Sam Gibbons: “I rise in support of Project BioShield. It is a very important step for the Department of Homeland Security. Project…”

“I rise in support of Project BioShield. It is a very important step for the Department of Homeland Security. Project BioShield aims to rapidly transfer technology into products that can be used to protect individuals against biological and chemical agents used as weapons of terrorism or mass destruction. The emphasis is on rapid introduction of new countermeasures into actual use, as many technologies currently under development need to be transitioned through regulatory commercial or regulatory cycles. The Homeland Security Act gave the Department of Homeland Security responsibility for integrating intelligence information and assessing terrorist threats and vulnerabilities. This information makes full use of the Department's capabilities. Identifying the most urgent threats and setting research priorities will be vital to meeting the bioterror threat. Obtaining the best intelligence and performing accurate threat assessment is absolutely critical. By properly understanding the threats that confront us, we can allocate our resources and focus our efforts where they are most needed, on agents for which the risk and potential consequence of attack are greatest.”