The U.S. House of Representatives recently advanced an amendment authored by U.S. Rep. John Delaney (D-MD) to fully fund the National Biodefense Analysis and Countermeasures Center (NBACC), reversing a decision by the Trump Administration to eliminate funding for the center in its proposed FY2018 budget.
The Fort Detrick, Maryland-Based NBACC works to support initiatives in preparedness planning, intelligence analysis, and bio-forensic research for use by multiple government agencies, often working in tandem with the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) to investigate incidents of bioterrorism.
“NBACC and labs like it are essential to our homeland security and the fight against bioterrorism,” Delaney said. “When we saw that President Trump’s budget zeroed out funding for this facility, we said we were going to fight it every step of the way, and that’s what we’re doing.”
In addition to fully funding the NBACC, Delaney’s amendment also restored funding to the Chemical Security Analysis Center, the National Urban Security Technology Laboratory and all DHS-related laboratories — all of which is part of a larger appropriations bill for the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.
“The passage of this amendment, along with previous measures we’ve passed this summer, sends a strong message to appropriators in both chambers that NBACC should be protected and that NBACC should remain open,” Delaney said. “This isn’t over and as the funding and appropriations process continues, we’re going to keep working every angle we have.”