S&T to Play Critical Role for Homeland Security Department

Participants of the Federal Biodefense Research FY 2003 Conference recently held in Washington D.C. were given the opportunity to see how the new Department of Homeland Security (DHS) will work. With its passage in November 2002 by congressional legislation, the Homeland Security Act that created DHS initiated the largest reorganization of the federal government since the 1950s. Now, several agencies and departments will be affected by DHS, and each figures to have an important role in the biodefense arena. Below are a few highlights of the conference, which was sponsored by the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), Research America, a nonprofit organization that promotes health and medical research, and The Scientist, an online news journal.

S&T Role

John Marburger, Director of the Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) and Co-Chair of the President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology, gave the keynote on the first day of the conference, stressing the important role that S&T will play in both DHS and biodefense.

The structure of the newly created DHS includes a directorate of science and technology that will be headed by an under secretary for science and technology, Marburger noted. This under secretary will advise the DHS secretary on R&D efforts, priorities, goals, objectives and policies. With this type of involvement, Marburger said, OSTP and the S&T community will have a direct line in the creation of S&T functions within the DHS. One of the members of the presidential appointed transition team for DHS is from OSTP, he added.

The new department also calls for the creation of a 20-member Homeland Security Science and Technology Advisory Committee. With a goal of highlighting issues important to the nation's security, this committee will provide an annual report that will seek to shed light on critical research areas and other initiatives.

During his keynote, Marburger addressed The National Strategy for Homeland Security, which outlines six critical mission areas in which S&T will be vital: intelligence and warning; border and transportation security; domestic counterterrorism; protecting critical infrastructure and key assets; defending against catastrophic threats; and emergency preparedness and response.

Released in July 2002, the strategy also outlines 11 major initiatives specifically aimed at S&T:

• Develop chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear countermeasures;
• Develop systems for detecting hostile intent;
• Apply biometric technology to identification devices;
• Improve the technical capabilities of first responders;
• Coordinate research and development of the homeland security apparatus;
• Establish a national laboratory for homeland security;
• Solicit independent and private analysis for science and technology research;
• Establish a mechanism for rapidly producing prototypes;
• Conduct demonstrations and pilot deployments;
• Set standards for homeland security technologies; and
• Establish a system for high-risk, high-payoff homeland security research.

The National Strategy for Homeland Security is available in its entirety at: http://www.whitehouse.gov/homeland/book/

Biodefense Budget

Kei Koizumi, Director of the R&D Budget and Policy Program of AAAS, provided an overview of the federal funding of biodefense research for FY 2003. Noting the amount appropriated for counter-terrorism in the President’s FY 2003 budget proposal, Koizumi said counter-terrorism research and development has become a main focus of federal research and development. He stated that the counter-terrorism effort, which dates back many years, is a multi-agency effort including 10 agencies.

While the Department of Defense (DoD) has always been the lead player in the fight against terrorism, focus has shifted some with the anthrax attacks in the fall of 2001. In the FY 2003 budget, $2.9 billion has been requested for counter-terrorism R&D, mostly for biodefense. This represents an increase of 150 percent from FY 2002 ($1.2 billion) and a tremendous increase from FY 2001 ($500 million).

Ten agencies will be involved in the effort but the largest amount of funding will be provided to the National Institutes of Health (NIH) at $1.7 billion. The breakdown of the $1.7 billion is approximately $977 million for bioterrorism research, $250 million for anthrax vaccine development/procurement, $150 million for extramural construction of new biodefense laboratories and nearly $400 million for NIH bio-defense related labs.

It appears that DHS may have a minimal impact on R&D funding. The bioterrorism portfolio will stay under NIH and other agencies, and DHS will mainly serve in a priority setting role. DHS will strive to cross barriers in regards to R&D and technology commercialization. One of the main goals of the new department will be to utilize R&D and move at a more rapid pace toward applications and final products.

The bad news concerning these increased funding levels is that the FY 2003 budget has not been passed. All departments except for DoD are operating under a continuing resolution at FY 2002 funding levels. Programs such as the NIH’s bioterrorism’s R&D expansion cannot occur until budgets are final; however, final budgets may not be passed until February or March of next year.

It was stressed that simply because a budget has not been passed, agencies and organizations seeking federal funding should not stop replying to requests for proposals (RFPs) and program announcements. Failure to respond to current and future RFPs may result in missing a round of funding.

The complete text of the Homeland Security Act of 2002 is available at: http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/z?c107:h.r.5005.enr: