WASHINGTON DC (KOLO) – A new bill would look to combat illegal bio labs after one such lab was discovered in the Las Vegas area.
In February of this year, an FBI search warrant was conducted on a lab discovered in a home in Las Vegas. The raid uncovered evidence of “biological material” and vials containing “unknown liquids.”
Several people also fell ill after being exposed to the lab. Cortez Masto also says that the lab, which doubled as an Airbnb, has possible connections to another lab in California, as well as to the Chinese Communist Party.
U.S. Senators Catherine Cortez Masto and Jim Banks (R-IN) introduced the Preventing Illegal Laboratories and Protecting Public Health Act to strengthen federal oversight of highly pathogenic agents and high containment labs.
The bill would do the following:
- Require distributors of highly pathogenic agents to maintain detailed electronic logbooks of all transfers, verify purchaser identity and intended use, and retain records for at least three years;
- Mandate periodic federal evaluation of high-containment labs;
- Update national standards for design, construction, and operations of high-containment labs;
- Establish a single federal point of contact to coordinate with state, local, and Tribal authorities on biosecurity and public health concerns; and
- Require a study to create a national database of high-containment labs, ensuring federal and local authorities can proactively monitor facilities and respond quickly to threats.
Representatives Jim Costa (D-Calif.-21), David Valadao (R-Calif.-22), and Kevin Kiley (I-Calif.-03) have introduced companion legislation in the House of Representatives.
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