Bioterrorism Dominates Health Debate on the Hill, CQ’s Goldreich Says

Bioterrorism is "rapidly becoming one of lawmakers' major preoccupations" as anthrax cases unfold in Florida, New York and Nevada, with the issue becoming part of "broader debates on economic stimulus, appropriations and responding to the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks" on the World Trade Center and Pentagon, Congressional Quarterly senior reporter Samuel Goldreich says in this week's "Congressional Quarterly Audio Report." The Labor-HHS spending bill approved by the House Oct. 11 included more than $300 million for counter-bioterrorism efforts, and President Bush this week is expected to request $1 billion in emergency funds to purchase drugs against biowarfare. Goldreich notes that lawmakers are "absolutely not" happy with the administration's response to the anthrax situation, especially after HHS Secretary Tommy Thompson announced that the first reported case had no connection to terrorism. Despite the focus on anthrax, Goldreich also cites warnings from Sen. Bill Frist (R-Tenn.), "Bush's point man on health issues," that smallpox is a greater threat; unlike anthrax, the disease is "highly contagious."

Economic Stimulus, Stem Cells
Goldreich also discusses the following issues receiving attention on Capitol Hill:

• Economic stimulus package: An Oct. 12 House Ways and Means Committee vote to pass a $100 billion economic stimulus bill "marked the official end of bipartisanship" following the Sept. 11 attacks. Though the bill includes a $3 billion block grant for states to help the uninsured buy health coverage, all committee Democrats voted against the measure, which is "heavily skewed to corporate tax breaks" and "ignores" a Democratic plan to subsidize health insurance for laid-off workers under COBRA law. Goldreich says the likelihood that Democrats could rewrite the bill is "not very good in the House," where a floor vote could come as early as Oct. 18. In the Senate, however, Democrats plan to push a 50% COBRA subsidy as they continue economic stimulus negotiations with the president.
• Stem cells: Included in the Senate version of the Labor-HHS spending bill, which has passed that chamber's Appropriations Committee, is a provision authorizing broader federal funding of embryonic stem cell research than current rules allow. The bill states that Bush -- who announced on Aug. 9 that the federal government would limit funding for embryonic stem cell research to stem cell lines derived before that date -- could follow his existing rules or choose to fund wider research on any embryos that would otherwise be destroyed, provided the couple that created the embryos gave permission. Though the provision could be "one of those areas of bipartisanship that could smooth a compromise," it could also "set up another breakdown in cooperation" since the Labor-HHS spending bill passed by the House simply limits federal funding to the 64 existing stem cell lines approved by the president, Goldreich says.