[Congressional Record Volume 147, Number 142 (Tuesday, October 23, 2001)]
[House]
[Pages H7139-H7143]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
BIOTERRORISM ENFORCEMENT ACT OF 2001
Mr. TAUZIN. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the
bill (H.R. 3160) to amend the Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty
Act of 1996 with respect to the responsibilities of the Secretary of
Health and Human Services regarding biological agents and toxins, and
to amend title 18, United States Code, with respect to such agents and
toxins.
The Clerk read as follows:
H.R. 3160
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of
the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Bioterrorism Enforcement Act
of 2001''.
SEC. 2. EXPANSION OF BIOLOGICAL WEAPONS STATUTE.
(a) Select Agents.--
(1) In general.--Section 175 of title 18, United States
Code, is amended--
(A) by redesignating subsection (b) as subsection (c); and
(B) by inserting after subsection (a) the following
subsection:
``(b) Select Agents.--
``(1) Unsafe handling.--
``(A) In general.--Whoever possesses, uses, or exercises
control over a select agent in a manner constituting reckless
disregard for the public health and safety, knowing the
select agent to be a biological agent or toxin, shall be
fined under this title, imprisoned for not more than one
year, or both.
``(B) Aggravated offense.--Whoever, in the course of a
violation of subparagraph (A), causes bodily injury to
another shall be fined under this title, or imprisoned for
not more than 10 years, or both; except that if death results
from such violation, the person committing the violation
shall be fined under this title, or imprisoned for any term
of years or for life, or both.
``(2) Unregistered for possession.--Whoever knowingly
possesses a biological agent or toxin where such agent or
toxin is a select agent for which such person has not
obtained a registration under section 511(f) of the
Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act of 1996 shall
be fined under this title, or imprisoned for not more than 5
years, or both.
``(3) Transfer to unregistered person.--Whoever knowingly
transfers a select agent to a person who has not obtained a
registration under section 511(e) of the Antiterrorism and
Effective Death Penalty Act of 1996 shall be fined under this
title, or imprisoned for not more than 5 years, or both.
``(4) Restricted persons.--Whoever is a restricted person
and knowingly ships or transports a select agent in
interstate or foreign commerce, or knowingly receives a
select agent so shipped or transported, or knowingly
possesses a select agent in or affecting interstate or
foreign commerce, shall be fined under this title, or
imprisoned for not more than 5 years, or both. The preceding
sentence does not apply with respect to any duly authorized
governmental activity under title V of the National Security
Act of 1947.''.
(2) Definitions.--Section 175 of title 18, United States
Code, as amended by paragraph (1) of this subsection, is
amended by amending subsection (c) to read as follows:
``(c) Definitions.--As used in this section:
``(1) The terms `biological agent' and `toxin' have the
meanings given such terms in section 178, except that, for
purposes of subsection (b), such terms do not encompass any
biological agent or toxin that is in its naturally occurring
environment, if the biological agent or toxin has not been
cultivated, cultured, collected, or otherwise extracted from
its natural source.
``(2) The term `bodily injury' has the meaning given such
term in section 1365.
``(3) The term `for use as a weapon' includes the
development, production, transfer, acquisition, retention, or
possession of any biological agent, toxin, or delivery
system, other than for prophylactic, protective, or other
peaceful purposes.
``(4)(A) The term `restricted person' means a person--
``(i) who is described in section 922(g), as such section
was in effect on the day before the effective date of this
paragraph; or
``(ii) who is an alien, other than an alien lawfully
admitted for permanent residence or an alien who under
subparagraph (B) is considered not to be a restricted person.
``(B) For purposes of subparagraph (A)(ii):
``(i) An alien is considered not to be a restricted person
if the alien is within a category designated under clause
(ii) of this subparagraph.
``(ii) The Secretary of Health and Human Services, in
consultation with the Attorney General, may designate
categories of individuals who have--
``(I) nonimmigrant visas as defined in section 101(a)(26)
of the Immigration and Nationality Act; and
``(II) expertise valuable to the United States regarding
select agents.
``(5) The term `select agent' means a biological agent or
toxin, as defined in paragraph (1), that--
``(A) is on the list that is in effect pursuant to section
511(d)(1) of the Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty
Act of 1996 (Public Law 104-132); and
``(B) has not been exempted from the applicability of
regulations under section 511(e) of such Act.''.
(3) Effective date regarding restricted persons;
regulations.--
(A) Effective date.--Section 175(b)(4) of title 18, United
States Code, as added by subsection (a)(1)(B) of this
section, takes effect upon the expiration of the 90-day
period beginning on the date of the enactment of this Act.
(B) Regulations.--Not later than 30 days after the date of
the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Health and Human
Services shall determine whether the Secretary will designate
any categories or individuals for purposes of section
175(c)(4)(B) of title 18, United States Code, as added by
subsection (a)(1)(B) of this section. If the Secretary
determines that one or more such categories will be
designated, the Secretary shall promulgate an interim final
rule for purposes of such section not later than 60 days
after such date of enactment.
(4) Conforming amendment.--Section 175(a) of title 18,
United States Code, is amended in the second sentence by
striking ``under this section'' and inserting ``under this
subsection''.
(b) Amendments to Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty
Act of 1996.--
(1) Possession and use.--
(A) In general.--Section 511 of the Antiterrorism and
Effective Death Penalty Act of 1996 (Public Law 104-132) is
amended--
(i) by striking subsection (f);
(ii) by redesignating subsection (g) as subsection (i); and
(iii) by inserting after subsection (e) the following
subsection:
``(f) Possession and Use of Listed Biological Agents and
Toxins.--
``(1) In general.--The Secretary shall by regulation
provide for the establishment and enforcement of standards
and procedures governing the possession and use of biological
agents and toxins listed pursuant to subsection (d)(1) in
order to protect the public health and safety, including
safeguards to prevent access to such agents and toxins for
use in domestic or international terrorism or for any other
criminal purpose.
``(2) Registration.--Regulations under paragraph (1) shall
provide for registration
[[Page H7140]]
requirements regarding the possession and use of biological
agents and toxins listed pursuant to subsection (d)(1).''.
(B) Regulations.--
(i) Date certain for promulgation; effective date regarding
criminal and civil penalties.--Not later than 30 days after
the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of
Health and Human Services shall promulgate an interim final
rule for carrying out section 511(f) of the Antiterrorism and
Effective Death Penalty Act of 1996, as added by subparagraph
(A) of this paragraph. Such interim final rule takes effect
60 days after the date on which such rule is promulgated,
including for purposes of--
(I) section 175(b)(2) of title 18, United States Code
(relating to criminal penalties), as added by subsection
(a)(1)(B) of this section; and
(II) section 511(h) of the Antiterrorism and Effective
Death Penalty Act of 1996 (relating to civil penalties), as
added by paragraph (3) of this subsection.
(ii) Submission of registration applications.--In the case
of a person who, as of the date of the enactment of this Act,
is in possession of a biological agent or toxin that is
listed pursuant to section 511(d)(1) of the Antiterrorism and
Effective Death Penalty Act of 1996, such person shall, in
accordance with the interim final rule promulgated under
clause (i), submit an application for a registration to
possess such agent or toxin not later than 30 days after the
date on which such rule is promulgated.
(2) Disclosures of information.--
(A) In general.--Section 511 of the Antiterrorism and
Effective Death Penalty Act of 1996, as amended by paragraph
(1) of this subsection, is amended by inserting after
subsection (f) the following subsection:
``(g) Disclosure of Information.--
``(1) In general.--Any information in the possession of any
Federal agency that identifies a person, or the geographic
location of a person, who is registered pursuant to
regulations under this section (including regulations
promulgated before the effective date of this subsection),
and any site-specific information relating to the type,
quantity, or identity of a biological agent or toxin listed
pursuant to subsection (d)(1) or the site-specific security
mechanisms in place to protect such agents and toxins, shall
not be disclosed under section 552(a) of title 5, United
States Code.
``(2) Disclosures for public health and safety; congress.--
Nothing in this section may be construed as preventing the
head of any Federal agency--
``(A) from making disclosures of information described in
paragraph (1) for purposes of protecting the public health
and safety; or
``(B) from making disclosures of such information to any
committee or subcommittee of the Congress with appropriate
jurisdiction, upon request.''.
(B) Effective date.--The effective date for the amendment
made by subparagraph (A) shall be the same as the effective
date for the final rule issued pursuant to section 511(d)(1)
of the Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act of 1996
(Public Law 104-132).
(3) Civil penalties.--Section 511 of the Antiterrorism and
Effective Death Penalty Act of 1996, as amended by paragraphs
(1) and (2) of this subsection, is amended by inserting after
subsection (g) the following subsection:
``(h) Civil Penalty.--Any person who violates a regulation
under subsection (e) or (f) shall be subject to the United
States for a civil penalty in an amount not exceeding
$250,000 in the case of an individual and $500,000 in the
case of any other person.''.
(4) Clarification of scope of select agent rule; terrorism;
responsibilities of secretary of health and human services.--
(A) In general.--Section 511 of the Antiterrorism and
Effective Death Penalty Act of 1996 (Public Law 104-132) is
amended--
(i) in each of subsections (d) and (e)--
(I) by inserting ``and toxins'' after ``agents'' each place
such term appears; and
(II) by inserting ``or toxin'' after ``agent'' each place
such term appears; and
(ii) in subsection (i) (as redesignated by paragraph (1) of
this subsection), in paragraph (1), by striking ``the term
`biological agent' has'' and inserting ``the terms
`biological agent' and `toxin' have''.
(B) Effective date.--The effective date for the amendments
made by subparagraph (A) shall be as if the amendments had
been included in the enactment of section 511 of the
Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act of 1996 (Public
Law 104-132).
(5) Conforming amendments.--Section 511 of the
Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act of 1996 (Public
Law 104-132) is amended--
(A) in subsection (d)(1)(A), by striking ``shall, through
regulations promulgated under subsection (f),'' and inserting
``shall by regulation'';
(B) in subsection (e), in the matter preceding paragraph
(1), by striking ``shall, through regulations promulgated
under subsection (f),'' and inserting ``shall by
regulation'';
(C) in subsection (d)--
(i) in the heading for the subsection, by striking
``Agents'' and inserting ``Agents and Toxins''; and
(ii) in the heading for paragraph (1), by striking
``agents'' and inserting ``agents and toxins''; and
(D) in the heading for subsection (e), by striking
``Agents'' and inserting ``Agents and Toxins''.
(c) Report to Congress.--Not later than one year after the
date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Health
and Human Services, after consultation with other appropriate
Federal agencies, shall submit to the Congress a report
that--
(1) describes the extent to which there has been compliance
by governmental and private entities with applicable
regulations under section 511 of the Antiterrorism and
Effective Death Penalty Act of 1996 (Public Law 104-132),
including the extent of compliance before the date of the
enactment of this Act, and including the extent of compliance
with regulations promulgated after such date of enactment;
(2) describes the future plans of the Secretary for
determining compliance with regulations under such section
511 and for taking appropriate enforcement actions; and
(3) provides any recommendations of the Secretary for
administrative or legislative initiatives regarding such
section 511.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from
Louisiana (Mr. Tauzin) and the gentleman from Michigan (Mr. Dingell)
each will control 20 minutes.
The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Louisiana (Mr. Tauzin).
General Leave
Mr. TAUZIN. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may
have 5 legislative days within which to revise and extend their remarks
on H.R. 3160.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the
gentleman from Louisiana?
There was no objection.
Mr. TAUZIN. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
Mr. Speaker, I rise today to urge the passage by the House of a
critically important piece of legislation that was reported out of our
committee in the wake of the horrific events of September 11, this
bill, the Bioterrorism Enforcement Act of 2001.
While the weapons of choice on that day were airliners full of
innocent passengers, rather than the deadly biological agents that we
have now come to recognize as parts of this war, the most recent
anthrax cases in Florida, New York, Washington, D.C. and elsewhere
around the country confirm that this Congress and our Nation ignore the
real threat of bioterrorism at our own peril. Unfortunately, for too
long we have simply done that.
I imagine it would come as quite a shock to most Americans to learn
that even in the midst of the evolving and unprecedented series of
anthrax attacks, there are currently no Federal laws or regulations
governing who may possess such deadly biological agents and under what
conditions they may possess them and for what purposes.
For example, under current law, anyone including convicted felons,
foreign nationals from terrorist-sponsoring states, can lawfully
possess anthrax or other dangerous bacteria or viruses. They do not
have to report such possession. They do not have to seek governmental
approval. They do not even have to be legitimate scientists and working
in secure laboratories. We have tighter control on the sale of guns in
this country than we do on the weapons of mass destruction. We have to
change that today.
Mr. Speaker, the only current regulations on the books are those
relating to the shipping and transfer of certain biological agents
which suffer from poor compliance, and they are very difficult laws to
enforce. Indeed, under current Federal law, if the FBI or the local
police discover that a suspected terrorist is in possession of anthrax
or the plague, for example, the Government can do nothing about it
unless it can prove a specific intent to use a biological agent as a
weapon, which often is very hard to do before the fact.
Our bill will change that and will give law enforcement the tools
that it needs to help prevent further acts of this kind of
bioterrorism.
First, the bill will prohibit certain classes of individuals, such as
felons, illegal aliens, fugitives and other individuals with
questionable backgrounds, from possessing these deadly agents for any
reason, with violations punishable as a felony.
Second, it will require that all legitimate researchers who work with
such agents obtain a registration from the Health and Human Services
Department, which is authorized by this bill to impose and enforce
requirements relating to the possession, the use, the handling, the
storage and disposal of these agents. This will help to prevent
[[Page H7141]]
access to them by criminal and terrorist elements.
Third, it will make the unregistered possession of such agents a
Federal felony, without requiring law enforcement to prove intent to
use the agent as a weapon, and will increase the current penalty for
making an unauthorized transfer of such agents from a Federal
misdemeanor to a felony.
Third, this bill will make it a Federal crime to knowingly possess,
use or exercise control over one of these deadly agents in a manner
that constitutes a reckless disregard of the public health and safety,
with increased penalties should actual harm occur from such contact.
Mr. Speaker, all of these provisions are good. They are common sense
for deadly and infectious substances, and they are clearly overdue.
This bill is crafted on a bipartisan basis and with the input of the
Department of Justice, the FBI, the Department of Health and Human
Services, and many other interested parties over a long period of time
predating September 11. It recently passed the Committee on Energy and
Commerce unanimously, with the strong support of the ranking member and
cosponsor, the gentleman from Michigan (Mr. Dingell).
Mr. Speaker, I want to thank the gentleman from Michigan (Mr.
Dingell) and all of my colleagues on the committee for their support
and all of their efforts in this area. I urge the entire House to vote
quickly to approve this important measure.
Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. DINGELL. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself 3 minutes.
(Mr. DINGELL asked and was given permission to revise and extend his
remarks.)
Mr. DINGELL. Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to rise in support of the
legislation and to commend my good friend, the gentleman from Louisiana
(Mr. Tauzin), for his leadership on this matter.
The bill was reported by the Committee on Energy and Commerce by
voice vote on October 3 and was developed on a bipartisan basis. This
bill, the Bioterrorism Enforcement Act of 2001, is a good start on more
comprehensive legislation to deal with aspects of the threat of
bioterrorism which we are now unfortunately facing here in Washington,
D.C., in Florida, in New York, in New Jersey and other places in this
country.
Recently the National Commission on Terrorism, headed by Jim Gilmore
of Virginia, found that the Federal Government had insufficient
controls of existing stock of terrorism-friendly pathogens such as
anthrax and smallpox. Today, as the chairman has noted, it is perfectly
legal for anyone to possess deadly agents like those, and no one needs
to be told.
In fact, although there is a law requiring persons possessing the
select agents that could be used for biological warfare to register and
take appropriate steps to protect against release when shipping, it
only covers the transfer of agents, not the actual possession. As a
result, the Centers for Disease Control, CDC, has only incomplete
knowledge of who possesses these agents; and there is no real control
over the ownership, use, or other things with regard to these agents.
This bill addresses the very problem with serious criminal penalties.
It requires that everyone who possesses select agents must register and
must also meet CDC's safety and security standards. In effect, that
means none of these agents can be possessed legally outside of an
approved laboratory. Anybody else who has them will be subject to 5
years in prison.
This provision will not allow anyone, whether they obtained the agent
20 years ago or 20 minute ago, to avoid registering their possession.
This legislation not only closes that loophole, but makes it a felony
to transfer select agents without registering and establishes criminal
penalties for persons who use select agents in a manner that
constitutes reckless disregard for the public health and safety and
injures people.
We can see in the ongoing investigation of the source of the anthrax
that is found in Florida, New York, New Jersey, and now Washington,
D.C., that law enforcement has been significantly hampered because
there has been no national registry of who holds the various anthrax
strains. A similar situation could arise with any kind of select agent,
and could do so overnight.
We have established an ambitious schedule for the Department of
Health and Human Services to implement this rule, but the legislation
needs to be implemented forthwith. The standards for possession are
basically those already established for laboratories when they transfer
select agents. Establishing a registry for dangerous biological agents
and setting strict penalties for the unlawful possession of these
agents is only a beginning in our war against bioterrorism.
In the future, we need to improve our national health system to deal
with any possible outbreaks of diseases caused by bioterrorism. I
commend the chairman for bringing this bill to the floor and urge its
adoption.
I would make a couple of private notes here with regard to an
experience I had last Saturday. I think it would be good for the House
to consider these matters. Enactment of the legislation before us is
only the beginning. I would note that the first line of defense is our
police and local public safety officials, especially the firemen and
people like that in the communities. I would note that there has been
inadequate availability of funds on the local level, State level, and
Federal level.
I would note that there has been a significant failure of this
Congress to ensure that monies which were given to States are passed
through to local levels. I would note that there is an enormous
deficiency in funding available to the local units of government to do
this work.
Mr. Speaker, the House should know it costs about $3,000 for each run
that the local units of public safety spend when they make a call to
address the problems of possible anthrax or other bioterrorism agents.
{time} 1515
I would note that all of the State and local units of government are
running out of money. They also are running out of training, and they
also are confronting a serious problem where there are no approved labs
or insufficient numbers of approved labs to cooperate with them in
providing the necessary safety and security or the identification of
these agents which are so risky and so dangerous to all of us. I would
note that almost all of them are running out of money. All of them are
running into serious difficulty with regard to the Federal Government
in view of the fact that the Federal Government does not have a program
to address those matters and that the Federal Government does not
support them financially. The States do not, either. The consequences
of this are that if we have an outbreak outside of Washington or in
other parts of the country, that there will be very, very serious
effects and there will be enormous difficulty in identifying the agent,
the hazard, the risk and probably failure to do so in sufficient time
to see to it that there is not a significant and more broad outbreak of
the disease which is carried by the specific agent. This is a serious
matter which requires that the Congress should look into it.
I commend my good friend the chairman of the committee for his
leadership in this matter, but I warn my colleagues, we have only begun
addressing a matter of the most enormous and serious concern to the
whole of the United States.
Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. TAUZIN. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
Before I yield to the chairman of the Subcommittee on Oversight and
Investigations, who has done enormously valuable work on this and other
areas of bioterrorism concern, I wanted to comment briefly with my
friend the gentleman from Michigan's comments in mind.
The first is that while Congress may not have been in session this
weekend, that we nevertheless were at work. Members of the Committee on
Energy and Commerce led by the vice chairman, the gentleman from North
Carolina (Mr. Burr), visited the CDC this weekend and are issuing a
report that I hope all Members of Congress will pay close attention to.
We have learned that the Centers for Disease Control is woefully
inadequate in terms of its current capabilities to do its work, it is
living in 1950s barracks, and we really
[[Page H7142]]
need to do some work to enhance and improve their capability of
protecting the citizenry of this country, particularly as we come to
understand this new threat against our people. We are going to at the
Committee on Energy and Commerce very shortly bring to the Congress an
authorization hopefully to bring the CDC up to date, modernize it and
equip it properly to make sure that it can, in fact, assist our country
in this time of need.
In light of that, I am about to recognize the chairman of the
Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations of the Committee on Energy
and Commerce, who very coincidentally had scheduled a hearing on
bioterrorism for September 11 of this year and who canceled that
hearing, of course, as those events of that day unfolded. He has since
held those hearings and this bill before Members today is part of the
result of that and other hearings our committee has conducted over the
years on this important issue.
Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from
Pennsylvania (Mr. Greenwood), the chairman of the Subcommittee on
Oversight and Investigations of the Committee on Energy and Commerce.
Mr. GREENWOOD. I thank the chairman of the committee for yielding
time.
Mr. Speaker, as chairman of the Subcommittee on Oversight and
Investigations of the Committee on Energy and Commerce, I rise to offer
my strong support for the Bioterrorism Enforcement Act of 2001. This
legislation grew out of an oversight hearing held by the committee in
May of 1999 which exposed serious gaps in our Federal criminal and
regulatory laws governing deadly biological agents, such as anthrax,
the plague, smallpox and botulism toxin.
If anyone ever doubted the need for tighter controls on these agents,
the tragic events of the past several weeks should put any such doubts
to rest once and for all. Because these agents can be so deadly if they
fall into the wrong hands, the Federal Government has a responsibility
to ensure that only those individuals with a legitimate need to possess
and work with such agents can do so. At the same time, we must ensure
that the important research work going on with these agents, to develop
vaccines or other treatments, for example, can continue, with
appropriate safeguards.
I would like to elaborate on this point with respect to the bill's
prohibition on certain classes of foreign nationals from accessing such
agents here in the United States. The bill prohibits all aliens from
doing so, with the exception of those lawfully admitted here for
permanent residence. I understand that many in the pharmaceutical,
research and academic communities rely on foreign nationals to conduct
research, although it is unclear how many of these foreigners actually
work with the most deadly agents covered by this bill. I know that some
in those communities would want us to limit the prohibition to only
those foreigners from terrorist-sponsoring states. The problem with
that approach is that very few states are on that list, and it does not
include many of the nations whose nationals were represented among the
September 11 hijackers.
Nevertheless, the bill contains a provision that would grant the
Secretary of the Health and Human Services Department, in consultation
with the Attorney General, the ability to issue waivers for certain
aliens or classes of aliens that would otherwise be restricted under
this bill if the Secretary determines that such waivers would be in the
best interests of the United States. I believe that is a fair
compromise.
I would also like to mention one other aspect of this bill that I
think is very important. The bill contains a provision that would
exempt from mandatory disclosure under the Freedom of Information Act
certain information collected under this new regulatory regime, such as
the locations of those agents or the identity of those working with
them. This is a narrow exception to the otherwise free flow of
unclassified information, one that is warranted by the sensitive nature
of this data, and is similar to what this Congress did 2 years ago with
respect to worst-case chemical accident data collected by the
Environmental Protection Agency. Again, this represents a fair
compromise among the competing interests at issue here.
I thank the gentleman for yielding time for me to speak on this
important, and unfortunately very timely, issue. I am honored to have
worked with the gentleman on the legislation that the House will
consider today.
Mr. DINGELL. Mr. Speaker, I have no further requests for time, and I
yield back the balance of my time.
Mr. TAUZIN. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume to
thank my friend again for the extraordinary cooperation across the
aisle that we received on this and so many important pieces of
legislation that the Committee on Energy and Commerce produces for this
country. I want to thank him again for that excellent cooperation.
Mr. DINGELL. Mr. Speaker, will the gentleman yield?
Mr. TAUZIN. I yield to the gentleman from Michigan.
Mr. DINGELL. Mr. Speaker, the gentleman and I have established a
rather remarkable record of cooperation in the Committee on Energy and
Commerce. I want to express my appreciation and commendations to my
good friend.
Mr. TAUZIN. On behalf of my friend before I yield back, I think we
all ought to take a moment to think about the folks in this town, the
two postal workers who have recently passed away which in fact may have
been a direct result of some of these anthrax attacks on this city. As
we think about them and the others who are currently under treatment
and currently in danger, I personally again want to thank the
leadership of both parties in this House for the care and concern they
have shown for all the workers, all the guests we invite to these
Capitol buildings and all the participants in this governmental process
for making sure that the buildings are properly swept before we invite
our workers and our friends who come to Washington to testify and to be
part of our hearings back into those buildings. Would that the postal
office had known to show the same degree of care, perhaps we would have
saved a few lives in this city.
I want to thank the gentleman from Michigan (Mr. Dingell) again and
Members on his side for the extraordinary cooperation we have all shown
to one another in this crisis that America faces. It was often said, I
think by Tip O'Neill, that partisanship ends at the water's line. The
water's line is now closer to home. I am pleased to know that so many
Members of this House recognize that and work together in such a united
fashion for the good of our country and for the safety of our people. I
want to thank him again, and I urge the passage of this very important
legislation.
Mr. GILMAN. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of the Bioterrorism
Enforcement Act of 2001. As we in Congress are in the midst of
conducting environmental tests in our offices of biological agents, it
is indeed timely that we bring this legislation to the House floor
today.
This act will set criminal penalties for the unsafe and illegal
possession or transfer of the biological agents and toxins over which
the Anti-Terrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act of 1996 established
control of. The measure makes it a crime for individuals who are
legally licensed to possess such materials to handle them in reckless
disregard for public health and safety.
In general, unsafe handling of these agents and toxins will result in
a fine and a year in prison. Incidents causing bodily harm to another
person will result in a prison term of up to 10 years, while those
causing death may result in a life sentence. Persons who are not
authorized to possess or transfer an agent or toxin are subject to
fines and up to 5 years in prison. ``Restricted'' individuals (such as
aliens with non-immigration visas) transporting, shipping or receiving
agents and toxins face similar 5 year sentences and fines. If
necessary, HHS and the Department of Justice may waive such
restrictions.
In addition to new criminal penalties, this act will require HHS to
promulgate new standards and procedures governing the possession, use,
and transfer of controlled agents and toxins. The new rules must
require all individuals and groups who possess these agents and toxins
to report their possessions to HHS. The new rules also must establish
precautions preventing agents and toxins from being accessed for
terrorist activities. Based on HHS evaluation of each substance's
public risk, the department will be allowed to establish different
levels of registration, handling and security requirements for each
type of agents
[[Page H7143]]
and toxins. Violation of the new rules will result in a civil penalty
of up to $250,000 for individuals and $500,000 for others.
I urge all of my colleagues to support this important legislation.
Mr. TAUZIN. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Hansen). The question is on the motion
offered by the gentleman from Louisiana (Mr. Tauzin) that the House
suspend the rules and pass the bill, H.R. 3160.
The question was taken.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. In the opinion of the Chair, two-thirds of
those present have voted in the affirmative.
Mr. TAUZIN. Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.
The yeas and nays were ordered.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to clause 8 of rule XX and the
Chair's prior announcement, further proceedings on this motion will be
postponed.
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