Russ Feingold: “I want to take time to share some excerpts taken from the National Intelligence Estimate 99-17D of January 2000, which…”

“I want to take time to share some excerpts taken from the National Intelligence Estimate 99-17D of January 2000, which frames infectious diseases, such as HIV/AIDS, as a national security threat to the United States. This is, obviously, pursuant to the discussion we have been having most of the day with regard to the inadequacy of the African Growth and Opportunity Act with regard to the provisions concerning HIV/AIDS in Africa and, in particular, the very serious error of the conference committee in eliminating the Feinstein-Feingold amendment concerning HIV/AIDS. This report represents an important initiative on the part of the Intelligence Community to consider the national security dimension of a nontraditional threat. It responds to a growing concern by senior US leaders about the implications--in terms of health, economics, and national security--of the growing global infectious disease threat. The dramatic increase in drug-resistant microbes, combined with the lag in development of new antibiotics, the rise of megacities with severe health care deficiencies, environmental degradation, and the growing ease and frequency of cross-border movements of people and produce have greatly facilitated the spread of infectious diseases.”