The House this week advanced a measure introduced by U.S. Rep. John Ratcliffe (R-TX), following similar successful efforts in the Senate, and raising the potential to prosecute the possession of biological toxins.
The Effective Prosecution of Possession of Biological Toxins and Agents Act of 2019 guarantees in no uncertain terms that the unregistered possession, transportation, shipping or receipt of such agents — like ricin — would be deemed criminal acts and appropriately enforced. Though this is technically already the law of the land, U.S. Rep. Doug Collins (R-GA) pointed out that there are loopholes in existing legislation.
“In Georgia, a federal court dismissed charges against a defendant for unregistered possession of ricin simply because current law failed to categorize the toxin appropriately,” Collins, the Ranking Member of the House Judiciary Committee, said. “The Effective Prosecution of Possession of Biological Toxins and Agents Act of 2019 corrects this legislative error.”
Ratcliffe worked on the legislation alongside U.S. Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA). The Senate approved its version of the bill in May.
“As a former federal prosecutor and member of the House Judiciary Committee, I’m committed to improving our nation’s laws that are intended to keep dangerous substances out of the hands of people who can use them for malign activity,” Ratcliffe said.
The legislation now heads to the president’s desk.