Biological Agents Enhanced Penalties and Control Act

[Congressional Bills 104th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 1606 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

104th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                S. 1606

To control the use of biological agents that have the potential to pose
  a severe threat to public health and safety, and for other purposes.

_______________________________________________________________________

                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             March 12, 1996

 Mr. Hatch (for himself, Mrs. Feinstein, Mr. Thurmond, Mr. DeWine, Mr.
  Kohl, and Mr. Biden) introduced the following bill; which was read
          twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL

To control the use of biological agents that have the potential to pose
  a severe threat to public health and safety, and for other purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Biological Agents Enhanced Penalties
and Control Act''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    The Congress finds that--
            (1) certain biological agents have the potential to pose a
        severe threat to public health and safety;
            (2) such biological agents can be used as weapons by
        individuals or organizations for the purpose of domestic or
        international terrorism or for other criminal purposes;
            (3) the transfer and possession of potentially hazardous
        biological agents should be regulated to protect public health
        and safety; and
            (4) efforts to protect the public from exposure to such
        agents should ensure that individuals and groups with
        legitimate objectives continue to have access to such agents
        for clinical and research purposes.

SEC. 3. CRIMINAL ENFORCEMENT.

    (a) Biological Weapons.--Chapter 10 of title 18, United States
Code, is amended--
            (1) in section 175(a), by inserting ``or attempts,
        threatens, or conspires to do the same,'' after ``to do so,'';
            (2) in section 177(a)(2), by inserting ``threat,'' after
        ``attempt,''; and
            (3) in section 178--
                    (A) in paragraph (1), by striking ``or infectious
                substance'' and inserting ``infectious substance, or
                biological product that may be engineered as a result
                of biotechnology, or any naturally occurring or
                bioengineered component of any such microorganism,
                virus, infectious substance, or biological product'';
                    (B) in paragraph (2)--
                            (i) by inserting ``the toxic material of
                        plants, animals, microorganisms, viruses,
                        fungi, or infectious substances, or a
                        recombinant molecule'' after ``means'';
                            (ii) by striking ``production--'' and
                        inserting ``production, including--'';
                            (iii) in subparagraph (A), by inserting
                        ``or biological product that may be engineered
                        as a result of biotechnology'' after
                        ``substance''; and
                            (iv) in subparagraph (B), by inserting ``or
                        biological product'' after ``isomer''; and
                    (C) in paragraph (4), by inserting ``, or molecule,
                including a recombinant molecule, or biological product
                that may be engineered as a result of biotechnology,''
                after ``organism''.
    (b) Terrorism.--Section 2332a(a) of title 18, United States Code,
is amended--
            (1) by inserting ``, threatens,'' after ``attempts''; and
            (2) by inserting ``, including any biological agent, toxin,
        or vector (as those terms are defined in section 178)'' after
        ``destruction''.

SEC. 4. REGULATORY CONTROL OF BIOLOGICAL AGENTS.

    (a) List of Biological Agents.--
            (1) In general.--The Secretary shall, through regulations
        promulgated under subsection (c), establish and maintain a list
        of each biological agent that has the potential to pose a
        severe threat to public health and safety.
            (2) Criteria.--In determining whether to include an agent
        on the list under paragraph (1), the Secretary shall--
                    (A) consider--
                            (i) the effect on human health of exposure
                        to the agent;
                            (ii) the degree of contagiousness of the
                        agent and the methods by which the agent is
                        transferred to humans;
                            (iii) the availability and effectiveness of
                        immunizations to prevent and treatments for any
                        illness resulting from infection by the agent;
                        and
                            (iv) any other criteria the Secretary
                        considers appropriate; and
                    (B) consult with scientific experts representing
                appropriate professional groups.
    (b) Regulation of Transfers of Listed Biological Agents.--The
Secretary shall, through regulations promulgated under subsection (c),
provide for--
            (1) the establishment and enforcement of safety procedures
        for the transfer of biological agents listed pursuant
        subsection (a), including measures to ensure--
                    (A) proper training and appropriate skills to
                handle such agents; and
                    (B) proper laboratory facilities to contain and
                dispose of such agents;
            (2) safeguards to prevent access to such agents for use in
        domestic or international terrorism or for any other criminal
        purpose;
            (3) the establishment of procedures to protect the public
        safety in the event of a transfer or potential transfer of a
        biological agent in violation of the safety procedures
        established under paragraph (1) or the safeguards established
        under paragraph (2); and
            (4) appropriate availability of biological agents for
        research, education, and other legitimate purposes.
    (c) Time Limits.--The Secretary shall carry out subsections (a) and
(b) by issuing--
            (1) interim rules not later than 90 days after the date of
        the enactment of this Act;
            (2) proposed rules not later than 180 days after the date
        of the enactment of this Act; and
            (3) final rules not later than 360 days after the date of
        the enactment of this Act.
    (d) Definitions.--For purposes of this section--
            (1) the term ``biological agent'' has the same meaning as
        in section 178 of title 18, United States Code; and
            (2) the term ``Secretary'' means the Secretary of Health
        and Human Services.
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