========================================================================
Weekly Update from Homeland
Security Funding Report December 1, 2004
Welcome to the weekly update
from CD Publications, publisher of Homeland Security Funding Report. This
e-mail update contains breaking news from the next edition of the Homeland
Security Funding Report. We hope you find this service useful.
Thanks for being a subscriber
to Homeland Security Funding Report.
Lawrence Sherrod, Editor
--------------------------------------------------
RIDGE RESIGNS AS SECRETARY OF
HOMELAND SECURITY DEPT.
Tom Ridge resigns as the
Secretary of the Homeland Security Dept. He will lead the agency until
either Feb. 1 or the Senate confirms his successor.
There hasn't been any
indication about who will replace Ridge, but the new DHS secretary will
have nearly $28 billion in funding secured by Ridge to continue such
efforts as: enhancing border and port security;
developing countermeasures
against weapons of mass destruction and bioterrorism agents; and
supporting state and local governments and first responders.
At a news conference in
Washington, Ridge says even though he can't prove it, he is confident the
United States is safer now than it was before the 9/11 attacks.
"Can I tell you today there are
X number of incidents that we were able to thwart or prevent? Cannot," he
says. "But I am confident that the terrorists are aware that from the curb
to the cockpit we've got additional security measures that didn't exist a
couple years ago, that from port to port we do things differently with
maritime security. I'm confident they know that the borders are more
secure."
Ridge notes he made the
decision to resign following the elections.
"It just comes down to some
things I have been postponing for years and years and years," Ridge says.
"I said I wanted to raise some personal and family matters to a slightly
higher priority."
Ridge is the seventh member of
President Bush's Cabinet to resign since the president was re-elected last
month. Other resignees include: Atty. Gen. John Ashcroft; Commerce Secy.
Donald Evans; Education Secy.
Rod Paige; Agriculture Secy.
Ann Veneman; Secy. of State Colin Powell and Energy Secy. Spencer Abraham.
Ridge notes there is still work
to be done, particularly ONconflicts which have emerged with the merging
of the Bureaus of Customs and Border Protection and Immigrations and
Custom Enforcement.
Ridge says he wishes he had
started working with the European Union earlier on involving the
international community in the discussions on securing the US' borders,
but there were other more pressing matters to deal with. Over the past
year, however, DHS has been "very aggressive" in its negotiations with EU.
His resignation ends a public
service career which began in 1982, when he served the first of five terms
in Congress representing his home state of Pennsylvania; he later served
as the state's governor.
Ridge says he is not sure what
he will do once he leaves DHS, but he will not immediately return to
Pennsylvania, his home state.
"I'm just going to step back
after 22-plus years of public service in a row, to step back a little bit,
breathe deeply and then decide," he says.
Info: DHS Press Office,
202/282-8010.
--------------------------------------------------
UT SOUTHWESTERN GETS OK FROM
FDA TO TEST RICIN VACCINE ON HUMANS
Researchers at the U. of Texas-Southwestern's
Medical Center receive the go-ahead from the Food and Drug Admin. to enter
the first phase of clinical human testing for a potential ricin vaccine.
Ellen Vitetta, director of UT
Southwestern's Cancer Immunobiology Center, says the first phase of the
test involves evaluating the safety and immune response induced by the
vaccine, known as RiVax. The sera, or
blood products, from injected
human volunteers will be tested for levels of specific ricin-neutralizing
antibodies. These antibodies will then be evaluated for their ability to
protect mice against a lethal ricin
dose.
Ricin, which can be
administered in foods and water or sprayed as an aerosol, is extracted
from castor beans. There is currently no effective vaccine or treatment
for ricin poisoning in humans. Depending
on how the ricin is
administered, victims develop fever, nausea and abdominal pain or lung
damage before dying within a few days of exposure. There is no antidote
after the first few hours of exposure, and because symptoms do not appear
until later and often mimic other illnesses, individuals often do not know
if they have been exposed until it is too late.
Because castor beans are
readily available, public health officials say ricin could be used for
terrorism. It has a long history of use in espionage, and there have been
several recent incidents involving the toxin in the United States and
Europe. The Centers for Disease Control classifies ricin as a "Category B"
biological agent, which means it is relatively easy to disseminate.
In creating the new vaccine,
the UT Southwestern research team mutated the DNA encoding the active "A"
chain of the toxin. The site in this chain which inhibits the cell's
ability to synthesize proteins, as well as the site responsible for
inducing vascular leak in the host, were deleted.
UT Southwestern scientists
eventually created three genetically distinct non-toxic versions of the
ricin A chain, two of which were effective as vaccines in mice. Vitetta
says E. coli bacteria are used to produce the A chain protein, making
vaccine production inexpensive and safe.
Injected RiVax protects mice
against 10 lethal doses of ricin and has no side effects in mice when
given at 100 times the dosage required for an immune response. A similar
study in rabbits also showed no side
effects, and the animals also
produced high levels of ricin-neutralizing antibodies, Vitetta says.
DOR BioPharma, Inc. has
received an exclusive license for the vaccine and is developing
manufacturing processes for the genetically engineered vaccine. DOR is
planning to produce a large stockpile for more advanced human clinical
testing, product licensing and potential purchases from the U.S.
government and other interested parties.
Info: Amanda Siegfried, UT
Southwestern, 214/648-3404,
amanda.siegfried@utsouthwestern.edu
--------------------------------------------------
TSA SEEKING COMPETITIVE BIDS
FOR SCREENING EQUIPMENT CONTRACT
The Transportation Security
Admin. holds an open, competitive bidding process for its Integrated
Logistics Support contract. This contract, which will be awarded in
February, will provide the maintenance for most of the screening equipment
including metal detectors, X-ray machines, and Explosives Trace Detectors
at the nation's 450 commercial airports.
In October, when TSA learned of
a similar program in another agency within the Homeland Security Dept., it
evaluated the existing contract vehicle to determine if the synergies
between TSA and the other program were more beneficial than continuing
with a new procurement. A joint DHS/TSA panel then recommended
establishing a competitive bidding contracting process, which would
provide the best value to the federal
government, says TSA
Undersecretary David Stone.
TSA will solicit requests for
proposals from companies which have already submitted white papers to TSA
for this contract. TSA has reviewed all the white papers and most
qualified respondents will receive the RFP. Further, TSA extended the
existing deployment and installation contract for checked baggage
screening equipment with the Boeing Co. through March 10.
Info: TSA Press Office,
571/227-2829.
