Oversight Subcommittee examines bioresearch labs security

The House Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations held a hearing on Wednesday regarding strengthening oversight of high-containment laboratories.

“Sweeping improvements and policy changes only work if the policies are effective,” Subcommittee Chairman Rep. Tim Murphy (R-PA) said. “And, in this area, past policy reviews have not brought about the changes necessary to improve safety. For that reason, Ms. (Diana) DeGette (D-CO) and myself, along with Chairman (Fred) Upton (R-MI) and Ranking Member (Frank) Pallone (D-NJ), asked the GAO to evaluate the biosafety, biosecurity, and oversight policies for the eight departments and 15 component agencies that own and operate the Federal government’s high-containment laboratories. GAO has been issuing recommendations for years on the need for better policies and standards at high-containment labs—recommendations that have not been implemented—so the agency was well-positioned to receive our request.”

Eight departments and 15 agencies have policies for managing hazardous biological agents in high-containment laboratories. These policies, however, were not as comprehensive as they should be. The GAO also found that some departments and agencies did not have up-to-date policies for managing hazardous biological agents in high-containment laboratories. Furthermore, some departments lacked general time frames for reviewing or updating their policies.