shared after graduation.

    Issued by Police Media Centre

    MIL OSI New Zealand News –

    June 25, 2025

  • MIL-OSI New Zealand: Culture – Ice skaters and Korean intergenerational storytelling: Ngā Kōrero Tuku Iho funding recipients 2025

    Source: Ministry for Culture and Heritage

    “I am delighted to announce this year’s Ngā Kōrero Tuku Iho Piki Ake! Kake Ake! recipients,” says Leauanae Laulu Mac Leauanae, Secretary for Culture and Heritage.
    12 grants totalling $101,075.00 are being awarded for this round of Ngā Kōrero Tuku Iho New Zealand Oral History Grants.
    “This year was a particularly difficult selection process for the assessment panel. What’s clear is that each of the successful awarded projects bring to the fore stories that are yet to be told.
    “The projects cover themes from the experiences of the Deaf community to survivors of abuse in care, Korean intergenerational storytelling to ice skating, and Pacific women in Porirua to kaumātua of Te Taiao (environmental guardians).
    “Both Selwyn Kātene’s work on religious leaders from all denominations and Ruth Greenaway’s oral history with Jocelyn Armstrong, an interfaith leader, have been funded.
    “A history of queer homemaking and houses in Aotearoa, the experience of those involved in assisted dying, and the Filipino community’s role in nursing and caregiving are also receiving grants in 2025.
    “For over thirty years, Ngā Kōrero Tuku Iho has supported community projects, and we are continuing to see an increased breadth of topics, areas and applicants. I’m excited for these lesser-known histories to be shared.
    “We’re really proud of this round of Ngā Kōrero Tuku Iho. I can’t wait to see these histories join Aotearoa’s extraordinary canon of oral histories,” says Leauanae.
    Ngā Kōrero Tuku Iho grants are selected by an external panel of experts. Manatū Taonga administers the grants, which were established by the Australian Sesquicentennial Gift Trust in 1990 to honour 150 years since the signing of Te Tiriti o Waitangi. The grants support community-based oral history projects that reflect diverse identities and perspectives.
    Each year around $100,000 is divided between approximately 12 grants.
    The 2025 Ngā Kōrero Tuku Iho New Zealand Oral History grant recipients are:
    • Emily Anderson, Assisted Dying in New Zealand – Three Years On, $10,000
    • Grace Bateman and Paul Garbett, Ice Skating in New Zealand, Part 2: 1980s onward, $8,000
    • Matilda Bercic, “Matakite: Ko taku whanautanga tenei – Seer: It is my birthright”, $6,000
    • Little Acres Survivors Group, Little Acre Survivors Oral History Project, $15,822
    • Ruth Greenaway, A life dedicated to interfaith dialogue – Jocelyn Armstrong, $5,000
    • Selwyn Katene, Religious Leaders in New Zealand, $9,354
    • Lori Leigh, “Homo Sweet Homo”: The History of Queer Houses in Aotearoa, $8,000
    • Sarah Lipura, Pangangalaga (Care) at Pamilya (Family): Filipino Nurses and Healthcare Workers’ Perspectives, Experiences and Aspirations in Aotearoa New Zealand, $7,500
    • SignDNA – Deaf National Archives, SignDNA: Preserving Deaf Stories for the Future, $10,000
    • Jenny Taotua-O’Carroll, P.A.C.I.F.I.C.A Inc: Commemorating 50 Years of Pacific Women’s Allied Council in Porirua, $5,500
    • Maree Tapu, Pūkōrero Ani Martin: Rukuhia Te Puna O Te Roto Ōmāpere, $10,000
    • Joonseob Yi, Voices Across Generations: An Oral History of Korean New Zealanders, $5,899.
    Further information about the grants, including how to apply, can be found on the Manatū Taonga website.
    www.mch.govt.nz/our-work/apply-funding/nga-korero-tuku-iho-new-zealand-oral-history-grants  

    MIL OSI New Zealand News –

    June 25, 2025

  • MIL-OSI New Zealand: Tech and Business – Fibre broadband extension a priority for business

    Source: BusinessNZ

    BusinessNZ supports the Infrastructure Commission’s endorsement for extending fibre broadband to more areas of New Zealand.
    A proposal by Chorus to gain government backing for expanding fibre broadband from 87% to 95% of households and businesses has been endorsed by the Infrastructure Commission as a national priority.
    BusinessNZ Advocacy Director Catherine Beard says Chorus’ proposal would bring a significant boost to business and rural connectivity, bringing economic benefit to more parts of country.
    “More urban and rural businesses would be able to take part in the digital economy with modern connectivity that is scalable for business needs.
    “BusinessNZ agrees with the Infrastructure Commission’s assessment of the proposal as a national priority.”
    The BusinessNZ Network including BusinessNZ, EMA, Business Central, Business Canterbury and Business South, represents and provides services to thousands of businesses, small and large, throughout New Zealand.

    MIL OSI New Zealand News –

    June 25, 2025

  • MIL-OSI: Bitcoin Treasury Corporation Announces TSX Venture Exchange Listing and the Issuance of Shares

    Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

    Not for distribution to United States news wire services or for dissemination in the United States.

    TORONTO, June 24, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Bitcoin Treasury Corporation (TSXV: BTCT) (“Bitcoin Treasury” or the “Corporation”), further to its press releases dated May 22, 2025, May 30, 2025, June 17, 2025, and June 23, 2025, is pleased to announce that, pursuant to a bulletin issued by the TSX Venture Exchange (the “TSXV” or the “Exchange”) on June 24, 2025, the Corporation has now met all final listing requirements of the Exchange, assuming closing of the previously announced brokered offering (the “Offering”) of 426,650 Bitcoin Treasury Shares (as defined below). It is anticipated that, effective at markets open on Thursday, June 26, 2025, the common shares of Bitcoin Treasury (the “Bitcoin Treasury Shares”) will be listed (the “Listing”) with an immediate trading halt. The Corporation expects that on Monday, June 30, 2025, following the completion of the previously announced Offering, anticipated to be on June 26, 2025, the Exchange will issue a further bulletin announcing the lifting of the trading halt. Once the trading halt is lifted, the Bitcoin Treasury Shares will trade under the symbol BTCT.

    The Corporation filed a filing statement pursuant to TSXV Form 3D2 – Information Required in a Filing Statement for a Reverse Takeover, dated June 17, 2025, a copy of which can be found under the Corporation’s profile at www.sedarplus.ca.

    For further information, please contact:

    Bitcoin Treasury Corporation
    Elliot Johnson, Chief Executive Officer
    Phone: 416-619-3403
    Email: ejohnson@btctreasurycorp.com

    Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this news release.

    Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements

    This news release includes certain “forward-looking statements” under applicable Canadian securities legislation. Forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, statements with respect to: expectations related to the anticipated trading the Bitcoin Treasury Shares on the TSXV and timing thereof; and the brokered offering of the Bitcoin Treasury Shares and the timing thereof. Forward-looking statements are necessarily based upon a number of estimates and assumptions that, while considered reasonable, are subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause the actual results and future events to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Such factors include, but are not limited to: business integration risks; the Corporation’s operating results will experience significant fluctuations due to the highly volatile nature of Bitcoin; the Corporation operates in a heavily regulated environment and any material changes or actions could lead to negative adverse effects to the business model, operational results, and financial condition of the Corporation; evolving cryptocurrency regulatory requirements and the impact on the Corporation’s business plan; Bitcoin value risk; reliance on key personnel; implementation of the Corporation’s business plan; lack of operating history; competitive conditions; de banking and financial services risk; anti money laundering and corrupt business practices; additional capital; financing risks; global financial conditions; insurance and uninsured risks; cybersecurity risks; changes to bank fees or practices, or payment card networks; audit of tax filings; market for the Bitcoin Treasury Shares; market price of the Bitcoin Treasury Shares; conflicts of interest; internal controls; tariffs and the imposition of other restrictions on trade could adversely affect the Corporation’s business; risk of litigation; pandemics or other health crisis; acquisitions and integration; risk of dilution of Bitcoin Treasury securities; dividend policy; Bitcoin price volatility; custodial risks; technological vulnerabilities; Bitcoin transactions are irreversible and may result in significant losses; short history risk; limited history of the Bitcoin market; potential decrease in the global demand for Bitcoin; economic and political factors; top Bitcoin holders control a significant percentage of the outstanding Bitcoin; availability of exchange traded products liquidity; security breaches; the requirements that accompany being a publicly traded company may put a strain on the Corporation’s resources, divert attention from management, and adversely affect its ability to maintain and attract management and qualified board members; liquidity risk; leverage risk; and share price fluctuations.

    Although management of the Corporation believes that the expectations reflected in such forward-looking statements are based upon reasonable assumptions and have attempted to identify important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in forward-looking statements, there may be other factors that cause results not to be as anticipated, estimated or intended. There can be no assurance that such statements will prove to be accurate, as actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. The forward-looking statements and information contained in this news release are made as of the date of this news release, and the Corporation does not undertake any obligation to update publicly or to revise any of the included forward -looking statements or information, whether as a result of new information, change in management’s estimates or opinions, future circumstances or events or otherwise, except as expressly required by applicable securities law.

    The TSXV has neither approved nor disapproved the contents of this news release.

    The MIL Network –

    June 25, 2025

  • MIL-OSI USA: Representatives Jackson and Krishnamoorthi Demand ICE Transparency at Chicago South Loop Facility

    Source: United States House of Representatives – Representative Jonathan Jackson – Illinois (1st District)

    FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

    CHICAGO, IL – Congressmen Jonathan L. Jackson and Raja Krishnamoorthi are demanding immediate transparency and accountability from Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) following their denied attempt to conduct an oversight visit at the South Loop ICE facility in Chicago.

    In a joint letter to Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, the two lawmakers insist on gaining access to the facility and obtaining clear information about recent detentions.

    “We were denied the ability to perform congressional oversight – as is our duty as members of the United States House of Representatives,” the letter states. “During the visit to this facility, the ICE officer who refused to identify himself called the Chicago Police Department to evict us for ‘trespassing.’”

    Their visit follows alarming reports from June 4 indicating that at least ten individuals were detained under the pretense of routine appointments at the facility.

    “It is unclear exactly how many people were taken, where they were taken to, and if they were given access to counsel,” the lawmakers wrote. “We were denied those answers.”

    These concerns arise amidst credible reports that President Donald Trump has directed ICE to initiate the largest mass deportation operation in U.S. history, targeting cities such as Chicago.

    “The President’s politically motivated actions are deeply troubling, particularly for communities like ours in Illinois that have already seen intensified enforcement activity in recent weeks,” Reps. Jackson and Krishnamoorthi wrote.

    In their letter to Secretary Noem, the representatives have requested a formal response by Friday, June 27, and reiterated their demand for access to the South Loop facility to fulfill their oversight responsibilities.

    Access the complete letter here.

    ###

    MIL OSI USA News –

    June 25, 2025

  • MIL-OSI USA: Representatives Jackson and Krishnamoorthi Demand ICE Transparency at Chicago South Loop Facility

    Source: United States House of Representatives – Representative Jonathan Jackson – Illinois (1st District)

    FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

    CHICAGO, IL – Congressmen Jonathan L. Jackson and Raja Krishnamoorthi are demanding immediate transparency and accountability from Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) following their denied attempt to conduct an oversight visit at the South Loop ICE facility in Chicago.

    In a joint letter to Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, the two lawmakers insist on gaining access to the facility and obtaining clear information about recent detentions.

    “We were denied the ability to perform congressional oversight – as is our duty as members of the United States House of Representatives,” the letter states. “During the visit to this facility, the ICE officer who refused to identify himself called the Chicago Police Department to evict us for ‘trespassing.’”

    Their visit follows alarming reports from June 4 indicating that at least ten individuals were detained under the pretense of routine appointments at the facility.

    “It is unclear exactly how many people were taken, where they were taken to, and if they were given access to counsel,” the lawmakers wrote. “We were denied those answers.”

    These concerns arise amidst credible reports that President Donald Trump has directed ICE to initiate the largest mass deportation operation in U.S. history, targeting cities such as Chicago.

    “The President’s politically motivated actions are deeply troubling, particularly for communities like ours in Illinois that have already seen intensified enforcement activity in recent weeks,” Reps. Jackson and Krishnamoorthi wrote.

    In their letter to Secretary Noem, the representatives have requested a formal response by Friday, June 27, and reiterated their demand for access to the South Loop facility to fulfill their oversight responsibilities.

    Access the complete letter here.

    ###

    MIL OSI USA News –

    June 25, 2025

  • MIL-OSI Global: Ceasefires like the one between Iran and Israel often fail – but an agreement with specific conditions is more likely to hold

    Source: The Conversation – USA – By Donald Heflin, Executive Director of the Edward R. Murrow Center and Senior Fellow of Diplomatic Practice, The Fletcher School, Tufts University

    President Donald Trump speaks to reporters outside the White House on June 24, 2025, in Washington, less than 12 hours after announcing a ceasefire between Israel and Iran. Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

    Within hours of President Donald Trump unexpectedly announcing an upcoming ceasefire between Israel and Iran on June 23, 2025, both countries launched airstrikes against the other.

    “We basically have two countries that have been fighting so long and so hard that they don’t know what the f–k they’re doing,” an angry and frustrated Trump told reporters outside the White House on June 24.

    While Iran and Israel have tentatively agreed to the truce – and Trump reiterated on June 24 that the “ceasefire is in effect” – it is not clear whether this deal can hold. Some research shows that an estimated 80% of ceasefire deals worldwide fail.

    Amy Lieberman, a politics and society editor at The Conversation U.S., spoke with former Ambassador Donald Heflin, an American career diplomat who serves as the executive director of the Edward R. Murrow Center at the Fletcher School, Tufts University, to understand how ceasefires typically work – and how the Israel-Iran deal stacks up against other agreements to end wars.

    An excavator removes debris from a residential building that was destroyed in Israel’s June 13, 2025, airstrike on Tehran, Iran.
    Majid Saeedi/Getty Images

    How do ceasefire deals typically happen?

    There are classes taught on how to negotiate ceasefires, but it is ad hoc with each situation.

    For example, in one scenario, one of the warring parties wants a ceasefire and has decided that the conflict isn’t going well. The second party might not want a ceasefire, but could agree that it is getting tired or the risks are too high, and agrees to work something out.

    The next scenario, which leads to more success, is when both parties want a ceasefire. They decide that the loss of life and money has gone too far for both sides. One of the parties approaches the other through intermediaries to say it wants a ceasefire, and the other warring party agrees.

    In a third situation – which is what we are seeing with the Iran-Israel deal – the outside world imposes a ceasefire. Trump likely told both Israel and Iran: Look, it’s enough. This is too dangerous for the rest of the world. We don’t care what you think. Time for a ceasefire.“

    The U.S. has done this in the Middle East before, like after the Yom Kippur War in 1973 between Israel and a coalition of Arab countries led by Egypt and Syria. Israel was achieving big military victories, but the risk was pretty great for the world. The U.S. came in and said, “That’s enough, stop it now.” And it worked.

    Does the US bring the warring parties to a table in this kind of situation, or simply pressure the countries to stop fighting?

    It is more of the U.S. saying, “We are done.” When the U.S. does something like this, it is often going to have backup from the European Union and other countries like Qatar, saying, “The Americans are right. It is time for a ceasefire.”

    It appears that this Israel-Iran deal does not have specific conditions attached to it. Is that typical of a ceasefire deal?

    This deal doesn’t seem to have any specific details attached to it. Ceasefires work better when they have that. Lasting ceasefires need to address the concerns of the warring parties and give each side some of what it wants.

    For instance, in the Ukraine and Russia war, we have not seen either one of those countries push for a ceasefire. Part of the problem is Crimea and eastern Ukraine, sections of land in Ukraine that Russia has annexed and claims as its own. Russia would be happy with a deal that puts it in charge of Crimea and Ukraine, but Ukraine won’t agree to that. The question of who controls specific areas of land has to be addressed in this conflict; otherwise, the ceasefire isn’t going to last.

    Search and rescue efforts continue in a building in Beersheba, Israel, hit by a ballistic missile fired from Iran shortly before the ceasefire announced by U.S. President Donald Trump came into effect on June 24, 2025.
    Mostafa Alkharouf/Anadolu via Getty Images)

    Who is responsible for ensuring that both sides uphold a ceasefire?

    Security guarantees are an important part of negotiating and maintaining long-term ceasefires. Big countries like the U.S. could say that if a warring party violates a ceasefire agreement, they are going to punish them.

    In the 1990s, the U.S. and Europe assured Ukraine that if it gave up its nuclear arsenal, the U.S. would defend Ukraine if Russia ever invaded it. Russia has invaded Ukraine twice since then, in 2014 and 2022. The U.S. gave a more substantial response in the form of sending weapons and other war materials to Ukraine after the 2022 invasion, but there have been no real consequences for Russia.

    That has created a problem for ceasefires in the future, because the U.S. didn’t deliver on its past security guarantees.

    The further away you get from Europe, the less interested the West is in wars. But in those kinds of disputes, United Nations and other international peacekeeping troops can be sent in. Sometimes, that can work brilliantly in one place, like with the example of international peacekeeping troops called the multilateral Observer Mission stationed between Israel and Egypt helping maintain peace between those countries. But you can copy it to another place and it just doesn’t work as well.

    How does this ceasefire fit within the history of other ceasefires?

    It’s too early to tell. What matters is how the details get fleshed out.

    Ideally, you can get representatives of the Israeli and Iranian governments to sit around a conference table to reach a detailed agreement. The Israelis might say, “We have got to have some kind of assurances that Iran is not going to use a nuclear weapon.” And the Iranians could say, “Assassinations of our military generals and scientists has got to stop.” That kind of conversation and agreement is what is missing, thus far, in this process.

    Why is it so common for ceasefire deals to fail?

    Some ceasefire deals don’t get to the underlying conditions of what really caused the problem and what made people start shooting this time around. If you don’t get to the core issues of a conflict, you are putting a Band-Aid on the situation. Putting a Band-Aid on someone when they are bleeding is a good move, but you ultimately might need more than that to stop the bleeding.

    The outside world might be pretty happy with a ceasefire deal that seems to stop the fighting, but if the details are not ironed out, the experts would say, “This isn’t going to last.”

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

    – ref. Ceasefires like the one between Iran and Israel often fail – but an agreement with specific conditions is more likely to hold – https://theconversation.com/ceasefires-like-the-one-between-iran-and-israel-often-fail-but-an-agreement-with-specific-conditions-is-more-likely-to-hold-259739

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –

    June 25, 2025

  • MIL-OSI Global: Ceasefires like the one between Iran and Israel often fail – but an agreement with specific conditions is more likely to hold

    Source: The Conversation – USA – By Donald Heflin, Executive Director of the Edward R. Murrow Center and Senior Fellow of Diplomatic Practice, The Fletcher School, Tufts University

    President Donald Trump speaks to reporters outside the White House on June 24, 2025, in Washington, less than 12 hours after announcing a ceasefire between Israel and Iran. Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

    Within hours of President Donald Trump unexpectedly announcing an upcoming ceasefire between Israel and Iran on June 23, 2025, both countries launched airstrikes against the other.

    “We basically have two countries that have been fighting so long and so hard that they don’t know what the f–k they’re doing,” an angry and frustrated Trump told reporters outside the White House on June 24.

    While Iran and Israel have tentatively agreed to the truce – and Trump reiterated on June 24 that the “ceasefire is in effect” – it is not clear whether this deal can hold. Some research shows that an estimated 80% of ceasefire deals worldwide fail.

    Amy Lieberman, a politics and society editor at The Conversation U.S., spoke with former Ambassador Donald Heflin, an American career diplomat who serves as the executive director of the Edward R. Murrow Center at the Fletcher School, Tufts University, to understand how ceasefires typically work – and how the Israel-Iran deal stacks up against other agreements to end wars.

    An excavator removes debris from a residential building that was destroyed in Israel’s June 13, 2025, airstrike on Tehran, Iran.
    Majid Saeedi/Getty Images

    How do ceasefire deals typically happen?

    There are classes taught on how to negotiate ceasefires, but it is ad hoc with each situation.

    For example, in one scenario, one of the warring parties wants a ceasefire and has decided that the conflict isn’t going well. The second party might not want a ceasefire, but could agree that it is getting tired or the risks are too high, and agrees to work something out.

    The next scenario, which leads to more success, is when both parties want a ceasefire. They decide that the loss of life and money has gone too far for both sides. One of the parties approaches the other through intermediaries to say it wants a ceasefire, and the other warring party agrees.

    In a third situation – which is what we are seeing with the Iran-Israel deal – the outside world imposes a ceasefire. Trump likely told both Israel and Iran: Look, it’s enough. This is too dangerous for the rest of the world. We don’t care what you think. Time for a ceasefire.“

    The U.S. has done this in the Middle East before, like after the Yom Kippur War in 1973 between Israel and a coalition of Arab countries led by Egypt and Syria. Israel was achieving big military victories, but the risk was pretty great for the world. The U.S. came in and said, “That’s enough, stop it now.” And it worked.

    Does the US bring the warring parties to a table in this kind of situation, or simply pressure the countries to stop fighting?

    It is more of the U.S. saying, “We are done.” When the U.S. does something like this, it is often going to have backup from the European Union and other countries like Qatar, saying, “The Americans are right. It is time for a ceasefire.”

    It appears that this Israel-Iran deal does not have specific conditions attached to it. Is that typical of a ceasefire deal?

    This deal doesn’t seem to have any specific details attached to it. Ceasefires work better when they have that. Lasting ceasefires need to address the concerns of the warring parties and give each side some of what it wants.

    For instance, in the Ukraine and Russia war, we have not seen either one of those countries push for a ceasefire. Part of the problem is Crimea and eastern Ukraine, sections of land in Ukraine that Russia has annexed and claims as its own. Russia would be happy with a deal that puts it in charge of Crimea and Ukraine, but Ukraine won’t agree to that. The question of who controls specific areas of land has to be addressed in this conflict; otherwise, the ceasefire isn’t going to last.

    Search and rescue efforts continue in a building in Beersheba, Israel, hit by a ballistic missile fired from Iran shortly before the ceasefire announced by U.S. President Donald Trump came into effect on June 24, 2025.
    Mostafa Alkharouf/Anadolu via Getty Images)

    Who is responsible for ensuring that both sides uphold a ceasefire?

    Security guarantees are an important part of negotiating and maintaining long-term ceasefires. Big countries like the U.S. could say that if a warring party violates a ceasefire agreement, they are going to punish them.

    In the 1990s, the U.S. and Europe assured Ukraine that if it gave up its nuclear arsenal, the U.S. would defend Ukraine if Russia ever invaded it. Russia has invaded Ukraine twice since then, in 2014 and 2022. The U.S. gave a more substantial response in the form of sending weapons and other war materials to Ukraine after the 2022 invasion, but there have been no real consequences for Russia.

    That has created a problem for ceasefires in the future, because the U.S. didn’t deliver on its past security guarantees.

    The further away you get from Europe, the less interested the West is in wars. But in those kinds of disputes, United Nations and other international peacekeeping troops can be sent in. Sometimes, that can work brilliantly in one place, like with the example of international peacekeeping troops called the multilateral Observer Mission stationed between Israel and Egypt helping maintain peace between those countries. But you can copy it to another place and it just doesn’t work as well.

    How does this ceasefire fit within the history of other ceasefires?

    It’s too early to tell. What matters is how the details get fleshed out.

    Ideally, you can get representatives of the Israeli and Iranian governments to sit around a conference table to reach a detailed agreement. The Israelis might say, “We have got to have some kind of assurances that Iran is not going to use a nuclear weapon.” And the Iranians could say, “Assassinations of our military generals and scientists has got to stop.” That kind of conversation and agreement is what is missing, thus far, in this process.

    Why is it so common for ceasefire deals to fail?

    Some ceasefire deals don’t get to the underlying conditions of what really caused the problem and what made people start shooting this time around. If you don’t get to the core issues of a conflict, you are putting a Band-Aid on the situation. Putting a Band-Aid on someone when they are bleeding is a good move, but you ultimately might need more than that to stop the bleeding.

    The outside world might be pretty happy with a ceasefire deal that seems to stop the fighting, but if the details are not ironed out, the experts would say, “This isn’t going to last.”

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

    – ref. Ceasefires like the one between Iran and Israel often fail – but an agreement with specific conditions is more likely to hold – https://theconversation.com/ceasefires-like-the-one-between-iran-and-israel-often-fail-but-an-agreement-with-specific-conditions-is-more-likely-to-hold-259739

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –

    June 25, 2025

  • MIL-OSI USA: ICYMI: Shaheen, New Hampshire Congressional Delegation Applaud Release of More Than $9.4 Million to Help Improve Water for Disadvantaged Communities, Small Towns and Private Wells

    US Senate News:

    Source: United States Senator for New Hampshire Jeanne Shaheen

    **Funding is New Hampshire’s FY 2025 allocation from the $5 billion Bipartisan Infrastructure Law program**

    (Washington, DC) – U.S. Senators Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH), a lead negotiator of the water provisions in the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, and Maggie Hassan (D-NH), alongside Representatives Chris Pappas (NH-01) and Maggie Goodlander (NH-02), applauded the release of more than $9.4 million from a Bipartisan Infrastructure Law program to help Granite State communities and private well owners address contamination from per- and poly-fluoroalkyl substances (PFAS). The funding is New Hampshire’s Fiscal Year 2025 allocation from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Shaheen secured this funding in the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and has worked to ensure it can be used to help homes on private wells in addition to community water systems.  

    “When safe drinking water is on the line, it’s critical for New Hampshire to receive the federal funding it has been promised to address PFAS contamination,” said Senator Shaheen. “I’m glad the Environmental Protection Agency has released funding from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law that I fought for to help ensure Granite Staters everywhere have clean drinking water. I’ll continue to push this administration to uphold its responsibility to protect public health.”

    “I’m glad to see that this $9 million in federal funding is being released to New Hampshire’s small communities to help them address dangerous PFAS contamination in their drinking water and private wells. However, this contamination problem is likely to continue because the Trump Administration is rolling back standards that would limit forever chemicals in drinking water,” said Senator Hassan. “I will continue to support efforts to ensure that all Granite Staters have access to clean, safe drinking water.”

    “I fought to pass the bipartisan infrastructure law to deliver needed resources to our communities to modernize water infrastructure, combat harmful PFAS contamination, and strengthen access to clean, safe water,” said Congressman Pappas. “While I continue to fight for better national water standards and federal resources for New Hampshire, I am glad that this funding is rightfully being delivered to help tackle toxic forever chemicals and protect public health.”

    “New Hampshire cannot thrive without access to safe, reliable drinking water – free from forever chemicals like PFAS,” said Congresswoman Goodlander. “This federal funding will make life better for hardworking people across our state, and I’ll never stop fighting to deliver every penny of federal funding that the people of New Hampshire were promised.”

    Senator Shaheen leads efforts in Congress to uncover the potential health effects related to PFAS contamination, respond to the chemical exposure and remediate polluted sites. As a lead negotiator of water provisions in the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, Senator Shaheen worked to secure $10 billion to specifically address PFAS and other emerging contaminants, $5 billion of which is targeted to small and disadvantaged communities. To date, New Hampshire has received more than $325 million in water infrastructure funding from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, including $66 million to address PFAS. In the Fiscal Year 2024 government funding legislation, Senator Shaheen successfully secured language ensuring funding for small and disadvantaged communities from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law could be used to address private well contamination. Shaheen has introduced legislation that would be a permanent fix.

    Pappas has been a leader in addressing PFAS and advocating for improved standards, increased investment, and a stronger national focus on PFAS contamination. On the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, Pappas led the fight for dedicated funding for PFAS and helped pass the bipartisan infrastructure law to deliver resources to New Hampshire communities. Pappas leads the Clean Water Standards for PFAS Act, legislation to establish water quality criteria and set limits on industrial PFAS discharges into water and water treatment plants. He also leads the PFAS Research and Development Reauthorization Act, the PFAS Registry Act, the PFAS-Free Procurement Act, and the No Taxation on PFAS Remediation Act.

    MIL OSI USA News –

    June 25, 2025

  • MIL-OSI USA: On Anniversary of Dobbs Ruling, Shaheen and Hassan Renew Legislation to Guarantee Women’s Reproductive Rights

    US Senate News:

    Source: United States Senator for New Hampshire Jeanne Shaheen

    (Washington, DC) – U.S. Senators Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH) and Maggie Hassan (D-NH) today joined a group of Senators to reintroduce the Women’s Health Protection Act. The legislation would guarantee a woman’s right to access an abortion—and the right of an abortion provider to deliver these services—free from medically unnecessary restrictions that interfere with a patient’s individual choice or the provider-patient relationship. The reintroduction of the Shaheen and Hassan-backed Women’s Health Protection Act falls on the three-year anniversary of the Dobbs v. Jackson ruling that eliminated fifty years of precedent protecting abortion access. 

    “In the three years since Roe v. Wade was reversed by the Supreme Court, we’ve seen Republican politicians jump at virtually every opportunity to undermine women’s reproductive freedoms. Let’s be very clear: No one—not a lawmaker or unelected jurist—should be able to control a woman’s decision on when or if to start a family,” said Senator Shaheen. “I’m helping reintroduce the Women’s Health Protection Act to enshrine the protections of Roe v. Wade into federal law—ensuring a woman’s ability to access reproductive care isn’t defined by the zip code she lives in.” 

    “For the first time in our country’s history, our daughters are now less free than their mothers were at their age. The Dobbs decision represents the largest attack on women’s freedom in modern American political history, stripping away women’s fundamental freedom to make their own health decisions and chart their own futures,” said Senator Hassan. “The Women’s Health Protection Act would restore these essential freedoms and ensure that a woman’s right to lifesaving care doesn’t vanish when she crosses a state line.” 

    Senator Shaheen is an unrelenting advocate for women’s reproductive rights. Earlier this year, Shaheen took to the Senate floor alongside her Democratic colleagues to oppose Senate Republicans’ latest effort to restrict access to reproductive health care, the Born-Alive Survivors Protection Act, that would have significantly interfered with the doctor-patient relationship and posed unnecessary and harmful obstacles to a woman’s right to make her own decisions about her reproductive health.  For years, Shaheen has fought to expand coverage of women’s preventative care, including through her legislation to reduce the cost of contraception for servicewomen and dependents in military families. 

    Senator Hassan has a record of standing up for reproductive freedom. Earlier this year, she spoke on the Senate floor to criticize the decision by the Senate’s Republican leadership to hold a vote on legislation to restrict a woman’s fundamental freedom to access reproductive health care instead of working in a bipartisan manner to lower the cost of living. In April, Senator Hassan met with Planned Parenthood of Northern New England leadership, health care providers, and community health leaders to hear directly about the impact of the Trump Administration’s decision to take away Title X federal funding for life-saving health care services – which include cancer screening, reproductive health care, and family planning services that Granite Staters count on. 

    MIL OSI USA News –

    June 25, 2025

  • MIL-OSI New Zealand: Minister welcomes launch of draft National Infrastructure Plan

    Source: New Zealand Government

    Infrastructure Minister Chris Bishop encourages New Zealanders to have their say on the draft National Infrastructure Plan released today by the New Zealand Infrastructure Commission. 

    “Improving the way we plan, fund, maintain and build our infrastructure is critical to boosting economic growth and increasing productivity and living standards, and so the Government welcomes today’s draft report by the independent Infrastructure Commission.

    “Contrary to many perceptions, New Zealand spends a lot on infrastructure. We are in the top 10% of the OECD for infrastructure investment spending over the last decade – but in the bottom 10% of the OECD when it comes to getting ‘bang for buck’ from our spending. As the Commission says, we need to “lift our game” and there are many draft recommendations in the draft plan that will help drive better value for money from public investment. 

    “I am pleased to see the draft Plan makes recommendations that align with existing Government priorities, such as making better use of user pricing to fund investment, adopting spatial planning, prioritising infrastructure through the resource management system, and drastically improving asset management and maintenance. The Government will continue to advance these policy priorities and will be informed by the Commission’s final report due later in the year.

    “It is clear that the central government infrastructure system needs to drastically improve. As the Commission notes, central government is New Zealand’s largest owner and funder of infrastructure. Government owns around 40% of our total stock of infrastructure and funds almost half of all infrastructure investment each year. 

    “However, the system is underperforming. Half of all proposals for investment in Budgets 2023 and 2024 did not have a business case. There are regularly large gaps between Budget funding being allocated and projects actually starting. 

    “Asset maintenance is a major problem, with New Zealand ranked fourth to last in the OECD for asset management, and dead last for the metric on Accountability and Professionalism. Over half of all capital-intensive government agencies do not have robust, comprehensive asset registers in place or adequate plans for looking after existing infrastructure. Maintenance spending is regularly diverted to building new infrastructure, resulting in costly catch-up spending later. 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.

    “Cabinet has already agreed to an all-of-Government work programme that will improve central government asset management and performance, including investigating legislative requirements for the development of ten-year investment plans by capital intensive agencies and performance reporting requirements.

    “The Government is determined to improve New Zealand’s infrastructure system and to work alongside the industry and other political parties to establish a broad consensus about what needs to change.  I’ve encouraged the Commission to brief all political parties as they develop the draft plan and I’ll be writing again to relevant spokespeople encouraging them to give their feedback to the Commission over the next few weeks.

    “The Government will respond to the finalised National Infrastructure Plan in 2026, once it is presented by the Commission in late 2025. As part of that response we will be engaging with other political parties in Parliament, and I intend to ask the Business Committee to hold a special Parliamentary debate on the plan. 

    “I thank the Infrastructure Commission for its hard work in delivering this draft National Infrastructure Plan. I encourage everyone to provide their feedback on it through the consultation process, and I look forward to receiving the final version toward the end of this year.” 

    MIL OSI New Zealand News –

    June 25, 2025
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