[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 13 (Wednesday, January 31, 1996)]
[Senate]
[Page S666]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                          DANGEROUS PATHOGENS

 Mr. HATCH. Mr. President, I intend to hold hearings in the 
Judiciary Committee in the very near future on the subject of 
possession of dangerous human pathogens, such as bubonic plague, 
anthrax, and similar pathogens. My purpose will be to determine what 
legislation may be necessary to protect the American people from the 
misuse of such pathogens.
  These are very dangerous and deadly organisms which, apparently, are 
readily available to just about anyone, including those with legitimate 
needs, such as researchers, and those who, instead, may have an evil 
intent or who simply do not know how to store and handle properly these 
organisms.
  The December 30, 1995, Washington Post has a story with a headline 
that leaps off the page: ``Man Gets Hands on Bubonic Plague Germ, but 
That's No Crime.'' The story is more chilling than the headline. An 
Ohio white supremacist purchased, through the mail, three vials of this 
extremely dangerous pathogen, which wiped out about one-third of Europe 
in the Middle Ages. When the purchaser called the seller to complain 
about slow delivery, the sales representative got concerned about 
whether the caller was someone who really ought to have the bubonic 
plague in his possession. Ohio authorities were contacted, according to 
the story. When police, public health officials, the FBI, and emergency 
workers in space suits scoured the purchaser's house, they found nearly 
a dozen M-1 rifles, smoke grenades, blasting caps, and white separatist 
literature, but no bubonic plague. The deadly microorganisms were found 
in the glove compartment of his automobile, still packed as shipped.
  Apparently, while the U.S. Department of Agriculture requires permits 
for shipping animal pathogens, at least between States, there is no 
Federal domestic regulation of who may receive these deadly human 
pathogens. According to the Washington Post story, ``* * * the only 
domestic restrictions on human pathogens * * * are the rules the 
handlers impose themselves.'' As Kenneth Gage, acting chief of the 
plague section at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's 
vector-borne diseases division, stated: ``I don't think it's going too 
much out on a limb by saying this kind of thing shouldn't happen.''
  So, for the purchase of three strains of bubonic plague, what was the 
purchaser charged with? Three counts of wire fraud and one count of 
mail fraud. And these charges have been plea bargained down to a guilty 
plea for one count of wire fraud. Even these charges would not have 
been possible if the purchaser had not faxed a false statement on the 
letterhead of a nonexistent laboratory stating the laboratory assumed 
responsibility for the shipment, as the seller had required.
  Earlier this year, a group released a nerve gas in Tokyo's subway 
station, killing 12 and injuring over 5,000. The ready availability of 
deadly human pathogens raises the obvious concern that such organisms 
not fall into the wrong hands. The task will be to meet the legitimate 
needs of scientists while assuring protection of our citizens from the 
inadvertent or deliberate misuse of these pathogens.

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