National Biodefense Analysis and Countermeasures Center

Congressional concern that terrorists could use biological agents as weapons of terror has resulted in the Departments of Homeland Security (DHS) and Health and Human Services (HHS) proposing the creation of the National Biodefense Analysis and Countermeasures Center (NBACC). The Center will focus only on defenses against bioterrorism, because the Biological and Toxic Weapons Convention which permits only defensive research activities. Congress will have many decisions to make in funding the NBACC and in overseeing it. Congress will also need to ensure that there is no duplication of effort (and therefore unnecessary funding) between federal agencies.

On April 25, 2005, The Library of Congress, Congressional Research Service, provided Congress with a report entitled The National Biodefense Analysis and Countermeasures Center: Issues for Congress. As the title explicitly says, the report identifies the issues Congress faces in establishing the NBACC.