•HCON 271 EH
Whereas the Institute was the only Federal laboratory to
maintain a continuous diagnostic reference capability on
a 24-hour per day basis after the attacks of September
11, 2001, and provided expertise in medical diagnostics
and decontamination that was key to ensuring that con-
gressional office buildings were safe to reoccupy after the
anthrax mail attacks in the fall of 2001;
Whereas leading vaccine candidates for anthrax, plague, tula-
remia, and botulinum neurotoxins were all originally de-
veloped at the Institute;
Whereas the basic research program at the Institute is re-
sponsible for some of the most promising medical coun-
termeasures against the leading biological threats that
are on the ‘‘A’’ List of the Centers for Disease Control
and Prevention;
Whereas the Institute has established a partnership with the
National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases of
the National Institutes of Health to collaborate and ac-
celerate biodefense research that will protect all Ameri-
cans against the threat of biological and chemical attacks
by terrorists;
Whereas in 1974, the United States Army Medical Materiel
Agency was relocated to Fort Detrick and the Navy, Air
Force, and Army all now conduct medical logistics plan-
ning and management at Fort Detrick in support of glob-
al military operations;
Whereas the Foreign Disease-Weed Science Research Unit of
the Agricultural Research Service of the Department of
Agriculture has conducted high-priority research in the
Plant Pathogen Containment Facility at Fort Detrick for
over 30 years, providing the agricultural community with
•HCON 271 EH
basic epidemiological information and rapid diagnostic as-
says for exotic threatening and emerging crop diseases,
such as Karnal bunt of wheat, soybean rust, potato late
blight, and plum pox virus;
Whereas Company B, 4th Light Armored Reconnaissance
Battalion, 4th Marine Division, United States Marine
Corps Reserve, which has been assigned to Fort Detrick
since October 1987, had a mission of reconnaissance and
security in support of a Marine Air/Ground Task Force
and received the Meritorious Unit Citation for its service
during Operation Desert Storm;
Whereas the Army’s 1108th Signal Brigade at Fort Detrick
provides important strategic communication support to
the White House and the Joint Chiefs of Staff; and
Whereas the National Cancer Institute-Frederick at Fort
Detrick, one of two campuses of the National Cancer In-
stitute of the National Institutes of Health, is an inter-
nationally recognized center for scientific excellence in the
prevention, detection, and treatment of cancer and AIDS:
Now, therefore, be it
Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate
concurring), That the Congress—
(1) congratulates Fort Detrick, Maryland, on
60 years of service to the Nation; and
(2) commends the military and civilian per-
sonnel of the Army, other elements of the Depart-
ment of Defense, and other Federal departments
and agencies who have worked diligently at Fort
Detrick since its founding—
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(A) to defend the United States against bi-
ological and chemical attack; and
(B) to develop vaccines for all types of ill-
nesses.
Passed the House of Representatives October 1,
2003.
Attest:
Clerk.