[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.
                                 <all>