Washington,
Jun 10, 2005 -
Congressman Christopher Shays (CT-4), Chairman of the
Subcommittee on National Security, Emerging Threats, and International Relations, will convene an oversight hearing to assess the process used to identify and evaluate countermeasures to chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear weapons.
The hearing, “Elusive Antidotes: Progress Developing Chemical Biological Radiological and Nuclear (CBRN) Countermeasures”, is scheduled for Tuesday, June 14, 2:00 pm, room 2154 Rayburn House Office Building in Washington, D.C.
“Those looking to advance medical countermeasures face a tortured labyrinth of federal offices and programs,” Shays said, “It’s a rat’s maze of fiefdoms into which hundreds of millions of dollars has been poured, but from which almost nothing useful has emerged.”
Numerous federal departments and agencies fund CBRN countermeasure development programs, including DOD, DHS, NIH, and HHS through Project BioShield. Last year, a report by the Institute of Medicine found, “The biodefense efforts of the Department of Defense are poorly organized to develop and license vaccines, therapeutic drugs, and antitoxins to protect members of the armed forces against biological warfare agents.”
Shays said, “The clock is ticking down to the all but inevitable day we are attacked at home or on a distant battlefield using unconventional weapons. Even with the advent of Project BioShield, the development of critical countermeasures still seems fractured and without a clear focus on known threats. Precious time and money are being wasted.”
Committee on Government Reform
Subcommittee on National Security, Emerging Threats, and International Relations
“Elusive Antidotes: Progress Developing Chemical Biological Radiological and Nuclear (CBRN) Countermeasures"
(June 14, 2005)
Witness List
PANEL ONE
Dr. Dale Klein
Assistant to the Secretary of Defense for Nuclear, Chemical, and Biological Defense Programs
Department of Defense
Dr. Anthony S. Fauci
Director, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease (NIAID)
National Institute of Health
Mr. Stewart Simonson
Assistant Secretary for Public Health Emergency Preparedness
Department of Health and Human Services
Mr. John Vitko, Jr.
Director of Biological Countermeasures
Science and Technology Directorate
Department of Homeland Security
Dr. Ronald Saldarini
Scientific Consultant
Institute of Medicine
PANEL TWO
Dr. Michael G. Hanna Jr.
Chief Scientific Officer
Intracel
Dr. James H. Davis
Executive Vice President and General Counsel
Human Genome Sciences, Inc
