[Congressional Record Volume 147, Number 136 (Thursday, October 11, 2001)]
[Senate]
[Pages S10653-S10655]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                  STATEMENTS ON SUBMITTED RESOLUTIONS

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 SENATE RESOLUTION 171--EXPRESSING THE SENSE OF THE SENATE CONCERNING 
  THE PROVISION OF FUNDING FOR BIOTERRORISM PREPAREDNESS AND RESPONSE

  Mr. FRIST (for himself, Mr. Kennedy, Mr. Hatch, Mr. Breaux, Mr. 
Warner, Ms. Mikulski, Mr. Murkowski, Mr. Dorgan, Mr. Bond, Mr. Cleland, 
Mr. Burns, Mr. Reed, Mr. Inhofe, Mrs. Lincoln, Mr. Thompson, Mr. 
Santorum, Mr. Allard, Ms. Collins, Mr. Enzi, Mr. Hutchinson, Mr. Hagel, 
Mr. Roberts, Mr. Sessions, Mr. Chafee, Mrs. Clinton, and Mr. Domenici) 
submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee 
on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions:

                              S. Res. 171

       Whereas additional steps must be taken to better prepare 
     the United States to respond to potential bioterrorism 
     attacks;
       Whereas the threat of a bioterrorist attack is still 
     remote, but is increasing for a variety of reasons, 
     including--
       (1) public pronouncements by Osama bin Laden that it is his 
     religious duty to acquire weapons of mass destruction, 
     including chemical and biological weapons;
       (2) the callous disregard for innocent human life as 
     demonstrated by the terrorists' attacks of September 11, 
     2001;
       (3) the resources and motivation of known terrorists and 
     their sponsors and supporters to use biological warfare;
       (4) recent scientific and technological advances in agent 
     delivery technology such as aerosolization that have made 
     weaponization of certain germs much easier; and
       (5) the increasing access to the technologies and expertise 
     necessary to construct and deploy chemical and biological 
     weapons of mass destruction;
       Whereas coordination of Federal, State, and local terrorism 
     research, preparedness, and response programs must be 
     improved;

[[Page S10654]]

       Whereas States, local areas, and public health officials 
     must have enhanced resources and expertise in order to 
     respond to a potential bioterrorist attack;
       Whereas national, State, and local communication capacities 
     must be enhanced to combat the spread of chemical and 
     biological illness;
       Whereas greater resources must be provided to increase the 
     capacity of hospitals and local health care workers to 
     respond to public health threats;
       Whereas health care professionals must be better trained to 
     recognize, diagnose, and treat illnesses arising from 
     biochemical attacks;
       Whereas additional supplies may be essential to increase 
     the readiness of the United States to respond to a bio-
     attack;
       Whereas improvements must be made in assuring the safety of 
     the food supply;
       Whereas new vaccines and treatments are needed to assure 
     that we have an adequate response to a biochemical attack;
       Whereas government research, preparedness, and response 
     programs need to utilize private sector expertise and 
     resources; and
       Whereas now is the time to strengthen our public health 
     system and ensure that the United States is adequately 
     prepared to respond to potential bioterrorist attacks, 
     natural infectious disease outbreaks, and other challenges 
     and potential threats to the public health: Now, therefore, 
     be it
       Resolved, That it is the sense of the Senate that the 
     United States should make a substantial new investment this 
     year toward the following:
       (1) Improving State and local preparedness capabilities by 
     upgrading State and local surveillance epidemiology, 
     assisting in the development of response plans, assuring 
     adequate staffing and training of health professionals to 
     diagnose and care for victims of bioterrorism, extending the 
     electronics communications networks and training personnel, 
     and improving public health laboratories.
       (2) Improving hospital response capabilities by assisting 
     hospitals in developing plans for a bioterrorist attack and 
     improving the surge capacity of hospitals.
       (3) Upgrading the bioterrorism capabilities of the Centers 
     for Disease Control and Prevention through improving rapid 
     identification and health early warning systems.
       (4) Improving disaster response medical systems, such as 
     the National Disaster Medical System and the Metropolitan 
     Medical Response System and Epidemic Intelligence Service.
       (5) Targeting research to assist with the development of 
     appropriate therapeutics and vaccines for likely bioterrorist 
     agents and assisting with expedited drug and device review 
     through the Food and Drug Administration.
       (6) Improving the National Pharmaceutical Stockpile program 
     by increasing the amount of necessary therapies (including 
     smallpox vaccines and other post-exposure vaccines) and 
     ensuring the appropriate deployment of stockpiles.
       (7) Targeting activities to increase food safety at the 
     Food and Drug Administration.
       (8) Increasing international cooperation to secure 
     dangerous biological agents, increase surveillance, and 
     retrain biological warfare specialists.

  Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, I rise today to submit a resolution on 
behalf of myself, Senator Kennedy, and 23 of our colleagues that will 
put the Senate on record in strong support of substantial new 
investment toward strengthening our Nation's preparedness to respond to 
any potential bioterrorist threat.
  Last year, Congress passed the bipartisan Frist-Kennedy Public Health 
Threats and Emergencies Act of 2000. That law provides a coherent 
framework for responding to health threats resulting from bioterrorism. 
It authorizes a series of important initiatives to strengthen the 
nation's public health system; to improve hospital response 
capabilities; to upgrade the Centers for Disease Control's rapid 
identification and early warning systems; to assure adequate staffing 
and training of health professionals to diagnose and care for victims 
of bioterrorism; to enhance our research and development capabilities; 
to expand our reserve of vaccines and antibiotics; and to pursue 
additional measures necessary to prevent, prepare, and respond to the 
threat of biological or chemical attacks. The framework exists, so now 
it is time to fund these critical initiatives.
  The threat of a bioterrorist attack is remote, so we must not 
overreact or give into irrational fears. But remote as the threat may 
be, it is real. For a variety of reasons, the threat is higher today 
than it was one month ago, and it is growing. Osama bin Laden has said 
it is his religious duty to acquire weapons of mass destruction, 
including chemical and biological weapons. He and his followers have 
shown an utter disregard for human life. They, and other known 
terrorists, have the resources and motivation to acquire and use germ 
warfare. Recent advances in agent delivery technology, such as 
aerosolization, have made weaponiza- tion of germs easier. Finally, 
with the fall of the Soviet Union, the expertise of thousands of 
scientists knowledgeable in germ warfare may be available to the 
highest bidder.
  We have made important strides during the past few years in preparing 
our Nation to meet this threat. There is much to be proud of in our 
response to the attacks of September 11, as well as the response to the 
recent anthrax outbreaks in Florida. But additional steps are needed, 
and they are needed now. To better prepare our Nation, the 
Administration, local and State officials, public health departments, 
and our front line medical response teams must have additional 
resources and support. I believe the best way to accomplish this is to 
provide additional funds toward the priorities outlined in the Public 
Health Threats and Emergencies Act and to better arm America to fight 
against bioterrorism.
  Senator Kennedy and I, and our colleagues, look forward to working 
with the Administration and those who serve on the Appropriations 
Committees to provide the funds necessary to fill the gaps in our 
current biodefense and surveillance systems and to take additional 
steps to prevent the use of bioweapons and fully prepare our 
communities to respond. So that the Senate is strongly on record in 
favor of these efforts, I look forward to working with all of my 
colleagues to have this Sense of the Senate Resolution considered on an 
appropriate vehicle in the very near future.
  Mr. KENNEDY. Mr. President, today I join my distinguished colleague, 
Senator Bill Frist, and many other colleagues in the Senate to 
introduce a resolution stating our strong support for strengthening 
America's defenses against bioterrorism.
  As our forces continue their actions over Afghanistan, we can expect 
that our enemies will try to strike against our country again. We must 
close the gaps in our ability to deal with the possibility of 
bioterrorism on American soil. Just as we support our armed forces 
overseas, we should support our front line defenses against 
bioterrorism--our public health and medical professionals.
  We want to reassure all Americans that much has already been done to 
assure their safety from such an attack, and to minimize the spread of 
biological agents if an attack does occur. The kind of heroism we 
witnessed from average Americans on September 11 with Americans caring 
for and protecting their fellow citizens would take place once again in 
responding to a bioterrorist threat.
  But every day we delay in expanding our capabilities exposes innocent 
Americans to needless danger. We cannot afford to wait.
  Our first priority must be to prevent an attack from ever occurring. 
That means moving quickly to enhance our intelligence capacity and our 
ability to infiltrate terrorist cells, wherever they may exist. It also 
means using the renewed partnership between the United States and 
Russia to make sure that dangerous biological agents do not fall into 
the hands of terrorists. We've worked with Russia to prevent the spread 
of nuclear weapons, and we must work together now to prevent the spread 
of biological weapons.
  We must also enhance America's preparedness for a bioterrorist 
attack. Our citizens need not live their lives in fear of a biological 
attack, but building strong defenses is the right thing to do.
  Unlike the assaults on New York and Washington, a biological attack 
would not be accompanied by explosions and police sirens. In the days 
that followed, victims of the attack would visit their family doctor or 
the local emergency room, complaining of fevers, aches in the joints or 
perhaps a sore throat. The actions taken in those first few days will 
do much to determine how severe the consequences of the attack will be.
  The keys to responding effectively to a bioterrorist attack lie in 
three key concepts: immediate detection, immediate treatment and 
immediate containment.
  To improve detection, we should improve the training of doctors to 
recognize the symptoms of a bioterrorist attack, so that precious hours 
will not be lost as doctors try to diagnose their patients. As we've 
seen in recent days,

[[Page S10655]]

patients with anthrax and other rarely encountered diseases are often 
initially diagnosed incorrectly. In addition, public health 
laboratories need the training, the equipment and the personnel to 
identify biological weapons as quickly as possible.
  In Boston, a recently installed electronic communication system will 
enable physicians to report unusual symptoms rapidly to local health 
officials, so that an attack could be identified quickly. Too often, 
however, as a CDC report has stated: ``Global travel and commerce can 
move microbes around the world at jet speed, yet our public health 
surveillance systems still rely on a `Pony Express' system of paper-
based reporting and telephone calls.''
  To improve the treatment of victims of a bioterrorist attack, we must 
strengthen our hospitals and emergency medical plans. Boston, New York 
and a few other communities have plans to convert National Guard 
armories and other public buildings into temporary medical facilities, 
and other communities need to be well prepared too. Even cities with 
extensive plans need more resources to ensure that those plans will be 
effective when they are needed.
  To improve containment, we must make certain that federal supplies of 
vaccines and antibiotics are available quickly to assist local public 
health officials in preventing the disease from spreading.
  Developing new medical resources for the future is also essential. 
Scientists recently reported that they had determined the complete DNA 
sequence of the microbe that causes plague. This breakthrough may allow 
new treatments and vaccines to be developed against this ancient 
disease scourge. We should use the remarkable skills of our 
universities and biotechnology companies to give us new and better 
treatments in the battle against bioterrorism.
  September 11 was a turning point in America's history. Our challenge 
now is to do everything we can to learn from that tragic day, and 
prepare effectively for the future.

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