Senator Thad Cochran (R-MS) chaired a hearing of the Homeland Security Appropriations Subcommittee today to discuss the fiscal year 2005 budget needs for the Science and Technology and Information Analysis and Infrastructure Protection Directorates. Charles McQueary, Under Secretary of Science and Technology, and Frank Libutti, Under Secretary for Information Analysis and Infrastructure Protection at the Department of Homeland Security, testified before the subcommittee.

Senator Cochran questioned the witnesses about the following: the creation and funding for the National Bio-Surveillance System, an interagency initiative within the Department of Health and Human Services and the US Department of Agriculture, to prevent biological attack; funding for University Based Centers of Excellence; how the Science and Technology Directorate is participating in Bio-Shield countermeasures; and the Information Analysis and Infrastructure Protection Directorate's assessment of the nation's vulnerability to biological attacks.

Comments from Senator Cochran's speech are currently available on the Senator's web site at www.senate.gov/~cochran . You may record these statements as needed for newscasts or news stories.

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