Rodney Frelinghuysen: “I rise in support of H.R. 3010, the Fiscal Year 2006 Labor HHS Appropriations Act. This bill contains funding for many…”

“I rise in support of H.R. 3010, the Fiscal Year 2006 Labor HHS Appropriations Act. This bill contains funding for many important programs to protect our working men and women, provide for the education of our Nation's children, and support healthcare needs. Specifically, I want to commend Chairman Regula and the Appropriations Committee for working with me to include increased funding in this bill to ensure that our country is better prepared against the emerging threat of a pandemic influenza. As the chairman noted so eloquently in his opening statement, this bill is about setting priorities and the chairman has rightfully focused increased resources on this very real threat to our Nation's health and security. The chairman has rightfully included in this bill $530,000,000 for the Strategic National Stockpile, which is $63 million above the 2005 funding level to expand our Nation's strategic national stockpile of antiviral treatments as well as $120 million to ensure a year-round influenza vaccine production capacity in the U.S. and the development and implementation of rapidly expandable influenza production technologies. The avian flu is a huge health risk and national security concern that we cannot ignore. The Centers for Disease Control and U.S. Department of Health and Human Services have both acknowledged that the avian flu is a leading and quickly emerging threat to our population and that of other nations.…”