Senate Bill Would Create Ultra Secret Biomedical Agency
A Senate bill that went from introduction to committee approval in less than a day would create a new biodefense agency that is totally exempt from public disclosure statutes. The bill was introduced by Sen. Richard Burr, R-NC, with support from Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-Tenn). It creates an independent agency, the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Agency, to develop drug responses to both natural outbreaks and bioterrorism. The agency could offer government incentives to pharmaceutical companies and grant the companies “no liability” status. All of the agency’s records would be exempt from disclosure under the Freedom of Information Act, all of its meetings exempt from the Federal Advisory Committee Act, and the agency would not be required to operate under federal cost or cost accounting standards. (10/26/05)