 |
|
Bush Administration missing an opportunity |
|
|
| This week in Congress, the House of Representatives
took a major stride in providing our nation with a well-supplied biological
defense by passing the Project Bioshield Act. Unfortunately, there
is an opportunity within Project Bioshield that the Administration refuses
to consider – I’m referring to the wealth of expertise, the top-notch security,
and the long-established excellence of the Pine Bluff Arsenal.
During my first term in office, I began meeting with officials at the Pentagon and working with the Pine Bluff Alliance and the Pine Bluff Arsenal to lay the necessary groundwork for bringing a vaccine production facility to the Arsenal. Now, as we take the first steps toward developing this Bioshield, the Pine Bluff Arsenal stands ready to help. Unfortunately, my fellow members of the Arkansas Delegation and I met with officials from the Pentagon earlier this year to discuss the Arsenal’s potential role in Project Bioshield – and we were told that the Administration is opposed to anything other than working through privatized contractors. The President’s designation of vaccine production as a spending priority provides a landmark opportunity for Arkansas, and despite the Administration’s opposition to utilizing the Pine Bluff Arsenal, I’m not giving up - for the sake of the jobs and economic development it will provide to Southeast Arkansas as well as its importance to the security of our nation. |
