WASHINGTON, DC - The Department of Defense today released an internal report regarding its investigation of the shipments of live anthrax from the Department’s laboratory at Dugway Proving Ground in Utah to labs across the country and around the world. The Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations next Tuesday, July 28, will hold a hearing to discuss the Federal Select Agent Program, focusing particularly on Department of Defense shipments of live anthrax. Witnesses from DoD, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Department of Health and Human Services Office of the Inspector General, and Government Accountability Office will testify.
Upon release of the DoD report, bipartisan leaders of the committee commented, “Today’s report underscores the urgency of next week’s hearing. Federal agencies have demonstrated repeated lapses in the handling of dangerous pathogens, with which there is zero room for error. And despite the heightened scrutiny, serious mistakes keep happening and the agencies still have yet to reveal a clear path forward to address the underlying causes behind these failures. Put simply: this is not acceptable."
Chairman Fred Upton (R-MI), full committee Ranking Member Frank Pallone (D-NJ), Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee Chairman Tim Murphy (R-PA), and subcommittee Ranking Member Diana DeGette (D-CO) continued, “We expect witnesses next week to have answers about how they will assure the American people that there will be no more unforced errors."
