Washington, D.C. – The House of Representatives today overwhelmingly passed the Public Health Security and Bioterrorism Response Act, H.R. 3448, authored by the Committee on Energy and Commerce Ranking Minority Member John D. Dingell (D-MI) and Chairman Billy Tauzin (D-LA).

"The resources provided in this bill will go directly and quickly to those on the front lines who need them, including our frayed public health network and our first responders. And will further help protect the Nation’s food supply and drinking water from terrorist acts," Dingell said.

The bill has important new protections for the Nation’s food supply, an area of longstanding concern to Dingell. In particular, it authorizes new powers and $100 million to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to increase and improve inspections of imported food at the 307 different U.S. ports of entry. With the additional funds and authorities in this bill, FDA should be equipped to inspect about 2 percent of all imported food shipments. While this remains significantly less than FDA’s recommendation to inspect 10 percent of all imported food shipments, this is an important first step.

Additional provisions in the bill focus on the improvement of drinking water safety and tighter controls on dangerous biological agents. Title IV of the bill adds a new section, 1433, to the Safe Drinking Water Act requiring community water systems to conduct assessments of the vulnerability of its system to a terrorist attack.

"This is a grave matter of national importance, and I am thankful we were able to work in a bipartisan fashion to produce a truly worthy bill," Dingell said. "While this is a good bill, and an excellent beginning, it should not be viewed as the final word. We will have to keep a sharp eye out to see what else needs to be done."

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