Rep. Will Hurd (R-Texas) has said Congress should approve funds for the Customs and Border Patrol to implement “smart” technologies to secure the U.S.-Mexico border instead of funding the construction of a border wall, MeriTalk reported Tuesday.

Hurd told members of the House Subcommittee on Border and Maritime Security at a hearing Tuesday that it would cost approximately $33 billion to build a wall across 1,350 miles of the border that does not have fencing.

He added that construction funds can be invested in other efforts such as pay increase for CBP personnel and procurement of additional airborne security platforms.

Hurd also estimated it would cost nearly $500,000 a mile to deploy off-the-shelf technology that is integrated across various law enforcement sectors and can support border patrol agents in the field.

The House voted 419-3 Tuesday to pass a bipartisan bill that would limit the White House’s authority to lift sanctions against Russia and provide Congress the ability to veto any measure that seeks to reverse such sanctions, The Hill reported Tuesday.

The bill would codify into law current Russian sanctions in response to the country’s interference in the 2016 U.S. presidential elections and aggression in Ukraine.

The legislation’s new version only covers sanctions on Russia’s energy export pipelines and bans U.S. investments in Arctic offshore, shale and deepwater projects in which Russian entities have a 33 percent controlling interest.

The measure would also impose sanctions on Iran with regard to its ballistic missile activities as well as on North Korea’s shipping sector amid the country’s missile and nuclear development programs.

“While the president supports tough sanctions on North Korea, Iran and Russia, the White House is reviewing the House legislation and awaits a final legislative package for the president’s desk,” Sarah Huckabee Sanders, a spokeswoman for the White House, said in a statement Tuesday.

The report added that the sanctions package is now headed to the Senate, which has not yet scheduled a vote on the bill.

The U.S. Navy operated its ships alongside Australia’s frigates to test an amphibious warfighting concept dubbed Upgunned Expeditionary Strike Group during the Exercise Talisman Saber 2017 joint U.S.-Australia military exercise, USNI News reported Monday.

Rear Adm. Marc Dalton, commander of the Navy’s Expeditionary Strike Group 7, told USNI News that the Upgunned ESG test included ships of the Bonhomme Richard ESG — USS Bonhomme Richard, USS Green Bay, USS Ashland and USS Sterett — as well as Australian vessels including the HMAS Darwin guided-missile frigate.

“The concept is to take the capabilities that the amphibious ships with the F-35B Joint Strike Fighter bring, combine that with the offensive capabilities of surface ships,” said Dalton.

Talisman Saber gave an opportunity to perform Upgunned ESG operations in a complex warfighting environment ahead of the deployment of the F-35B Joint Strike Fighter aircraft, which is expected to operate alongside the Navy’s cruisers and destroyers, the report noted.

Dalton added that the Upgunned ESG concept is currently under development, and that Talisman Saber helped validate the idea and familiarize Dalton’s staff with the Unmanned ESG command and control setup.

The Defense Department‘s office of inspector general has urged DoD to address management and reporting issues facing a program that authorizes the U.S. military to help boost foreign security forces’ capacity to perform counterterrorism and stability operations.

The OIG said in a report published Friday it assessed the results and execution of the department’s Global Train and Equip Program, which was created through Section 1206/2282 of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2006.

DoD has yet to fully develop the program; establish a strategy with specific objectives and an execution plan; and allocate necessary personnel and resources to manage the program, according to the OIG.

The office also found that the project proposal guidance was not adequately instructive or implemented and that project proposals did not consistently include data or analysis to support prioritization based on projected costs, benefits, and risks.

DoD’s performance measurement approach did not sufficiently show progress with respect to program goals, and Section 1206 reports to Congress, DoD and State Department leaders did not contain enough information to describe the program’s impact on U.S. counterterrorism and stability efforts.

The OIG offered 15 recommendations, including the assignment of a lead manager that can plan and execute the program’s mission as well as produce a comprehensive implementation plan.