[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 147 (2001), Part 15]
[House]
[Pages 21674-21675]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]



                         ANTIBIOTIC RESISTANCE

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under the Speaker's announced policy of 
January 3, 2001, the gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Brown) is recognized 
during morning hour debates for 5 minutes.
  Mr. BROWN of Ohio. Mr. Speaker, in response to the emergent threats 
of bioterrorism, Congress will take concrete steps in the coming weeks 
to strengthen our Nation's public health infrastructure. To fully 
prepare for the potential bioterrorist attacks, we will have to deal 
with a wide variety of public health issues including vaccinations and 
food safety and government stockpiling of antibiotics. In doing so, we 
must not forget to address the issue of antibiotic resistance.
  The links between antibiotic resistance and bioterrorism are clear. 
Antibiotic resistant strains of anthrax or other bacterial agents would 
be extremely lethal biological weapons, and they are already a reality.
  According to the Journal of the American Medical Association, during 
the Cold War, Russian scientists engineered an anthrax strain that was 
resistant to the tetracycline and penicillin classes of antibiotics. We 
can only assume that anthrax and other bacterial agents could also be 
engineered to resist antibiotics, including new valuable antibiotic 
therapies like Cipro.
  Antibiotic resistance is also relevant to the threat of bioterrorism 
in other significant ways. The overuse and the misuse of antibiotics by 
physicians, patients, and hospitals renders bacterial agents more 
resistant to the antibiotic drugs that they are exposed to and could 
leave the Nation poorly prepared for a biological attack.
  It is a vicious cycle because the threat of bioterrorism can lead to 
the overuse and the abuse of antibiotics, people taking Cipro when they 
do not need it, for example, which in turn could make these antibiotics 
less effective against the agents of bioterrorism.
  During the last couple of months, thousands of Americans have been 
prescribed the antibiotic Cipro because of a legitimate risk of 
exposure to anthrax. That use of antibiotics is appropriate. But the 
thousands more who have sought antibiotic prescriptions for Cipro 
without any indication of need or even a risk of infection can be a 
problem.
  The widespread use of Cipro will kill bacteria that are susceptible 
to the drug, but will leave behind bacteria that are not. Those 
bacteria that are not killed will then have the opportunity to thrive 
and develop an even greater resistance to Cipro, requiring an 
alternative antibiotic to kill them and diminishing the overall 
effectiveness of Cipro.
  Many pathogenic bacteria that cause severe human illnesses are 
already resistant to older antibiotics like penicillin, as we all know. 
That is one reason newer antibiotics like Cipro are used to treat 
dangerous infections. With diseases like anthrax, it is important to 
find an effective therapy quickly. Any delay can result in the death of 
a patient, or in the case of a larger exposure, in the deaths of 
thousands of individuals. If the U.S. and the rest of the world begin 
using Cipro haphazardly, that antibiotic could lose its effectiveness 
also.

                              {time}  1245

  To adequately prepare for a bioterrorist attack, State and local 
health departments must be equipped to rapidly identify and respond to 
antibiotic-resistant strains of anthrax and other lethal agents.
  And to ensure the continued efficacy of our antibiotic stockpile, we 
must isolate emerging antibiotic-resistant pathogens, track antibiotic 
overuse and misuse, and monitor the effectiveness of existing 
treatments over time.
  Surveillance also provides the data needed to prioritize the research 
and development of new antibiotic treatments.
  Drug-resistant pathogens are already a growing threat to every 
American. Examples of important microbes that are rapidly developing 
resistance to available antimicrobials include the bacteria that cause 
pneumonia, ear infections, meningitis, and skin, bone, lung or 
bloodstream infections.

[[Page 21675]]

  That list also includes food-borne infections like salmonella, and 
the Nation's food supply could be a future target of bioterrorism.
  Under last year's Public Health Threats and Emergencies Act, 
sponsored by the gentleman from North Carolina (Mr. Burr) and the 
gentleman from Michigan (Mr. Stupak), Congress authorized a grant 
program that would equip State and local health departments to identify 
and to track antibiotic resistance.
  To build upon this already authorized program, the gentleman from New 
York (Mr. Boehlert) and I have asked the Committee on Appropriations to 
include at least $50 million for this grant program in the Homeland 
Security Supplemental Appropriations bill. I urge Members on both sides 
of the aisle to support that request.
  Let our appropriators know that this funding is critical to the 
viability of our main weapons against bioterrorism and other infectious 
diseases now and in the future.

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