IV 
108TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION 
H. CON. RES. 271
Congratulating Fort Detrick on 60 years of service to the United States. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
SEPTEMBER 4, 2003
Mr. BARTLETT of Maryland submitted the following concurrent resolution; 
which was referred to the Committee on Armed Services 
CONCURRENT RESOLUTION 
Congratulating Fort Detrick on 60 years of service to the 
United States.
Whereas April 10, 2003, is the 60th Anniversary of the 
founding of Fort Detrick; 
Whereas throughout Fort Detrick’s 60-year history, the army 
post has contributed scientific breakthroughs and medical 
solutions for the Armed Forces and the Nation; 
Whereas Fort Detrick is a focal point for America’s bio-
medical scientific leadership and has contributed exten-
sively to protecting and improving public health in the 
United States; 
Whereas Fort Detrick has been home to preeminent research-
ers in bacteriology, microbiology, clinical and preventative 
medicine, biochemistry, neurology, botany, virology, and 
genomics;
•HCON 271 IH 
Whereas the research program at Fort Detrick pioneered the 
laboratory facility designs, equipment, and procedures 
that are used for infectious disease research in labora-
tories worldwide; 
Whereas Fort Detrick has improved public health throughout 
the world through the creation of botulinum antibodies, 
which have been used to treat both infant and adult vic-
tims of botulism; 
Whereas the Venezuelan Equine Encephalitis vaccines, which 
were created at Fort Detrick, have been used to control 
human and animal outbreaks of Venezuelan Equine En-
cephalitis, and the Rift Valley Fever vaccines, which were 
also created at Fort Detrick, have been used to protect 
people in Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Yemen, and other coun-
tries who are at high risk of Rift Valley Fever; 
Whereas, on January 27, 1969, the Office of the Surgeon 
General of the Army established the United States Army 
Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases (herein-
after in this resolution referred to as ‘‘USAMRIID’’), 
which is located at Fort Detrick; 
Whereas when outbreaks of hantaviral disease began in the 
southwestern United States in 1993, USAMRIID was 
called upon to consult by the Centers for Disease Control 
and Prevention and by various state health departments; 
Whereas when the Ebola virus was first carried to the shores 
of the United States in late 1989 by a primate colony 
found in Reston, Virginia, it was USAMRIID that diag-
nosed and contained the outbreak; 
Whereas USAMRIID also played a key role in the identifica-
tion of and response to the initial outbreak of West Nile 
virus in New York;
•HCON 271 IH 
Whereas USAMRIID continues the life-saving work of the in-
stitute by collaborating with the Centers for Disease Con-
trol and the National Institutes of Health on the develop-
ment of diagnostics and the evaluation of antiviral drugs 
for Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome; 
Whereas USAMRIID created a vaccine against Hemorrhagic 
Fever in the 1980’s, which has possibly saved thousands 
of lives in Argentina, including the lives of agricultural 
workers at risk for exposure to this hemorrhagic fever 
virus; 
Whereas USAMRIID is the only Federal laboratory to oper-
ate with a continuous 24-hour per day capability since 9/
11, and the support of the institute was integral to the 
re-opening of Congressional office buildings and other fa-
cilities after 9/11; 
Whereas leading vaccine candidates for anthrax, plague, tula-
remia, and botulinum neurotoxins were all originally de-
veloped at USAMRIID; 
Whereas the leading possible countermeasures for at least 5 
of the current top 6 biological threats that are on the 
Centers for Disease Control ‘‘A’’ List have come from the 
basic research program at USAMRIID; 
Whereas the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Dis-
eases of the National Institutes of Health at Fort 
Detrick and USAMRIID have established a partnership 
to collaborate and accelerate biodefense research that will 
protect all Americans against the threat of biological and 
chemical attacks by terrorists; 
Whereas, in 1974, the United States Army Medical Material 
Agency relocated to Fort Detrick and currently, the 
United States Navy, Air Force, and Army conduct med-
•HCON 271 IH 
ical logistics planning and management at Fort Detrick 
in support of global military operations; 
Whereas the 4th Light Armored Reconnaissance Battalion at 
Fort Detrick had a mission of reconnaissance and secu-
rity in support of a Marine Air/Ground Task Force and 
received the Meritorious Unit Citation for its service dur-
ing Operation Desert Storm; 
Whereas the 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 is an internationally recognized center for sci-
entific excellence in the prevention, detection, and treat-
ment of cancer and AIDS: Now, therefore, be it
Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate 
concurring), That the Congress—
(1) congratulates Fort Detrick on 60 years of 
service to the United States; 
(2) commends all those at Fort Detrick who 
have labored so diligently to defend the United 
States against biological and chemical attack; and 
(3) commends all those at Fort Detrick who 
have labored to develop vaccines for all types of ill-
nesses.
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