William Tauzin: “I rise in support of H.R. 5005 which represents the President's ambitious and historic proposal to create the new…”

“I rise in support of H.R. 5005 which represents the President's ambitious and historic proposal to create the new Department of Homeland Security. I believe the President's proposal represented a great framework for congressional consideration, but I think the majority leader and the Select Committee on Homeland Security chairman, the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Armey), deserve so much better. He has really done a yeoman's job in not only building this program as the President requested, but creating a much stronger bill as a result of the way he has gone about his work. His leadership and his consultation with the committees of jurisdiction has been tremendous, and I know he has consulted so well with those on the other side as we process this bill. I want to praise Governor Ridge and the administration for their flexibility and consideration of our concerns, and I think we all owe him and his department a debt of gratitude for the protection that he has given our country since 9-11 and the work he is doing to ensure homeland security as we go forward. Ever since the anthrax attacks in this country, the threat of bioterrorism has become much more of a reality to our people, and the importance of biomedical research activities at the Department of Health and Human Services and NIH and the CDC has never been greater than today.”