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| Bush Signs Bill to Stockpile Antidotes | |
| 2004-07-21 | |
The legislation, called Project BioShield, provides the drug industry with incentives to research and develop bioterrorism countermeasures. It speeds up the approval process of antidotes and, in an emergency, allows the government to distribute certain treatments before the Food and Drug Administration has approved them. "We know that the terrorists seek an even deadlier technology, and if they acquire chemical, biological or nuclear weapons we have no doubt they will use them to cause even greater harm," Bush said in the Rose Garden. He said the legislation sends a message about America's direction in the war on terror - that the United States refuses to stand idle "when modern technology might be turned against us." U.S. officials are hoping that Project BioShield will yield enough new-generation anthrax vaccine to dose 25 million people. Federal health officials also hope that the $5.6 billion program will provide antidotes for botulism and anthrax, a safer smallpox vaccine and a long-awaited children's version of an anti-radiation pill. The program received bipartisan support in Congress. It passed the House on a 414-2 vote July 15. The discovery of sarin gas in a roadside bomb in Iraq and ricin and anthrax attacks against the Capitol spurred the Senate to pass it 99-0 in May. | |
| Posted by:Steve White |