Tracy Mumford

The Times talked with the mother of a 9-year-old who's having her son carry a copy of his U.S.

passport in his backpack now, and another mom who sends her 8- and 15-year-old kids to school in the Minneapolis suburbs with their passports in clear pouches hanging around their necks.

The 8-year-old told The Times she was still worried about what could happen, saying, quote, "'I have a passport, but it's paper, not a shield.'"

Bipartisan momentum has been building around starting to tackle America's housing crisis.

The U.S.

is currently short as many as 7 million housing units, which is one of the big reasons that home prices surged roughly 50 percent in the last five years.

The Senate approved a package of housing-focused bills in the fall, and now the House is expected to vote on a similar package as soon as next week that would reward new construction and eliminate red tape.

A few of the things the new legislation could do.

First, it could push the federal government towards writing a national building code, which the U.S.

doesn't currently have.

The thinking is that standardizing construction regulations and guidelines, instead of having a patchwork of state and local rules, could reduce costs and streamline new development.

Also, both bills aim to give a boost to manufactured and modular homes.

That kind of housing is built off-site, then delivered and assembled, a much faster way to build than traditional construction.

And the bills would also make it easier to fix up existing homes.

The Senate bill, for example, would give grants and loans to low-income Americans and small-time landlords to make critical repairs so that older housing can continue to be used.

Chris Buckley is part of the team of Times reporters covering a remarkable purge at the highest levels of the Chinese military.

It's been called a total annihilation of the high command.

My colleagues recently analyzed state media reports and official announcements and found that 23 out of 30 high ranking generals and admirals have been removed from their posts in recent years, including China's top general, who was ousted just over a week ago.

Current and former U.S.

officials tell The Times that beyond the hazy allegations of corruption and disloyalty, something else could be contributing to President Xi's obliteration of his military leadership.