Congress
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U.S. Department of Defense in Focus: Budget Priorities and Questions for New Nominees
By Bill Beaver, Christine Parthemore & Erin Sikorsky On April 9, the Biden administration announced its topline budget priorities for the U.S. government, including for the Department of Defense (DoD). DoD funding will increase by 1.6%, which ends up being a slight decrease when adjusted for inflation. Specifics will be announced in the coming months.…
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Congressional Hearing on Resilience Highlights Climate Change Risks
By John Conger On Friday, March 26, the Readiness Subcommittee of the U.S. House Armed Services Committee held a hearing on resilience, which in recent years has become synonymous with climate change adaptation. It was a remarkably substantive hearing, with senior representatives of the military services (LTG Douglas Gabram, Commander Army Installations Management Command; VADM…
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U.S. Congress: Bipartisan Support for Investments in Combating Climate Change at the Department of Defense
By John Conger As the Fiscal Year 2022 budget is discussed within the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD), a budget that will reportedly include an increased focus on dealing with the threats that climate change poses to the Defense Department, the House Appropriations Committee’s Defense Subcommittee held a hearing on March 17 to consider the…
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The Council on Strategic Risks Condemns Violence Against U.S. Democratic Institutions
This week, the American democratic system withstood a direct and violent attempt to prevent it from working. Despite this despicable attempt, the U.S. Congress proceeded to certify the results of the 2020 presidential election. This Constitutional process, which started in the afternoon of January 6th but could not be completed until the early morning hours…
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Climate Security in the 2021 U.S. National Defense Authorization Act
By John Conger Both the U.S. House and Senate recently passed their versions of the Fiscal Year 2021 National Defense Authorization Act, but it’s quite possible there will be a delay before a conference bill is completed. Rather than wait for the final version, this blog will review the climate change and resilience provisions in…
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Event: Center for Climate and Security Director to Speak to Congress Today on Climate Change Threats
UPDATE (7/15/2020): A recorded video of the event can now be found here. At 3pm EST today, the Center for Climate and Security’s Director, the Hon. John Conger, will speak to the House Democratic Caucus National Security Task Force about climate change threats to security, in the wake of a new report from the House…
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Climate and National Security in the New “Solving the Climate Crisis” Report
On Tuesday 30 June, the U.S. House of Representatives’ Select Committee on the Climate Crisis issued a landmark report on the threats that climate change poses to the United States. Based on thousands of testimonies, inputs and recommendations from all sectors and regions of the country, the report outlines concrete legislative steps that the Committee…