Lynn Jenkins: “I thank the gentleman for yielding. The first priority of the Federal Government is to protect the American people, and…”

“I thank the gentleman for yielding. The first priority of the Federal Government is to protect the American people, and the National Bio and Agro-Defense Facility has been declared necessary to provide that protection. The Department of Homeland Security, under both the Bush and Obama administrations, and the House Appropriations Committee under both Democrat and Republican leadership, have made it quite clear time and time again that the country needs the NBAF, and the best place to do that research is in Manhattan, Kansas. Congress has already appropriated $90 million, and the State of Kansas and the city of Manhattan have already committed more than $200 million towards the project. For the record, the calculations performed in this updated SSRA that were previously mentioned indicated that the estimated probability that an accident happening at this facility was less than 11 percent. {time} 2230 While again, this proposal might be nice if we had a surplus, the result of this amendment will be stopping or delaying construction of this vital NBAF facility, jeopardizing our security and our Nation's food supply. I urge the body to reject this amendment.”