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"<p>A bill called the Biosecurity and Vaccine Development Improvement  Act was introduced last month by Sen. Arlen Specter and Pennsylvania Sen. Robert  Casey.<br />\n<br />\nThe legislation is intended to &ldquo;ensure our country has the  resources necessary to protect the American people in the event of a disease  outbreak or terrorist attack.&rdquo;<br />\n<br />\nOne major implication of the bill,  however, is that it keeps money moving to one of recently deceased Rep. Jack  Murtha's pet recipients of taxpayer dollars.<br />\n<br />\n&ldquo;This legislation would  provide funding for a public/private partnership vaccine developing and  manufacturing facility.&rdquo; Specter says in his remarks that introduce the  bill.<br />\n<br />\nCritics who have followed the trail of money from the government  say that Specter's introduction may denote a new effort to steer taxpayer money  to the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center.<br />\n<br />\nSpecter held a hearing in  Pittsburgh last year on UPMC and its qualifications as a candidate for a  facility of the sort the legislation envisions and is open in his support for  UPMC.<br />\n<br />\nAdvocates for Specter and UPMC say his support comes as no surprise  because of UPMC's reputation as a health care provider and employer and because  of Specter's history of championing funding for members of the health care and  life sciences industry.<br />\n<br />\nCritics of Specter, however, call his support for  UPMC, an entity with extensive ties to Murtha, and Pharmathene, the company that  reportedly operates UPMC. Murtha also was known for a history of backing  projects that carried major ethical and value-for-money questions, including  UPMC.<br />\n<br />\nMurtha, an August 2009 Pittsburgh Tribune-Review article said,  &ldquo;consulted with UPMC on the need to increase vaccine capacity in the United  States,&quot; holding hearings on the topic as chairman of the House Appropriations  Subcommittee on Defense.<br />\n<br />\nAccording to a Harper's article from last year,  Murtha procured an $8.5 million earmark for UPMC. The article also reported that  Pharmathene had benefited from Murtha earmarking.<br />\n<br />\nPharmathene also  benefited from a sole-source vaccine contract this year with help from Tara  O'Toole, the Under Secretary for the Science and Technology Directorate at the  Department of Homeland Security. O'Toole is reported to have ties to Murtha's  so-called favor factory and is a one-time head of UMPC's Center for Biosecurity.  She also previously advised the Alliance for Biosecurity, which Pharmathene  plays a major role in.<br />\n<br />\nSpecter announced $1.65 million for UPMC's  Military Force Protection and Injury Prevention Program in July 2004 and  $503,000 for UPMC's Horizon center in December 2003. According to his web site,  Specter secured another $1.63 million for UPMC's St. Margaret's Hospital's  Emergency Department and Bioterrorism Decontamination Center in the Fiscal Year  2003 Appropriations Bill and another $17.5 million for UPMC was announced in  September 2003.<br />\n<br />\nSpecter has collected more than $80,000 in contributions  from UPMC personnel, OpenSecrets.org reports, and Murtha has been the  beneficiary of more than $100,000 in campaign contributions from UPMC personnel  during his career.<br />\n</p>"^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://bioprepwatch.com/stories/510506681-biosecurity-bill-called-into-question>