David Price: “I commend the gentleman from New York for raising this issue, and I thank him for the time. As he knows, I've had a…”

“I commend the gentleman from New York for raising this issue, and I thank him for the time. As he knows, I've had a longstanding concern about the decision to relocate the National Bio and Agro-Defense Facility to the mainland without a comprehensive and validated strategy to prevent the release of harmful pathogens into the community. When I was chairman of the subcommittee overseeing appropriations for the Department of Homeland Security, I championed a requirement that prohibited the use of funds in fiscal 2010 for NBAF construction until a site-specific risk assessment was completed and the results were validated by the National Academy of Sciences. This work was completed last November and the results were somewhat disconcerting with respect to the possible release of foot and mouth disease. Now the Department of Homeland Security believes that this risk is exaggerated and does not take into account planned mitigation strategies. So I appreciate the language in the continuing resolution that requires a revised risk assessment once the facility is 50 percent designed and that this assessment be again reviewed by the National Academy of Sciences. This is good oversight, but this must be done before DHS can responsibly provide construction funding for NBAF.”