[Congressional Bills 108th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Con. Res. 286 Introduced in House (IH)]
108th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. CON. RES. 286
Congratulating Fort Detrick on 60 years of service to the United
States.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
September 17, 2003
Mr. Bartlett of Maryland submitted the following concurrent resolution;
which was referred to the Committee on Armed Services
_______________________________________________________________________
CONCURRENT RESOLUTION
Congratulating Fort Detrick on 60 years of service to the United
States.
Whereas April 10, 2003, was the 60th Anniversary of the founding of Fort
Detrick;
Whereas throughout Fort Detrick's 60-year history, the army post has contributed
scientific breakthroughs and medical solutions for the Armed Forces and
the nation;
Whereas Fort Detrick is a focal point for America's biomedical scientific
leadership and has contributed extensively to protecting and improving
public health in the United States;
Whereas Fort Detrick has been home to preeminent researchers in bacteriology,
microbiology, clinical and preventative medicine, biochemistry,
neurology, botany, virology, and genomics;
Whereas the research program at Fort Detrick pioneered the laboratory facility
designs, equipment, and procedures that are used for infectious disease
research in laboratories worldwide;
Whereas Fort Detrick has improved public health throughout the world through the
creation of botulinum antibodies, which have been used to treat both
infant and adult victims of botulism;
Whereas the Venezuelan Equine Encephalitis vaccines, which were created at Fort
Detrick, have been used to control human and animal outbreaks of
Venezuelan Equine Encephalitis, and the Rift Valley Fever vaccines,
which were also created at Fort Detrick, have been used to protect
people in Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Yemen, and other countries who are at
high risk of Rift Valley Fever;
Whereas, on January 27, 1969, the Office of the Surgeon General of the Army
established the United States Army Medical Research Institute of
Infectious Diseases (hereinafter in this resolution referred to as
``USAMRIID''), which is located at Fort Detrick;
Whereas when outbreaks of hantaviral disease began in the southwestern United
States in 1993, USAMRIID was called upon to consult by the Centers for
Disease Control and Prevention and by various state health departments;
Whereas when the Ebola virus was first carried to the shores of the United
States in late 1989 by a primate colony found in Reston, Virginia, it
was USAMRIID that diagnosed and contained the outbreak;
Whereas USAMRIID also played a key role in the identification of and response to
the initial outbreak of West Nile virus in New York;
Whereas USAMRIID continues the life-saving work of the institute by
collaborating with the Centers for Disease Control and the National
Institutes of Health on the development of diagnostics and the
evaluation of antiviral drugs for Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome;
Whereas USAMRIID created a vaccine against Hemorrhagic Fever in the 1980s, which
has possibly saved thousands of lives in Argentina, including the lives
of agricultural workers at risk for exposure to this hemorrhagic fever
virus;
Whereas USAMRIID is the only federal laboratory to operate with a continuous 24-
hour per day capability since 9/11, and the support of the institute was
integral to the re-opening of Congressional office buildings and other
facilities after 9/11;
Whereas leading vaccine candidates for anthrax, plague, tularemia, and botulinum
neurotoxins were all originally developed at USAMRIID;
Whereas the leading possible countermeasures for at least 5 of the current top 6
biological threats that are on the Centers for Disease Control ``A''
List have come from the basic research program at USAMRIID;
Whereas the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases of the
National Institutes of Health at Fort Detrick and USAMRIID have
established a partnership to collaborate and accelerate biodefense
research that will protect all Americans against the threat of
biological and chemical attacks by terrorists;
Whereas, in 1974, the United States Army Medical Material Agency relocated to
Fort Detrick and currently, the United States Navy, Air Force, and Army
conduct medical logistics planning and management at Fort Detrick in
support of global military operations;
Whereas the Foreign Disease-Weed Science Research Unit of the Agricultural
Research Service of the Department of Agriculture has conducted high-
priority research in the Plant Pathogen Containment Facility at Ft.
Detrick for over 30 years, which has provided the agricultural community
with basic epidemiological information and rapid diagnostic assays for
exotic threatening and emerging crop diseases, such as Karnal bunt of
wheat, soybean rust, potato late blight, and plum pox virus;
Whereas the 4th Light Armored Reconnaissance Battalion at Fort Detrick had a
mission of reconnaissance and security in support of a Marine Air/Ground
Task Force and received the Meritorious Unit Citation for its service
during Operation Desert Storm;
Whereas the 1108th Signal Brigade at Fort Detrick provides important strategic
communication support to the White House and the Joint Chiefs of Staff;
and
Whereas the National Cancer Institute-Frederick at Fort Detrick is an
internationally recognized center for scientific excellence in the
prevention, detection, and treatment of cancer and AIDS: Now, therefore,
be it
Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate concurring),
That the Congress--
(1) congratulates Fort Detrick on 60 years of service to
the United States;
(2) commends all those at Fort Detrick who have labored so
diligently to defend the United States against biological and
chemical attack; and
(3) commends all those at Fort Detrick who have labored to
develop vaccines for all types of illnesses.
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