Congress Moves Forward New Bio-Security Lab
Posted on October 07, 2009 at 4:54 PM
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Today, a U.S. House and Senate Conference Committee passed out an appropriations bill that includes $32 million to complete the design of a new National Bio and Agro Defense Facility in Manhattan. The funding keeps the project on target for groundbreaking in August of 2010. Moving forward with this project is a win for Kansas and a win for the country. Even with an aggressive timetable toward completion, the lab races with the antiquity of the current lab on Plum Island, New York and the next big bio-security threat the country may face. Without modernizing our own capabilities, the U.S. faces the potential threat of having to depend on foreign labs to help us combat an outbreak of animal disease within our own borders. Already, Plum Island faces capacity and security issues. There isn't a lot of time to waste. Let us hope that Congress as a whole moves swiftly.
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