Quick Hits

*** President Joe Biden praised civil servants on Wednesday during a virtual event hosted by the Partnership for Public Service to recognize finalists for the "Sammies" – the annual Samuel J. Heyman Service to America medal given in recognition of exceptional civil servants and their accomplishments.

"Every day, hundreds of thousands of public servants and their families are reminding us that our government isn't some foreign force in the distant capital," Biden said. "These awards aren't just the 'Oscars of public service,' they're a reminder that public service is a noble, impactful profession. And I hope that it’ll encourage more young people to consider careers in public service."

*** A new bill would require U.S. financial regulation agencies to adopt common data standards for financial information collection reporting. The Financial Transparency Act is sponsored by Reps. Carolyn Maloney (D-N.Y.) and Patrick McHenry (R-N.C.)

*** Sens. Ben Cardin (D-Md.), Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.), Mark Warner (D-Va.) and Tim Kaine (D-Va.) urged the Biden administration to get the project of replacing the FBI's downtown Washington, D.C. headquarters with a suburban campus back on track. The Trump administration had shelved the project.

*** The MITRE Corporation has named Wen Masters as vice president for cyber technologies. Masters comes to MITRE from the Georgia Institute of Technology where she served in multiple roles as a research scientist and administrator.