House Approves $4.6B Bioterrorism Bill Designed To Bolster Nation’s Public Health System

The House on May 22 overwhelmingly approved a $4.6 billion bill (HR 3448) that would strengthen the nation's defenses against a bioterrorist attack, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports. The measure, approved 425-1 one day after House and Senate negotiators reached a conference agreement on the legislation, would provide $1.5 billion in grants to help states and localities improve the public health system's ability to respond to an attack. It also would:

Strengthen protections of the nation's food and water supply;
Increase the nation's stockpile of vaccines and medications to protect against biological and chemical weapons;
Place stronger controls on laboratories and universities that "possess dangerous pathogens";
Create a national database to track such pathogens;
Provide $300 million to upgrade the CDC's laboratories and equipment;
Provide grants to colleges and universities "that have food and agriculture science programs to review and assess security standards and practices"; and
Develop "rapid detection field kits to detect biological threats to animals and plants" (Moscoso, Atlanta Journal-Constitution, 5/23).

"It is absolutely critical that America's public health emergency system be prepared to respond to new and emerging terrorist threats, and today's vote moves us a giant step closer to achieving this goal," Rep. Billy Tauzin (R-La.), the bill's sponsor and chair of the conference committee, said. The bill now moves to the Senate, where passage could come as early as this week (Goldreich, CQ Monitor News, 5/23). This is part of the Morning Briefing, a summary of health policy coverage from major news organizations. Sign up for an email subscription.

House Approves $4.6B Bioterrorism Bill Designed To Bolster Nation’s Public Health System

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