The US House of Representatives recently passed a budget bill recently that includes full funding for the Fort Detrick, MD laboratory, the National Biodefense Analysis and Countermeasures Center (NBACC).
The bill included a bipartisan amendment authored by Congressman John K. Delaney (MD-6) to fully fund the NBACC. The amendment was co-sponsored by Republican Dan Donovan (NY-11).
The budget bill would restore the facility’s full $60 million budget, said NBACC Communications Director Brian Gaudet. It would also help the laboratory return to a full staffing capacity of 180 people.
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“NBACC and labs like it are essential to our homeland security and the fight against bioterrorism. When we saw that President Trump’s budget zeroed out funding for this facility, we said we were going to fight it every step of the way, and that’s what we’re doing,” said Congressman Delaney.
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Located at Fort Detrick, the National Biodefense Analysis and Countermeasures Center supports preparedness planning, intelligence assessments and bio-forensic analysis and is used by multiple agencies. The facility often assists the FBI in investigating bioterrorism.
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