Senate Approves $28.5B in Funding for Homeland Security Department

The Senate on July 24 voted 93-1 to approve a bill (HR 2555) to provide $28.5 billion next year to the Department of Homeland Security, but the legislation does not include funding for President Bush's proposed Project BioShield program, the AP/Arkansas Democrat-Gazette reports (Fram, AP/Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, 7/25). Bush proposed Project BioShield earlier this year to encourage biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies to develop and produce treatments and vaccines for biological agents (Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report, 7/14). The Senate bill includes almost $2.9 billion for state and local governments and $750 million for cities considered at high risk for terrorist attacks. It also would provide $380 million for the federal government to review databases for information about non-citizens entering the United States (AP/Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, 7/25). Sen. Ernest Hollings (D-S.C.) cast the only vote against the bill because he said it did not provide adequate funds for port security. Senate Republicans "fended ... off" a series of Democratic amendments to the bill, the AP/Minneapolis Star Tribune reports (AP/Minneapolis Star Tribune, 7/25). One defeated amendment, proposed by Sen. Robert Byrd (D-W.Va.), would have allocated $292 million to local fire departments and to efforts to improve security measures at chemical plants and ports. Another failed amendment, proposed by Sen. Christopher Dodd (D-Conn.), would have allocated $15 billion for emergency responders. The House last month passed its version of the homeland security bill (AP/Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, 7/25). The House bill would provide $29.4 billion in discretionary funds, as well as funds for Project BioShield (Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report, 7/14).

Senate HELP Committee Hearing Addresses Smallpox Plan
In related news, Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee Chair Judd Gregg (R-N.H.) and ranking member Sen. Edward Kennedy (D-Mass.) in a hearing on July 24 questioned public health officials about low participation rates in the national smallpox vaccine program, CongressDaily reports. Both senators said they were concerned that only 38,000 civilian public health workers had been vaccinated -- falling short of the original goal of 400,000 to 500,000 -- despite a program that will compensate workers who experience negative consequences from the vaccine (Heil, CongressDaily, 7/24). To ease concerns about adverse reactions to the vaccine, Bush on April 30 signed into law a bill (HR 1770) that calls for health care workers injured by the smallpox vaccine to be compensated. Lawmakers allocated $42 million in initial financing for a compensation program; individuals dissatisfied with their compensation can file suit under the Federal Tort Claims Act (Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report, 5/1). Kennedy and Dodd sent a letter to HHS Secretary Tommy Thompson saying that "too many first responders" have not received the vaccine. Gregg said, "Clearly, we haven't gotten the vaccine out as aggressively as we should." CDC Director Dr. Julie Gerberding testified that an "incorrect perception that a smallpox attack is less likely than it was in the wake of the 2001 terrorist attacks" may have prompted the "relatively low vaccination rates," CongressDaily reports. She added that the HHS will soon complete a table of vaccine-related injuries eligible for compensation (CongressDaily, 7/24).

BioShield 'First Step' in Preparedness, Editorial States
The Senate should pass legislation to formalize funding for Project BioShield as the "first step" to "secure the country against a biological attack," a Washington Times editorial states. Senate Democrats' concern about how much money to allocate to the program "given the failure to discover biological weapons in Iraq" is an "alarmingly short-sighted" view that ignores potential threats, the Times concludes (Washington Times, 7/24).