Sen. Mark WarnerMark Robert Warner Sunday shows preview: Infrastructure expected to dominate as talks continue to drag Top union unveils national town hall strategy to push Biden’s jobs plan Senate Democrats urge Google to conduct racial equity audit MORE (D-Va.), the chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, said on Sunday that it is worth debating whether to make paying ransoms illegal after cyberattacks disrupted operations at energy and meat production firms in the U.S.

“I’m not sure what the answer is at this point,” Warner said on NBC’s “Meet the Press.”

Warner also stressed “transparency” in any payments companies make to cyber criminals.

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“We need more transparency because right now what’s happening around ransomware, not only are the companies often not reporting that they are attacked, but they’re not reporting the ransomware payments,” he said.

A cyberattack last week forced JBS USA to shutter several meat production plants across the country, drawing comparisons to a similar attack on Colonial Pipeline in May.

Last month, President BidenJoe BidenTrump touts record, blasts Dems in return to stage Trump demands China pay ‘reparations’ for role in coronavirus pandemic Lincoln Project co-founder: Trump’s words ‘will surely kill again’ MORE said a criminal group based in Russia was responsible for the attack on the Colonial Pipeline, and the White House said last Tuesday that the cyberattack on JBS USA likely originated from Russia.

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The CEO of Colonial Pipeline confirmed publicly that the company paid the hackers behind the attack so it could regain access to its systems.

Warner during the NBC interview on Sunday also said that he is “really worried” about a mass cyberattack from Russia.

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“Our economy [could] come to a halt,” he added.

More than three in four Americans who have yet to receive a coronavirus vaccine say it is unlikely they ever will, according to a new poll. 

Among U.S. adults who do not plan to be vaccinated, 78 percent said in a Gallup poll released Monday they are unlikely to reconsider their plans. Roughly half — 51 percent — indicated they are “not likely at all” to change their mind and get vaccinated. 

Overall, just one in five vaccine-reluctant adults said they are open to reconsidering, with 2 percent saying they are “very likely” and 19 percent saying they are “somewhat likely” to ever get inoculated. 

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The same poll found 60 percent of U.S. adults say they have been fully vaccinated against COVID-19, meaning two weeks have passed since their final dose, and 24 percent do not plan to be vaccinated. 

More than half of all U.S. adults polled, 53 percent, said they are worried about people opting against getting a vaccine, including 25 percent who said they are “very worried” about vaccine hesitancy in America. 

Politicians, celebrities, athletes and public health officials have spent the last four months encouraging all Americans to get vaccinated against the coronavirus. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention last month lifted guidance requiring face coverings while indoors and in public for fully-vaccinated people. 

Several states have also created lottery systems with cash prizes for residents who get vaccinated as a means of inciting people to take the shot.  

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President BidenJoe BidenFauci, Jill Biden visit New York vaccine site More than 100 former world leaders call on G7 countries to to pay for global COVID-19 vaccination Ukraine’s president implores Biden to meet him before summit with Putin MORE has listed the federal government’s mass vaccination effort as one of his top areas of focus during his first 100 days in office. 

The U.S. has recorded approximately 33.4 million coronavirus cases since the start of the pandemic last year, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University, along with almost 578,000 related deaths.

The Gallup poll was based on self-administered web surveys conducted May 18-23 among 3,572 adults. It has a margin of error of 3 percentage points. 

Sex workers have gained the backing of a small group of Democratic lawmakers after largely being shut out of the policymaking process.

The turning point was the Fight Online Sex Trafficking Act (FOSTA), also referred to as SESTA after the original Senate bill, which was framed as a way to punish online platforms facilitating trafficking and abuse but was broadly opposed by the very industry it was meant to help.

Despite the best efforts of sex workers to dissuade lawmakers, the bill passed through both chambers easily and was signed by then-President TrumpDonald TrumpBarbra Streisand: Republicans ‘want an authoritarian state’ DOJ adds four defendants to Oath Keepers conspiracy case J.D. Vance emerges as wild card in Ohio GOP Senate primary MORE in 2018.

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“It was not just that their perspective was discarded. Their perspective wasn’t even heard. They were considered almost untouchable in the Capitol,” said Rep. Ro KhannaRohit (Ro) KhannaSex workers gain foothold in Congress House GOP fights back against mask, metal detector fines Hillicon Valley: Facebook to resume some political donations | Microsoft says Russian hackers utilized email system used by USAID to target other groups | Senate confirms Biden’s top scientist MORE (D-Calif.), who is pushing a bill designed to study the effects of FOSTA-SESTA.

Sex worker advocate organizations and congressional staffers who spoke with The Hill said that stigma was one of the primary factors keeping those voices sidelined.

“No politician wants to or until very recently wanted to be seen as facilitating sex work or encouraging sex work,” said Mike Stabile, director of public affairs at the Free Speech Coalition, an adult industry trade association. 

Khanna told The Hill that his colleagues “didn’t even want to take meetings because of the possible images or pictures” with sex workers that could have been taken.

Stigma also hurts organizations’ funding because consumers of pornopgraphy are “embarrassed” to publically back them, says sex worker and writer Cathy Reisenwitz.

Tight funds have left sex worker organizations with minimal capacity to put pressure on lawmakers on the ground in Washington.

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“There are no lobbyists. … There’s more people who are engaging in federal legislation, but we’re all still kind of working on spit and duct tape here,” Kate D’Adamo, a sex worker rights activist and partner at Reframe Health and Justice, told The Hill. 

Some organizations have narrowed their efforts to sympathetic lawmakers to make up for the lack of resources.

Mary Moody, a founding board member at the Adult Industry Laborers & Artists Association, met with Sen. Elizabeth WarrenElizabeth WarrenSex workers gain foothold in Congress The health of our communities is not negotiable Senate meltdown reveals deepening partisan divide MORE’s (D-Mass.) office earlier this year. The Massachusetts lawmaker is the Senate lead on the FOSTA-SESTA study bill and has met with sex worker groups in the past.

“We were able to discuss issues impacting workers, how legislation around Section 230 and like SESTA-FOSTA can cause harm and ask them to commit to keeping an open line of communication on future issues,” Moody told The Hill, referring to the 1996 law that protects online platforms from liability for content posted by third parties.

Sen. Ron WydenRonald (Ron) Lee WydenSex workers gain foothold in Congress Senate reaches deal to get out of town after Jan. 6 commission vote Tech trade groups sue Florida over new social media law MORE (D-Ore.) also became more aware of sex worker concerns during the debate over FOSTA-SESTA and has kept in touch with the organizations since.

“Sex workers sit at the intersection of a lot of important, but exceedingly difficult, issues surrounding law enforcement, gender, race and speech,” he said in a statement. “When Congress makes policy that affects any of those concerns, it would be malpractice not to take their voices into consideration.”

The sex worker community has been particularly vocal on internet regulation proposals, especially as many of them have had to rely on online revenue streams during the pandemic. FOSTA-SESTA’s carved out an exception in Section 230, a mechanism that several recent bills have borrowed.

Advocates did hours of outreach last year to try to slow down the EARN IT Act, a bill championed by Sens. Lindsey GrahamLindsey Olin GrahamSex workers gain foothold in Congress Trump, midterms fuel GOP’s effort to quash Jan. 6 commission Mother of slain Capitol Police officer urges GOP senators to back Jan. 6 commission MORE (R-S.C.) and Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) that would make exceptions under Section 230 protections for child sexual abuse material.

Concerned that the threat of lawsuits would dissuade platforms from hosting any adult content at all, they worked to get lawmakers and experts to address the root causes of exploitation such as insufficient health services and excessive criminalization, according to D’Adamo.

Sex workers also organized earlier this year against Sen. Mark WarnerMark Robert WarnerSex workers gain foothold in Congress New Russian hacks spark calls for tougher Biden actions Extraordinary explanations for UFOs look increasingly plausible MORE’s (D-Va.) SAFE TECH Act over fear that it would lead platforms to censor their content. 

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Adult industry organizations are also active at the state level and have had some recent successes.

Maxine Doogan, a working prostitute, launched the Sex Workers and Erotic Service Providers Legal, Educational and Research Project in California in 2008 after a San Francisco ballot measure to decriminalize prostitution failed. 

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The group has since successfully blocked multiple ballot initiatives in California and pushed for reforms in other states such as Alaska, which passed a measure in 2017 that gives immunity to sex workers who report dangerous crimes from being cited for prostitution.

One of the roadblocks for sex workers both in states and at the federal level has been a collection organizations including the anti-trafficking group Exodus Cry and the National Center on Sexual Exploitation (NCOSE), formerly known as Morality in Media.

These groups, according to sex workers who spoke with The Hill, overstate the risk of trafficking and weaponize that sentiment to demonize and threaten the porn industry.

“Their approach, which has been very successful, has been to oversimplify and exaggerate the extent of the problem,” added Jeremy Malcolm, the executive director of the Prostasia Foundation, which seeks to take an evidence-based approach to reducing the harms of sex trafficking.

The groups have also been successful at pulling in funding — the Justice Department gave NCOSE a $240,000 grant in 2020 to research the sex trade — and influencing Congress. 

For example, Laila Mickelwait, the founder of the Exodus Cry-backed campaign to shut down Pornhub, Traffickinghub, appeared before the House Financial Services Committee earlier this year. 

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Sens. Jeff MerkleyJeff MerkleySex workers gain foothold in Congress Democrats to introduce bill to prevent default recurring political donations Democrats: Roe v. Wade blow would fuel expanding Supreme Court MORE (D-Ore.) and Ben SasseBen SasseSex workers gain foothold in Congress Colorado Democrat: Fear of Trump, desire for power ‘overriding’ patriotism in some Republicans House Republican says DOJ should investigate Jan. 6, not ‘politically appointed’ commission MORE (R-Neb.) cited reporting relying heavily on the campaign when introducing the Stop Internet Sexual Exploitation Act, which sex workers have said could be the death knell of their industry.

Counteracting those forces and stabilizing the adult industry’s foothold in Congress will take more time and work from sex workers, their organizations and the small cadre of lawmakers in their corner.

Khanna told The Hill that one step in that process is passing the FOSTA-SESTA study bill, which those lawmakers are working to persuade key colleagues on before reintroducing it this Congress.

“We need the study in the bill,” he said. “But the issue is about overcoming the stigma, it’s about getting people who are on the margins of society a voice. The legislation is just a vehicle towards trying to accomplish that.”

The New York Police Department (NYPD) will no longer be using the controversial “robot dog” following mounting uproar against the machine’s use, officials confirmed Wednesday.

John Miller, NYPD deputy commissioner for intelligence and counterterrorism, told The New York Times that the leasing contract valued at around $94,000 with the robot dog’s maker, Boston Dynamics, had been ended early on April 22.

The action was taken in response to a subpoena issued by New York City Councilman Ben Kallos (D) and Council Speaker Corey Johnson (D) for records relating to the device.

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Miller told the newspaper that the robot’s lease had initially been scheduled to end in August, but the contract had been terminated earlier because it was being improperly used to fuel arguments about race and surveillance, saying it had become a “target.”

“People had figured out the catchphrases and the language to somehow make this evil,” Miller said.

The NYPD official did not rule out the possibility of the robot, dubbed Digidog, returning in the future.

“But for now, this is a casualty of politics, bad information and cheap sound bytes,” he told the Times. “We should have named it ‘Lassie.’”

Bill Neidhardt, spokesman for New York City Mayor Bill de BlasioBill de BlasioAttack sends Chinese American New York man to hospital New York City opens all city-run vaccination sites to walk-ins New York Post encourages everyone in city to get vaccinated MORE (D), told the newspaper he was “glad the Digidog was put down,” describing it as “creepy” and “alienating.”

A spokesperson for Boston Dynamics stated Wednesday that the robot dogs were not designed to be used as weapons and were not meant to intimidate people, the Times reported.

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“We support local communities reviewing the allocation of public funds, and believe Spot is a cost-effective tool comparable to historical robotic devices used by public safety to inspect hazardous environments,” the spokesperson said.

In February, New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-CortezAlexandria Ocasio-CortezNYPD cancels use of robotic dog after backlash Trump supporter found guilty of threatening to kill lawmakers Six House Democrats ask Garland to review case of lawyer placed under house arrest over Chevron suit MORE (D) denounced the use of the robot, saying it was being used to target low-income communities of color. The congresswoman also took issue with the funds being used to keep the machine, arguing it should instead go toward schools or other issues.

“Please ask yourself: when was the last time you saw next-generation, world class technology for education, healthcare, housing, etc consistently prioritized for underserved communities like this?” Ocasio-Cortez tweeted at the time.

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Energy Secretary Jennifer GranholmJennifer GranholmDivisions remain on infrastructure as clock ticks on bipartisan deal Energy secretary: Adversaries have capability of shutting down US power grid Sunday shows – Infrastructure dominates MORE said on Sunday that a deal on President BidenJoe BidenFauci, Jill Biden visit New York vaccine site More than 100 former world leaders call on G7 countries to to pay for global COVID-19 vaccination Ukraine’s president implores Biden to meet him before summit with Putin MORE‘s infrastructure plan “has got to be done soon,” adding that it is “perplexing” and “frustrating” that one has not been reached.

“This has got to be done soon,” Granholm said on CNN’s “State of the Union.” 

“It’s just curious why there isn’t more coming together,” Granholm said. “The president still has hope. [Sen.] Joe ManchinJoe ManchinThe Senate may be a legislative graveyard, but debate is not yet dead in the US Divisions remain on infrastructure as clock ticks on bipartisan deal Sunday shows – Infrastructure dominates MORE [D-W.Va.] still has hope. … But I can tell you the House will start their markup on Wednesday.”

Granholm also said it is “a bit perplexing why the Republicans haven’t moved further on critical pieces.”

“I will just say this. In my world, in the energy space, Republicans have pushed four pieces of the energy infrastructure that the president had put into the American Jobs Plan that are not in their counteroffer.” 

“It is frustrating that there’s not more coming together on this,” she said. “The president’s red line, as you have heard, is that inaction is his red line. So there will be action. We’re just hopeful that we can see it in a bipartisan way. That would be good for the country.”

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A retired Southwest Airlines pilot was sentenced to probation Friday over a 2020 incident during which he engaged in inappropriate behavior, including exposing himself.

Michael Haak pleaded guilty to exposing his genitals to a female coworker and watching pornography on a laptop during a flight from Philadelphia to Florida last year, The Associated Press reports.

He removed himself from the pilot’s seat after the plane reached its cruising altitude and “disrobed,” prosecutors alleged.

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Haak pleaded guilty to the accusations brought against him after being charged in April with intentionally committing a lewd, indecent or obscene act in a public place. He was sentenced by U.S. Magistrate Judge J. Mark Coulson to unsupervised probation and a $5,000 fine.

During the sentencing, prosecutors and the judge condemned Haak for his behavior, with Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael Cunningham saying Haak had “a duty to comport himself in a much more responsible manner.”

“This is not the kind of aberrant behavior that anyone should accept,” he added.

Haak apologized for his actions, saying it “started as a consensual prank” between him and his co-pilot.

“I never imagined it would turn into this in a thousand years,” he continued.

Southwest Airlines told The Hill that Haak retired before they were notified of the incident.

“Nonetheless, Southwest did investigate the matter and as a result, ceased paying Mr. Haak any benefits he was entitled to receive as a result of his separation from (the airline),” company spokesman said.

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Cox Media Group, which owns television and radio stations in 20 media markets around the U.S., was the victim of a ransomware attack Thursday, according to several reports.

TV and radio streams for stations across the country were taken offline Thursday, according to trade publication Inside Radio, TV news gossip site FTVLive and computer security site The Record. 

Reportedly, a number of the sites were back up and running as of Friday, but a check of several websites of the company radio stations Friday morning revealed streams that were not working.

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Media spokespeople for Cox Media Group did not immediately respond to questions from The Hill about the issue.

Cox employees were told to turn off station computers or laptops immediately and not to access their Cox email accounts, FTV Live reported, and they were told to delete tweets about the outages.

A tweet about the outage from Brent Martineau the sports director of Jacksonville stations CBS47/FOX30, captured by The Record, could not be found on Martineau’s Twitter feed Friday morning. 

“No stream today,” Martineau posted, according to The Record. “Apologies. Gotta listen on ESPN690 today and we hope to have a podcast but not sure yet. Hoping it’s just a one day thing. @ActionSportsJax on @ESPN690Jax.”

Several organizations across the U.S. have been targeted by ransomware attacks this year. 

On Wednesday, a ransomware attack struck the largest ferry service operator to Martha’s Vineyard and Nantucket affecting some of its operations.

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On Memorial Day weekend a cyberattack forced meat producer JBS to shut down production in all its beef plants in the U.S.

In early May, a cyberattack reportedly from the hacking group DarkSide temporarily shut down one of the largest gas pipelines in the U.S.

In response to the large number of attacks, The Justice Department this week said it will start giving ransomware investigations the same priority as terrorist attacks.

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Hundreds of New Zealanders were evacuated from their homes on Monday as heavy rain caused intense flooding in the Canterbury region, The Associated Press reports.

A state of emergency was declared as some areas received up to 16 inches of rain this past weekend.

The military evacuated over 50 people overnight in an NH-90 helicopter, according to the AP. One man was reportedly clinging to a tree when he jumped into the water, attempting to swim away. The man was later rescued by the military helicopters after 30 minutes of searching.

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An elderly couple was also rescued from the roof of their car and a farmer was rescued after being swept into a river, the AP reports.

“The rescuers are fantastic,” Adams told local media, having been saved by another farmer who saw him and organized a rescue effort.

“Seeing the community overnight pull together and support the displaced residents who were evacuated from their homes has been heartening,” Army Liaison Officer Cpt. Jake Faber told the AP.

New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has planned to travel to Christchurch on Monday to be briefed on the situation in-person 

“Australia is no stranger to floods,” Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison, who is visiting New Zealand, told reporters. “Or fires, or cyclones, or, indeed, even mouse plagues. We have, both countries, endured a large amount of challenge over the course, particularly, of these last few years.”

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Happy Friday and welcome to Overnight Defense. I’m Ellen Mitchell, and here’s your nightly guide to the latest developments at the Pentagon, on Capitol Hill and beyond. CLICK HERE to subscribe to the newsletter.

THE TOPLINE: The Pentagon on Friday released a $715 billion budget proposal it says is geared toward competing with China by shedding older weapons systems and investing in new technologies.

The biggest changes: Among the major shifts, the Air Force is asking to retire more than 200 aircraft and would fund an operational hypersonic cruise missile for the first time, requesting $200 million for such a program.

The budget plan would also provide $5.1 billion for the Pacific Deterrence Initiative, the fund created by Congress to counter China in the Indo-Pacific region.

“The department in this budget takes a clear-eyed approach to Beijing and provides the investments to prioritize China as our pacing challenge,” Deputy Defense Secretary Kathleen Hicks told reporters on Friday.

Tough choices: Hicks added the budget also documents “some of the tough choices we had to make,” including getting rid of “systems that are no longer suited for today’s advanced threat environment or are too costly to sustain.” Instead, that money will be reallocate to fund research and development in advanced technologies, such as microelectronics, to “provide the foundation for fielding a full range of needed capabilities, such as hypersonic missiles, artificial intelligence and 5G.”

Criticisms: The spending plan is unlikely to quell criticism from Republicans that the defense budget is too small to meet the challenges posed by China, while many progressives have argued that it is too large in the face of pressing domestic needs and nonmilitary threats such as pandemics.

“President BidenJoe BidenPutin backs up Belarus’s Lukashenko amid international pressure Biden administration to reimpose sanctions on Belarus over diverted flight Senate passes resolution urging probe into COVID-19 origins MORE’s defense budget request is wholly inadequate — it’s nowhere near enough to give our service members the resources, equipment and training they need,” Sen. James InhofeJames (Jim) Mountain InhofeOvernight Defense: Pentagon pitches 5B budget | Kamala Harris addresses US Naval Academy graduates Pentagon pitches 5B budget with cuts to older weapons Overnight Defense: Air Force nominee threads needle on F-35’s future | Senate panel advances historic Army secretary pick MORE (Okla.) and Rep. Mike RogersMichael (Mike) Dennis RogersOvernight Defense: Pentagon pitches 5B budget | Kamala Harris addresses US Naval Academy graduates Pentagon pitches 5B budget with cuts to older weapons Iran’s destabilizing role has been exposed in Gaza MORE (Ala.), the top Republicans on the Senate and House Armed Services committees, said in a joint statement Friday. “It’s disingenuous to call this request an increase because it doesn’t even keep up with inflation — it’s a cut.”

By contrast, Reps. Mark PocanMark William PocanOvernight Defense: Pentagon pitches 5B budget | Kamala Harris addresses US Naval Academy graduates Pentagon pitches 5B budget with cuts to older weapons Overnight Defense: Groups use Afghanistan withdrawal to push for defense budget cuts | Confederate renaming effort could affect ‘hundreds’ of military assets | Progressives see ‘historic’ moment to shift US-Israel relations MORE (D-Wis.) and Barbara LeeBarbara Jean LeeOvernight Defense: Pentagon pitches 5B budget | Kamala Harris addresses US Naval Academy graduates Pentagon pitches 5B budget with cuts to older weapons Overnight Defense: Groups use Afghanistan withdrawal to push for defense budget cuts | Confederate renaming effort could affect ‘hundreds’ of military assets | Progressives see ‘historic’ moment to shift US-Israel relations MORE (D-Calif.) blasted the budget as a “failure” for increasing defense funding.

Out with the old: All told, the Pentagon is proposing $2.8 billion in divestments, according to budget documents.

The military wants to retire so-called legacy systems that are expected to be a major fight with Congress, where lawmakers fiercely protect weapons programs that benefit their districts.

The Air Force is seeking to retire 42 A-10 Warthogs, 47 F-16C/D and 48 F-15C/D fighter jets, 14 KC-10 and 18 KC-135 tankers, 13 C-130H transport planes and 16 E-8 and 20 RQ-4 drones.

The Navy, meanwhile, is proposing to retire four littoral combat ships, among other cuts. 

And in with the new: Among the purchases in the budget, the military services are asking for $12 billion for 85 F-35 fighter jets.

The Navy is seeking eight new warships: two Virginia-class submarines, one DDG-51 Aegis destroyer, one Constellation-class frigate, one John LewisJohn LewisOvernight Defense: Pentagon pitches 5B budget | Kamala Harris addresses US Naval Academy graduates Pentagon pitches 5B budget with cuts to older weapons Senate confirms Clarke as first Black woman to lead DOJ civil rights MORE-class refueler, two Navajo-class T-ATS salvage and towing vessels and one auxiliary ocean surveillance vessel.

The budget also includes $2.6 billion for the Ground-Based Strategic Deterrent, the program to replace the aging U.S. intercontinental ballistic missile arsenal that has been a prime target for lawmakers looking to rein in the Pentagon budget. 

Read more about the budget here.

 

HARRIS TELLS NAVAL ACADEMY GRADUATES WORLD ‘FRAGILE’ AFTER PANDEMIC

Vice President Kamala HarrisKamala HarrisOvernight Defense: Pentagon pitches 5B budget | Kamala Harris addresses US Naval Academy graduates Harris tells Naval Academy graduates world ‘fragile’ after pandemic Harris announces deals for Central America investments MORE on Friday addressed the graduates of the U.S. Naval Academy, warning the newly commissioned Navy and Marine Corps officers of a “fragile” world following the COVID-19 pandemic.

During the keynote speech — the first by a woman at a commencement at the nearly 175-year-old institution — Harris said the pandemic had “accelerated our world into a new era,” similar to the way the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks had shaped the country.

“It has forever impacted our world,” she said to roughly 1,000 graduates at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium in Annapolis, Md. “It has forever influenced our perspective, and if we weren’t clear before, we know now: Our world is interconnected. Our world is interdependent, and our world is fragile.”

A new era: A pandemic can spread throughout the globe in a matter of months, a gang of hackers can disrupt the fuel supply of the eastern seaboard, and one country’s carbon emissions can threaten the sustainability of the Earth, she added.

“This, midshipmen, is the era we are in, and it is unlike any era that came before. … The challenge before us now is how to mount a modern defense to these modern threats.”

A different tone: Harris’s address was a far cry from former President TrumpDonald TrumpNY, NJ rail project gets key federal approval Senate meltdown reveals deepening partisan divide DHS formally bans family separations for illicit border crossings MORE’s in 2018, when he told graduates that his efforts in the Oval Office have boosted the nation’s prestige in the eyes of the world and that other countries “are respecting us again.”

Presidents and vice presidents give the commencement speeches to the service academies on a rotating basis. The ceremony was not held in person last year due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Other threats: Harris also touched on climate change, describing it as “a very real threat to our national security,” as well as cybersecurity threats, calling the Colonial Pipeline hack earlier this month “a warning shot” in what the graduates will soon face.

She also referred to the Biden administration’s vaccination effort and the military’s role in distributing and administering the shot, telling the class “the American people are depending on you.”

“We saw this during COVID-19 when Americans watched how members of our military helped vaccinate our nation, because you know biological threats like pandemics and infectious diseases are yet another threat in this era,” she said.

Read more about the speech here. 

 

ICYMI

— The Hill: Trump West Point appointee spread conspiracy theory: report

— The Hill: Milley says U.S. planning for potential evacuation of Afghan translators from region

— The Hill: Homeland Security warns Tulsa events could be targeted by white supremacists: report

— The Hill: Biden budget includes $750M to help agencies recover from SolarWinds hack in proposed budget

–The Hill: Khanna, Mace introduce bill to strengthen federal cyber workforce following major hacks

— Defense One: Afghanistan, Iraq drawdowns cut $3.2B from US Army costs, officials say

— Military Times: The Pentagon wants a new ‘reg’ for prosecuting extremism

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Royal Caribbean International on Friday announced a change in its policy, saying vaccinations against the coronavirus will be optional for cruise ship passengers.

“Guests are strongly recommended to set sail fully vaccinated, if they are eligible. Those who are unvaccinated or unable to verify vaccination will be required to undergo testing and follow other protocols, which will be announced at a later date,” the company said in its announcement.

The move comes after Florida passed a law that will fine companies $5,000 each time they ask customers if they are vaccinated against the coronavirus, the Miami Herald reported.

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“We also thank Governor DeSantis of Florida, Miami-Dade County Mayor Daniella Levine Cava, Broward County Mayor Steve Geller and Chairman of the Canaveral Port Authority board Wayne Justice and board commissioners for their steadfast support of our industry and for providing access to vaccines to the thousands of crew on our ships off the eastern seaboard,” CEO Michael Bayley said in the announcement.

“This act of understanding and humanity has been deeply appreciated, and we are grateful for their support, which is enabling the health and safety of our guests, crew members and the communities we visit,” he added.

The cruise line is set to begin test cruises authorized by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in June.

The announcement listed cruises that are set to take off this summer but are still pending approval from the CDC as the company must first pass the test cruises.

Florida’s move to ban companies from requiring vaccinations shook the cruise industry, with the CEO of Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings Ltd. saying it might avoid the state due to the decision.

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