Jane Harman: “Mr. Speaker, serving on the Committee on Energy and Commerce is a high honor. The chance to work on impressive…”

“Mr. Speaker, serving on the Committee on Energy and Commerce is a high honor. The chance to work on impressive bipartisan legislation like this is why I came to Congress. The possibility of another bioterrorist attack is real and our Nation must be prepared to respond. Our top priority must be to develop a national strategy to identify the most likely threats and prioritize our response. We already know that al Qaeda and rogue states like Iraq have attempted to acquire biological agents, and we have yet to discover and prosecute the individual or group responsible for the anthrax attacks that killed five people in October and November. Our government's response to the bioterrorist attacks of October and November was deeply flawed. We have talented people, but we have been lacking the resources and coordination to make our response effective. We must act now to improve our terrorism response before another tragedy occurs. This legislation moves us in the right direction. It creates lines of communication and organizations to coordinate the roles that our public health agencies, military, and FBI will play in bioterrorism response. It also directs substantial investments to the State and local governments that need it most. All terrorism is local, and our response must be local.”