MONTEREY, California, May 4 -- The Defense Language Institute Foreign Language Center issued the following news: For Army Staff Sgt. Aisha Bannat, being with her students was more important than attending her own Master's degree graduation in International Relations. "I love teaching," says Bannat, a heritage speaker of Arabic and a military language instructor at the Defense Language Institute Foreign Language Center. "When I was told that my graduation was on the same day as Language Day, I  more

WASHINGTON, May 5 -- The Congressional Research Service issued the following report (No. RL30862) on May 4, 2021, entitled "The Budget Reconciliation Process: The Senate's 'Byrd Rule'" by Bill Heniff Jr., Congress and the legislative process analyst: Summary Reconciliation is a procedure under the Congressional Budget Act of 1974 by which Congress implements budget resolution policies affecting mainly permanent spending and revenue programs. The principal focus in the reconciliation process ha  more

WASHINGTON, May 5 -- The Congressional Research Service issued the following report (No. R43835) on May 4, 2021, entitled "State Sponsors of Acts of International Terrorism - Legislative Parameters: In Brief" by foreign policy legislation specialist Dianne E. Rennack: * * * Introduction The United States currently designates as state sponsors of acts of international terrorism the governments of Syria, Iran, North Korea, and Cuba. A terrorism designation is but one part in the bilateral relat  more

WASHINGTON, May 6 -- Jonathan G. Overly, executive director, and Daniel J. F. Siksay, coordinator, at the East Tennessee Clean Fuels Coalition, Knoxville, have issued a public comment on the Federal Highway Administration proposed rule entitled "National Standards for Traffic Control Devices: Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices for Streets and Highways; Revision". The comment was written on May 2, 2021, and posted on May 4, 2021: * * * We are concerned that changes FHWA has proposed to t  more

TALLAHASSEE, Florida, May 4 -- The Florida Division of Emergency Management issued the following news release: The Florida Division of Emergency Management (FDEM) announced the appointment of Kevin Guthrie as Director and Steven Hynes as Deputy Director. Guthrie has more than 30 years of experience in public safety and emergency management and has served as the Deputy Director for the Division since 2018. This appointment fills the vacancy created by the resignation of former FDEM Director Jare  more

INDIANAPOLIS, Indiana, May 7 -- The Indiana Democratic Party issued the following news release on May 6, 2021: The Indiana Democratic Party, the organization that advocates for the future of Indiana and its families, today called out the Indiana Republican Party for blindly following U.S. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell's lead in deploying a familiar strategy Hoosiers saw a decade ago: obstructing the (Democratic) President of the United States at all costs. McConnell on Wednesday claime  more

WASHINGTON, May 4 -- The Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis issued a 36-page report in April 2021, entitled "Paying for Failure: High Fees for Finance Consultants Shortchange Puerto Rico Electrical Grid." The report was written by Cathy Kunkel, energy finance analyst, and Tom Sanzillo, director of financial analysis. * * * Executive Summary Puerto Rico continues to suffer from an electrical system that is bankrupt, in poor physical condition and charges among the highest r  more

BOSTON, Massachusetts, May 5 -- The John F. Kennedy Library Foundation issued the following news release on May 4, 2021: The John F. Kennedy Library Foundation today announced that seven people who have risked their own health and safety to protect others during the COVID-19 pandemic will receive a special Profile in Courage Award this year. Ambassador Caroline Kennedy and her son, Jack Schlossberg, will present the awards for COVID Courage as part of a virtual ceremony that will air for the pu  more

WASHINGTON, May 7 (TNSOps) -- The National Center for Public Policy Research issued the following news release on May 6, 2021: The Free Enterprise Project (FEP) took Capital One to task today over the credit card giant's support for left-wing legislation that would wreak havoc on women's sports and strip millions of Americans of federal religious freedom protections. "If Capital One's leadership has any idea what is in the Equality Act, it sure wasn't evident today," said Justin Danhof, Esq.,   more

WASHINGTON, May 7 -- Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, issued the following commentary to the Foreign Service Journal: * * * Can Arctic's Unique Distinction as Zone of Peace Be Maintained? 'The Arctic Senator' Explains What It Will Take A battle-ready flotilla of 50 warships and 40 military aircraft cruised across the North Pacific. In its path was a small fleet of American fishermen. When the flotilla's course encroached on the U.S. fishing grounds, the flotilla aggressively directed the fishin  more