Today, President Trump announced the United States will block admission for certain Chinese nationals involved with entities that implement or support China’s Military-Civil Fusion (MCF) strategy. The restriction applies to graduate-level and above students on F or J visas, and the State Department can revoke existing visas.
The full proclamation is available here.
The US Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions will hold two hearings related to school reopening and the COVID-19 pandemic.
The first hearing “COVID-19: Going Back to College Safely” is on reopening colleges and universities.
Date: Tuesday, June 4th, 2020
Time: 7am PT/10am ET
Watch live here.
The second hearing “COVID-19: Going Back to School Safely” is on reopening K-12 schools.
Date: Wednesday, June 10th, 2020
Time: 7am PT/10am ET
Watch live here.
In an updated letter to Congressional leadership, associations representing a swath of research institutions reiterated their call to invest at least $26 billion in scientific research in future COVID-19 response bills. Unlike previous communications, this letter calls out specific funding levels for a number of individual agencies, including:
The letter also calls for additional funds for agencies which have research budgets greater than $100 million, including NOAA and the Institute for Education Science.
The letter is available here.
Below is a selection of articles the Federal Relations team read this week.
COVID-19: The US Department of Health and Human Services invested $1 billion in an Oxford University COVID vaccine, to be mass-produced by AstraZeneca. More states relax restrictions as concerns over PPE and rising death tolls continue. Live updates at CNN.
Pakistan Airliner: A Pakistan International Airlines plane crashed into a residential area in Karachi on Friday killing 97 people. The black box has just been recovered. More at Al Jazeera.
Calls for PM Adviser to Step Down: Many in the UK have called for Dominic Cummings, Senior Adviser to PM Boris Johnson, to resign after he made a 260 mile trip to be with relatives as his wife developed COVID symptoms. More at BBC.
NYSE: The trading floor of the New York Stock Exchange will reopen on Tuesday after an 8 week closure due to COVID. PPE and distancing guidelines will be in place, and only 25% of traders will be on the floor. More at CBS.
Today the US House of Representatives voted to pass H.R. 6800 (HEROES Act), a $3 trillion supplemental appropriations bill which includes a wide range of provisions ranging from healthcare to agriculture and nutrition. The legislation now moves to the Senate, although no vote has been scheduled yet.
The House also voted on a resolution to approve remote committee work, potentially allowing for FY21 appropriations to proceed remotely. The House is expected to meet on May 27th and 28th to vote on a FISA Re-authorization and discuss COVID related business.