Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to rise in support of this legislation. This bill was reported by the Committee on Energy and Commerce by voice vote on October 3rd and was developed on a bipartisan basis. This bill – the Bioterrorism Enforcement Act of 2001 – is a good start on more comprehensive legislation to deal with all aspects of the threat of bioterrorism, which we are unfortunately facing right here in Washington, D.C., as well as in Florida, New Jersey, and New York City.

Recently, the National Commission on Terrorism, headed by Governor Jim Gilmore of Virginia, found that the Federal Government had insufficient controls of existing stock of terrorism-friendly pathogens such as anthrax and smallpox. Today, it is perfectly legal for anyone to possess these select agents. You don’t have to tell anyone. In fact, although there is a law requiring persons who possess the select agents that could be used in biological warfare to register and take appropriate steps to protect against release when shipping, it only covers the transfer of agents, not the actual possession. As a result, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) has only incomplete knowledge of who possesses these agents.

This bill addresses that very problem with serious criminal penalties. It requires that everyone who possesses select agents must register and must also meet CDC’s safety and security standards. In effect, that means that none of these agents can be possessed legally outside of an approved laboratory. Anyone else who has them will be subject to five years in prison. This provision does not allow anyone – whether they obtained the select agent twenty years ago or twenty minutes ago – to avoid registering their possession. This legislation not only closes that loophole, but also makes it a felony to transfer select agents without registering and establishes criminal penalties for persons who use select agents in a manner that constitutes reckless disregard for the public health and safety and injures people.

We can see in the on-going investigation of the source of the anthrax that has been found in Florida, New York, New Jersey, and now Washington, D.C., that law enforcement has been significantly hampered because there is no national registry of who holds the various anthrax strains.

We have established an ambitious schedule for the Department of Health and Human Services to implement this rule. But this legislation needs to be implemented immediately. And the standards for possession are basically those already established for laboratories when they transfer select agents.

Establishing a registry for dangerous biologic agents and setting strict criminal penalties for the unlawful possession of these agents is just a start in our war against bioterrorism. In the future, we will need to improve our national health system to deal with any possible outbreaks of diseases caused by bioterrorism. I commend our Chairman for bringing this bill to the Floor and urge its adoption.