District of Columbia News

An impressive list of scholars who have affixed their names to a national sign-on letter in support of the DREAM Act -- a bill to give certain undocumented immigrant youth an opportunity at legal status -- continues to grow. The letter entitled, We Cannot Afford Not to Pass the DREAM Act: A Plea from America's Scholars, currently has nearly 400 signatories from scores of institutions and states across the nation, including all seven ivy league institutions. With a cloture vote on ... read more

Gail J. McGovern, President and CEO of the American Red Cross, will deliver a speech entitled "One Year after the Haiti Earthquake: Progress and Challenges" at a National Press Club luncheon on Jan. 12, 2011. (Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20080917/NPCLOGO) McGovern, head of the nation's largest humanitarian organization, will address ongoing recovery efforts in the wake of the Haitian 2010 earthquake, outlining challenges that have slowed the pace of progress and needs that remain. McGovern will discuss the impact post-earthquake developments such as ... read more

Speaker Nancy Pelosi spoke on the House floor this morning in support of a bipartisan House resolution honoring the life and work of Ambassador Richard Holbrooke, Special Representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan, who died earlier this week. Below are the Speaker's remarks. "Thank you very much. I thank the Chairman [Mr. Berman] for yielding, and I commend him and the Ranking Member, soon to be Chairwoman, Ileana Ros-Lehtinen for giving us this opportunity to address the resolution presented by Congresswoman ... read more

Registration has opened for the Eighth Force Protection Equipment Demonstration (FPED VIII), a collaborative effort between government and industry, which presents the latest commercial off-the-shelf technology for countering terrorist threats. FPED VIII will be held at Northern Virginia's Stafford Regional Airport next May 17-19. The federally produced demonstration will feature the products of more than 575 exhibitors demonstrating more than 3,000 technologically advanced commercial off-the-shelf items in 20 equipment categories. The DoD Physical Security Equipment Action Group (PSEAG), administered by the ... read more

A homeless-prevention program by the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), which seeks to help Veterans and families who are on the verge of becoming homeless, has moved closer to implementation. The program marks the first time that VA will fund services for the spouses and children ... read more

AIA agrees with comments by Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates warning that the department would suffer adverse consequences if Congress fails to pass a full defense appropriations bill as part of any funding package. If DOD is required to operate under a year-long continuing resolution, instead of full appropriations, Gates said it would leave the department "without the resources and flexibility needed to meet vital military requirements." "Congress needs to take Secretary Gates' concerns into account," said AIA President and CEO Marion ... read more

The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) announced today it will begin using Medicare’s standard payment rates for certain medical procedures performed by non-VA providers on Feb. 16, 2011. “This regulation will have no impact on the Veterans we care for,” said ... read more

Unsustainable Medicare reimbursement rates for home medical equipment and services (HME) and a sharp reduction in HME providers will occur as a result of Medicare's bidding program going into effect on January 1, 2011 in nine of the largest metropolitan areas in the U.S. Those areas include Charlotte, Cincinnati, Cleveland, Dallas-Fort Worth, Kansas City, Miami, Orlando, Pittsburgh, and Riverside, California. The bidding process starts in another 91 areas throughout the U.S. in 2011. The bidding system affects providers and consumers ... read more

Today, the Electronic Payments Coalition issued the following statement in response to the Fed issuing its draft rule on debit interchange rates: The Federal Reserve has been limited a rushed, politically-motivated action from Congress. The Federal Reserve acknowledged, both in today's meeting and in the staff memo to the Federal Reserve Board, that this government price fixing could result in significant additional fees on debit cardholders - with no guarantee that merchants will pass any savings to their customers. With 81% of ... read more

The Department of Commerce Internet Task Force released a series of recommendations Thursday (Dec. 16) on ways to protect and improve online privacy and other personal information for consumers and businesses. The following statement should be attributed to Kathleen Zanowic, Verizon's chief privacy officer. "Verizon congratulates the Obama Administration and the Commerce Department for their green paper on online and consumer privacy. It is a serious and important contribution to developing a comprehensive and sensible privacy policy for consumers ... read more

During this holiday season, more than 5,000 people who have already passed the difficult test to prove they are refugees and are living peacefully in the United States -- and untold numbers of refugees who remain in dangerous situations abroad -- are wrongly being categorized by the U.S. government as "terrorists." These people, including a pro-democracy Burmese student who protested against the Burmese government and was persecuted as a result; a young Sudanese man who was forcibly abducted and detained by ... read more

NASA named Richard Keegan as the agency's associate deputy administrator on Thursday. He replaces Charles Scales, who has held the position since April 2007. Scales is retiring. (Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20081007/38461LOGO) The associate deputy administrator assists and supports NASA's administrator and deputy administrator during day-to-day agency operations, across the broad scope of institutional and workforce issues, and with contingency and continuity of operations planning. Keegan has served as deputy associate administrator of the Mission Support Directorate since its creation in April. For the prior ... read more

Blackboard Inc. (Nasdaq: BBBB) today announced that its contactless campus card reader has won the coveted SESAMES Award, an international honor given to the most innovative products in digital security and smart technologies. The SESAMES Awards represent an "unchallenged seal of approval in innovation and are regarded as global standards for card manufacturers and related industries." The award-winning reader supports contactless and magnetic strip reading capabilities, and is a key part of a complete contactless environment that supports a range ... read more

Today, Coca-Cola joined forces with the U.S. Marine Corps Reserve Toys for Tots at Union Station to encourage D.C. area commuters to donate a toy before the official close of the Toys for Tots drive on Tuesday, December 21, 2010. (Photo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20101216/DC19033-a) (Photo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20101216/DC19033-b) "As part of our national partnership with Toys for Tots, Coca-Cola is helping get the word out to D.C. area residents to donate toys and gifts for those in need," said Brendan Walshe, Coca-Cola Refreshments' Maryland Market ... read more

Speaker Nancy Pelosi issued the following statement today after the House passed the Post-9/11 Veterans Educational Assistance Improvements Act to strengthen the New GI Bill for the 21st Century. This package makes it easier for veterans to take advantage of New GI Bill benefits, helps veterans successfully enter the civilian workforce, and extends educational benefits to members of the National Guard and veterans who use distance education. This legislation is supported by a range of veterans' organizations, including ... read more

Will personal finance issues be included in your New Year's resolutions? Have you taken a good, hard look at your investing strategy and made sure that it fits with the new reality of the financial markets? Are you looking at ways to start a saving plan in 2011 in order to build a nest egg for the future of your family? The New Year is a good time to re-evaluate your saving and investment plans to ... read more

Grameen Foundation today announced the release of Mifos® 2.0, an innovative new version of its award-winning management information software (MIS) for microfinance. It will be available to microfinance institutions (MFIs) as a cloud service or on-premise system starting December 21, 2010. Mifos 2.0 offers MFIs significant advances in social performance monitoring with the full integration of Grameen Foundation's poverty assessment tool, the Progress out of Poverty Index(TM) (PPI(TM)). The new Mifos software will also enable MFIs to capture and ... read more

The Commerce Department's "Green Paper" about online privacy is an industry friendly document that would perpetuate current failed practices that give companies, not consumers, control of consumer data, Consumer Watchdog said today. The report calls for "voluntary, enforceable codes." It proposes relying on a failed self-regulatory model when it's clear that real regulations with meaningful enforcement are necessary, Consumer Watchdog said. "The Commerce report starts off on the wrong foot with the title, 'Commercial Data Privacy...' We are talking about ... read more

Today, National Industries for the Blind (NIB) called for websites and information services to become more accessible to people who are blind, noting this will broaden employment opportunities for a community that experiences 70 percent unemployment nationwide. Thomas Panek, Vice President of Relationship Management at NIB and a person who is blind, offered expert testimony at a public hearing convened by the Department of Justice in Washington, D.C., on Proposed Revisions to the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). "As the largest employer ... read more

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration announced today that the agency is recommending removing the breast cancer indication from the label for Avastin (bevacizumab) because the drug has not been shown to be safe and effective for that use. (Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20090824/FDALOGO) The agency is making this recommendation after reviewing the results of four clinical studies of Avastin in women with breast cancer and determining that the data indicate that the drug does not prolong overall survival in breast cancer patients or provide ... read more