Political Quotes

“Mr. Chairman, I rise in support of the amendment offered by my friend from New York (Mr. Bishop), an amendment that will increase funding for research and development activities within the Science and Technology Directorate by $75 million, and it will dictate that no new appropriated funds will be available in fiscal year 2013 for the National Bio and Agro-Defense Facility, NBAF. I stress, no new funds. The administration did not request funds for NBAF in 2013, and I simply cannot support inclusion of the $75 million contained in this bill until two National Academy of Sciences reviews are completed on the security of this new facility to prevent the accidental release of foot-and-mouth virus or other harmful pathogens. Members may recall that the GAO, the National Academy of Sciences, and Congress itself have had longstanding concerns about the decision to relocate the National Bio and Agro-Defense Facility to the mainland unless we have a comprehensive and validated strategy to prevent the release of foot-and-mouth virus and other harmful pathogens into the community. In 2011, the National Academy of Sciences found that, based on preliminary designs of the facility, there would be a 70 percent risk of a release of foot-and-mouth disease leading to infection outside the laboratory. The economic cost was estimated to be between $9 billion and $50 billion over the next 50 years as the life span of NBAF would be projected.…”