News Release

Statement by Tommy G. Thompson Secretary of Health and Human Services Regarding the Senate Passage of Project BioShield Authorization Legislation

As you all know, our highest priority is to safeguard the American people. This is a responsibility that President Bush takes seriously, and I know this is a responsibility that each of us here takes very seriously as well. Democrats and Republicans alike recognize that we must do everything we can to prepare our Nation to respond to the threats of chemical and biological weapons.

And Project Bio Shield helps take our bio-preparedness to a whole new level. By investing $6 billion over ten years, this initiative will allow us to develop and make available modern, effective drugs and vaccines to protect against attack by biological, chemical, nuclear and radiological agents.

This is absolutely vital to our safety, and I applaud the Senate for taking action today to get this comprehensive effort closer to enactment. After demonstrating strong leadership and a commitment to this important goal, I look forward to the House now considering this version of the Bioshield bill, thereby moving it swiftly to the President's desk for signature.

Our Nation has accomplished a great deal over the past few years, and we've come a long way in preparing our Nation. In my Department alone, we are spending more than 30 times as much for bioterrorism research than we did in 2001. We've increased food import inspections from 12,000 in 2001 to 60,000 in 2004. And we went from only a few states and regions having coordinated public health and hospital plans in 2001 to having every single state complete joint planning this year.

We've dramatically improved our capacity to respond to the threat of smallpox, so that today, we have more than enough doses to vaccinate every man, woman, and child in America, if necessary. Research is also underway toward an improved anthrax vaccine, and we expect it to be available beginning in the middle of 2005.

But we all know that we can do more. And passing and implementing Project Bio Shield is without question the most important step we can take to improve our Nation's bio-defense capabilities. For example, funding from Project Bio Shield is already allowing us to acquire up to 75 million doses of the anthrax vaccine, beginning as soon as it becomes available next year.

Project Bio Shield will also speed NIH research and development on next-generation countermeasures for other dangerous pathogens, such as Ebola and plague. And it will give the Food and Drug Administration the ability to make promising treatments available quickly in emergency situations. We need these additional authorities to speed up the purchasing and procurement process in the event of an attack.

I encourage all members of Congress to recognize these facts-to recognize the severity of the threats we face and to take the action necessary to safeguard our country.

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Note: All HHS press releases, fact sheets and other press materials are available at http://www.hhs.gov/news.

Last Revised: May 25, 2004