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National Biodefense Analysis and Countermeasures Center: Issues for Congress [Updated February 15, 2007]

The mission of the National Biodefense Analysis and Countermeasures Center (NBACC) is to understand current and future biological threats; assess vulnerabilities and determine potential consequences; and provide a national capability for conducting forensic analysis of evidence from bio-crimes and bio-terrorism. The NBACC is operational, with a program office and several component centers occupying interim facilities. A laboratory facility dedicated to executing the NBACC mission and to contain two NBACC component centers is being built at Fort Detrick, Maryland, as part of the National Interagency Biodefense Campus. The laboratory facility, with an estimated construction cost of $141 million, will be the first Department of Homeland Security laboratory specifically focused on biodefense. Its programmatic contents and component organization appear to be evolving, as conflicting information has been provided during previous budget cycles. Congressional oversight of programs, especially those performed in federal facilities for homeland security purposes, is considered key to maintaining transparency in biodefense. Policy issues that may interest Congress include the operation of the NBACC facility as a federally funded research and development center, transparency and oversight of research activities performed through the center, and the potential for duplication and coordination of research effort between the Department of Homeland Security and other federal agencies. This report will be updated as circumstances warrant.