Congress aims to reauthorize Commerce telecom agency for first time in three decades

Congress is considering reauthorization of the National Telecommunications and Information Administration this year, with leading lawmakers casting the agency in a critical role overseeing issues ranging from federal spectrum management and broadband Internet expansion to emerging developments in cybersecurity and artificial intelligence. NTIA was last reauthorized 30 years ago. During a House Energy and Commerce communications and technology subcommittee hearing last week, Chairman Bob Latta (R-Ohio) introduced a discussion draft of his “National Telecommunication and Information Administration Reauthorization Act of 2023.” The bill is among a raft of legislation the…

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Political Campaigns May Never Be the Same

Depending on whom you ask in politics, the sudden advances in artificial intelligence will either transform American democracy for the better or bring about its ruin. At the moment, the doomsayers are louder. Voice-impersonation technology and deep-fake videos are scaring campaign strategists, who fear that their deployment in the days before the 2024 election could decide the winner. Even some AI developers are worried about what they’ve unleashed: Last week the CEO of the company behind ChatGPT practically begged Congress to regulate his industry. (Whether that was genuine civic-mindedness or…

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The Fight to Prevent Veteran Suicide

The return to civilian life can be an extreme challenge for men and women who have served in the military, veteran Jim Lorraine says. “What you have to understand, when you move from the military back into the civilian world, you’re really not just changing a job, you’re changing a culture,” explains Lorraine, president of America’s Warrior Partnership.  America’s Warrior Partnership works to build relationships with veterans and provide them with the tools and support they need to succeed after their military service. The veteran organization uses a four-step plan…

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Exploring the Rich History of Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month

  A month isn’t enough to cover the history and impact of the millions of people who identify as AAPI. There are 20.6 million people in the U.S. who identify as AAPI—over 6% of the total population, and their cultures, contributions, and challenges deserve to be recognized.  What is AAPI Heritage Month? Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month (or AAPI Heritage Month) celebrates people in the United States who are of Asian, Pacific Islander, and Native Hawaiian descent.  The AAPI umbrella term includes cultures from the entire Asian continent—including…

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Sports no sure respite from politics when title-winning athletes visit the White House

President Calvin Coolidge wasn’t as big a baseball fan as his wife, Grace. But even Silent Cal got swept up in the excitement of the Washington Senators’ unexpectedly successful season in 1924. After the team clinched the American League pennant, the players swung by the White House to shake hands and pose for pictures with Coolidge. The Washington Times stories: White House

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Dissatisfied with OPM’s data, Republicans ask individual agencies for telework details

With many agencies’ return-to-office plans still uncertain, Republicans on the House Oversight and Accountability Committee want to take matters into their own hands. GOP committee leaders changed their strategy for trying to get more federal telework data, now reaching out directly to agency heads. In a series of 25 letters, the lawmakers asked for up-to-date  numbers of teleworking federal employees, after saying the Biden administration was “not adequately tracking the specific levels of telework.” The Biden administration “has not provided current data about the specific amount of telework occurring within…

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