S.1873

Sponsored by Sen. Richard Burr (NC) and introduced October 17, 2005, it has 5 co-sponsors and as of October 24, 2005, it is now placed on the Senate legislative calendar.

The official text states it as "A bill to prepare and strengthen biodefense of the United States against deliberate, accidental, and natural outbreaks of illness and for other purposes."  This legislation being fast-tracked through Congress, is definitely anti-consumer in its secretiveness, elimination of the basic right of trial by jury, and the utilization of taxpayer funding for its mission. Pro-vaccine Senators are pushing this bill which will leave U.S. citizens without legal recourse if injured by a drug or vaccine that is mandated by federal authorities during a pandemic or health emergency. Manufacturers and researchers have complete liability protection from any harm associated with drugs or vaccines that are forced by the government upon U.S. citizens in response to a bioterrorism event.

This harmful legislation also establishes a clandestine agency, untouchable by the Freedom of Information Act, for the research and development of drugs and vaccines.  The agency is BARDA, the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Agency.