Scott joins hearing to discuss biodefense concerns

Athens, Aug 25 - By Audrey Goodson
The Red and Black
Published on 8/25/2006

The United States may be vulnerable to a terrorist attack on its food supply, but Georgia is one of the best prepared states in the nation, a panel of experts said at a Congressional field hearing on campus Thursday.

Emphasizing the University’s rising importance in the area of agroterrorism research, the U.S. House Subcommittee on Prevention of Nuclear and Biological Attack held a hearing in the Georgia Center for Continuing Education.

Four Georgia congressmen expressed their frustration with the nation’s current agro- and bio-terrorism defense plan as they questioned the panel of experts at the hearing, “Agroterrorism’s Perfect Storm: Where Human and Animal Disease Collide.”

“Agroterrorism is a subject that needs a lot more attention than it’s gotten lately,” said Rep. John Barrow, an Athens Democrat, who noted that one-sixth of the U.S. gross national product comes from agriculture.

The hearing followed an announcement more than two weeks ago that the University is among 18 sites being considered to house the new National Bio- and Agro-Defense Facility.

Rep. Charlie Norwood, a Republican from the 9th District, called the nation’s food supply its “soft underbelly” and said “it provides the enemies of freedom an attractive target.”

“No single agency currently has the ability to defend against an attack,” he said.

A congressional redistricting plan passed by the Georgia General Assembly in the spring put Athens in Norwood’s new 10th District, a seat he’ll seek to keep this November.

The panel of experts — which included a University professor and representatives from the Departments of Agriculture, Health and Human Services, Homeland Security and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention — outlined their agencies’ prevention and preparedness strategies in the case of an attack on the nation’s food supply.

“We need to get people on the ground prepared, aware and able to respond rapidly,” said Corrie Brown, a University pathology professor in the College of Veterinary Medicine.

Brown said national funding for agriculture defense is “meager,” noting that only 5 percent of funding against terrorism protects the food supply.

Brown, a member of the Georgia Committee for Agriculture and Food Defense, said Georgia is a “leader” in developing protection for its agriculture.

Georgia was the first state to create a “national curriculum” on agrosecurity, training 2,500 local emergency managers, law enforcement officers, firefighters, veterinarians and agricultural producers on identifying and responding to an attack, she said.

Norwood said the University “can and should play a role” in agro- and bio- defense research, pointing to the University’s research facilities, such as the Richard B. Russell Agricultural Center.

Rep. David Scott, a Democrat from the 13th District, and Rep. John Linder, chairman of the subcommittee and a Republican from the 7th District, also attended the hearing.