The U.S. House of Representatives yesterday passed the Cybersecurity Enhancement Act of 2009 with a vote of 422-5. The bill reauthorizes computer and network research and development programs to the National Science Foundation and the National Institute of Standards and Technology. The bill improves cybersecurity in the federal, private and public sectors through better coordination [...]

The House yesterday voted 348 to 23 to pass a bill that gives Americans with disabilities full access to the Internet and television. The 21st Century Communications and Video Accessibility Act, which was sponsored by Rep. Edward J. Markey, gives people with disabilities more options to view and listen to programs on the Internet and [...]

In an effort to strengthen public participation and enhance usability, the Obama administration has announced today the relaunch of the Federal Register Web site, Federal Register 2.0. The redesign will divide the thousands of federal rules and regulations into six main categories and highlight popular topics in a separate section. The site’s relaunch comes on [...]

The National Institute of Standards and Technology and the Department of Defense are working together on an avant-garde voice-translation technology designed to improve communication between the U.S. military and non-English speakers in Afghanistan. Called TRANSTAC (spoken language communication and TRANSlation system for TACtical use), the DARPA project currently focuses on Pashto, a native Afghan language, [...]

Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius last week announced awards totaling $9 million to support Preventive Medicine Residency Programs at accredited schools of public health, medical schools and hospitals. Nearly $6.7 million of these 15 awards is part of the $200 million appropriated to HHS’ Health Resources and Services Administration under the American Recovery [...]

NASA is giving undergraduate students an opportunity to test an experiment in weightless science as part of the its Reduced Gravity Education Flight Program. The program offers aspiring explorers a chance to propose, design and fabricate a reduced-gravity experiment. Selected teams will get to test and evaluate their experiment aboard a microgravity aircraft. The specially [...]

Dr. Jill Biden stressed the importance of quality education and support for children of military families during a conference last week for the Military Child Education Coalition. The conference was held to raise awareness, address the impact of the stresses of military life on school children and hear feedback from military families about changes that [...]

Army Gen. Stanley A. McChrystal, who recently commanded all U.S. and international forces in Afghanistan, retired last Friday in a ceremony in Washington, D.C. Department of Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates called McChrystal one of America’s greatest warriors and a treasured friend and colleague. “We bid farewell to Stan McChrystal today with pride and sadness,” [...]

Department of Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano yesterday launched the “Blue Campaign”—a DHS-wide initiative to combat human trafficking through public awareness, victim-assistance programs, and law-enforcement training and efforts. “The battle against human trafficking is a shared responsibility involving the department’s federal, state, local and tribal law enforcement partners, nonprofit and nongovernmental organizations, governments around the [...]

Department of Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano yesterday released the 2010 progress report that highlighted some of the department’s advancements in capabilities for U.S. aviation security in accordance with the 9/11 Commission. “The 9/11 Commission’s recommendations have in many ways set the course for the department’s efforts to combat security threats,” Napolitano said. “By working [...]