Senate Appropriations Committee Approves Feinstein-Gregg Measure to Require Strict Certification of
Labs to Help Combat Bioterrorism
December 4, 2001

WASHINGTON, D.C. - The Senate Appropriations Committee today approved an amendment by Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) and Judd Gregg (R-N.H.) to establish strict certification requirements for laboratories that handle anthrax, smallpox and more than 30 other deadly pathogens.

The amendment, whose provisions were developed previously by Senator Feinstein in negotiations with Senators Edward Kennedy (D-Mass.) Bill Frist (R-Tenn.) and Jon Kyl (R-Ariz.), was approved as part of the FY 2002 Defense Department spending bill.

Despite the potential for weaponization of anthrax and other biological agents, the U.S. federal government currently does not keep track of who possesses these agents, how many people work with them, how much they have, and where they are being used or stored. Further, no background checks are conducted on the laboratory personnel who handle or have access to these agents.

"In the last 3 months, our nation has faced an unprecedented biological attack, yet we have failed to take the proper steps to restrict access to biological agents," Senator Feinstein said. "Weaponized anthrax spores concealed in letters have already killed five people, disrupted our Federal mail system, and shut down a Senate office building for a month."

"Senators Kennedy and Frist recently introduced a comprehensive bioterrorism bill to control improper access to deadly biological agents and toxins, yet Congress is unlikely to have time to debate and approve this legislation. Therefore, I am pleased the Senate Appropriations Committee has approved this targeted amendment to restrict access to these deadly biological agents."

The amendment requires the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) to:

• Establish regulations governing the possession of deadly biological agents (Current law requires registration only for transfer and receipt of the most dangerous pathogens and toxins, but exempts the need to register for possession);
  
  
• Review the list of dangerous biological agents every two years;
  
  
• Establish a national database of the location of these agents; and
  
  
• Establish security requirements for the labs.

The amendment also gives the Secretary of HHS the authority to inspect these facilities and it establishes a consultation process with universities and other research organizations.

Exemptions would be granted for inactive biological agents and clinical labs that handle biological agents for diagnostic, verification or proficiency testing so long as they quickly and safely dispose of these agents.

Facts Regarding the Lethality of Dangerous Biological Agents

According to a 1993 report by the U.S. Congressional Office of Technology Assessment, between 130,000 and 3 million deaths could follow the aerosolized release of 100 kilograms of anthrax spores upwind of the Washington D.C. area - a lethality matching or exceeding that of a hydrogen bomb.

The World Health Organization estimates that 50 kilograms of plague aerosolized over an urban city of 500,000 would incapacitate one-fifth of the population and kill 55,000 people.

Within one week of infection by the ebola virus, those afflicted suffers from chest pain, shock, blindness, bleeding, and very often, death. To date, there is no known treatment for the ebola virus.