Date: 2008-04-16
Speaker: DANIEL E. LUNGREN (republican)
Chamber: H
State: Cali

fornia. Mr. Chairman. this is an important amendment brought to us by the gentleman from New York . It essentially would allow us to attach the FISA bill to the underlying bill. And some would say. what connection could there possibly be? Well. you have to understand the underlying bill. in at least four places. refers to the concern of pathogens. pathogens in our water. And what are pathogens? According to greatlakes.net. pathos is Greek for suffering. and gen is a suffix meaning producer. also from the Greek. Thus. a waterborne pathogen is a disease maker that occurs in the water. These germs are living. microscopic organisms. microorganisms or microbes that take in food. give .off waste. grow. reproduce and die. And the most common types of waterborne pathogens are bacteria. but theyre also viruses. protozoa and Certain kinds of algae. So why would the gentleman from New Yorks amendment be in order. from a germaneness standpoint. and. why would it be important for us? All you have to do is go to -the INTERPOL Web site where it discusses the threat and prevention of bioterrorism. And therein. INTERPOL states. "an effective biological weapon is potentially devastating and much easier to make and transport than a nuclear weapon. Bio weapons are. however. relatively safe for the terrorists. Pathogens are virtually undetectable and can be brought reasonably easily into a country by an individual and can then be propagated in large quantities." INTERPOL says this. "Recognizing the imminent dangers represented by this lethal form of crime is the first step in countering the threat. Thereafter. it is vital to put in place the tools which will enable society to take appropriate measures." If you go to the CDC and you ask. what are the bioterrorism agents. they list 27 of them. waterborne bio agents: Anthrax. Brucellosis. Cholera. Botulism. Glanders. Plague. Q fever. smalpox. and it goes on and on and on. Now. we have a bill before us which says we have to be concerned about our beaches. By the way. its not just the coastline. Under this bill this includes the Great Lakes. And it says we should be concerned about pollution. and they define pollution by the number of pathogens per volume. And I see nothing in this bill which says were only concerned about industrially produced pathogens or accidentally produced pathogens. And if thats the case. we ought to be concerned about terrorist produced and introduced pathogens. And thats why the gentleman amendment is both germane and appropriate and ought to be supported. because what it says is that we need the intelligence to understand which pathogens that the terrorists are attempting to introduce here. where they might introduce it. and to make sure that our first responders. which are referred to in the underlying bill. understand what it is theyre faced.with. how they prevent it. and if they cant prevent it. how they deal with it. So this is a serious amendment. It says that the only way we can protect our coastal waters and the people who live in them. swim in them. work in them. is if we know the information ahead of time. And we dont have that information. That information is held by the bad guys. The only way we can find out what the bad guys intend to do is. frankly. by listening to them. capturing their communications. Thats why this FISA bill is important generally. but it is important specifically to this bill. a bill which tells us we are trying to protect our coastal waterways. the coastline. the Great Lakes and our estuaries. And the only way we can do that is to know who intends to damage it. who intends to introduce these pathogens as a direct threat to us and how we respond to that. So I would hope that the gentleladys point of order is rejected. and I hope that we will be able to vote on this bill. support this bill. And if we cant have FISA for anything else. lets at least protect our coast lines. protect the Great Lakes. protect the estuaries and everybody therein. Sounds like a silly argument that we would limit it to that. but we have. under the rules. not been allowed to bring the FISA bill to the floor. Let us add it to this bill. where its germane. where it would go to the actual intention of the bill and. in fact. refers to the major parts of the bill. that is. how do we know what pathogens are introduced. how do we respond to them. how do we make sure our American citizens are protected from them. how do we close down those waterways and those beaches when theyve been introduced. whether or not theyve been introduced accidentally. by industrial pollution or. it seems to me. something we ought to be concerned about. by those who wish to kill you and me. our children. and our grandchildren. I yield back the balance of my time.