[Congressional Record Volume 155, Number 34 (Thursday, February 26, 2009)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E495]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




 INTRODUCTION OF THE ``SELECT AGENT PROGRAM AND BIOSAFETY IMPROVEMENT 
                             ACT OF 2009''

                                 ______
                                 

                            HON. JANE HARMAN

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                      Thursday, February 26, 2009

  Ms. HARMAN. Madam Speaker, no one can forget the 2001 anthrax letter 
attacks, which killed five people, paralyzed the Postal Service, and 
affects the flow of mail to Capitol Hill to this day.
  In response, Congress expanded the Select Agent Program, which 
monitors the possession and use of potentially dangerous biological 
agents and toxins.
  But, the program's authorization expired in 2007, and serious 
problems persist. Earlier this month, researchers at the Army Medical 
Research Institute of Infectious Diseases received another wake-up 
call.
  They discovered serious gaps in recordkeeping after finding germ 
samples not listed in their database. Since then, the Army has 
suspended some research at the lab while an inventory of dangerous 
agents is conducted.
  That is why it is so important to reintroduce today the Select Agent 
Program and Biosafety Improvement Act with my friend Mike Rogers in the 
House and Senators Kennedy and Burr in the Senate.
  The bill requires an assessment of the government's ability to track 
and control the dangerous substances that can be used to construct 
dangerous weapons.
  It reauthorizes and updates the Select Agent Program, which limits 
access to and controls the transfer of dangerous biological agents and 
toxins.
  It requires the National Academy of Sciences to conduct a 
comprehensive evaluation of the program and recommend ways in which it 
can be restructured, to enhance biosecurity and international 
scientific collaboration.
  It requires that the program consider newly discovered agents--such 
as genetically modified organisms, synthetic compounds, and other 
agents identified in Homeland Security risk assessments--to ensure that 
its database is current and comprehensive.
  It encourages the sharing of information with State emergency 
planning officials, which is vital to ensuring that first responders 
have the tools they need to prevent or respond to an attack.
  And it ensures minimum biosecurity and biosafety standards for the 
training of workers in the laboratories that deal with the most 
dangerous agents.
  The threat of biological terrorism on U.S. soil is real and there is 
still room to improve the way our country tracks and transfers 
potentially dangerous materials that could be used against us in an 
attack. This bill will help that effort.
  Nearly a decade has passed since weaponized anthrax was anonymously 
mailed as an attack on Americans. We must act swiftly to improve our 
capabilities to eliminate these dangers.

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