The BioWatch program was established in 2003 in the aftermath of the anthrax attacks that killed 5 people and sickened more than 20 others. The program is a system of detectors deployed to more than 30 U.S. cities to scan for a number of aerosolized biothreat agents. Recognizing the limitations of the current system, in 2008 the Department's Office of Health Affairs began the process to acquire a next-generation detector known as Gen-3. After a series of missteps spanning two administrations, 6 years, and millions of dollars later, Secretary Johnson recently canceled that acquisition on April...

Intelligence indicates that terrorists have discussed vulnerabilities in various components of the agriculture sector. Food and agriculture is an attractive target to terrorists, because many agents are easy to obtain; minimal technology is required to execute an attack, and our food travels across the country and world quickly and efficiently. An agroterrorism attack would impact the most basic of human needs: The food we eat. Furthermore, the food and agricultural sector is critically important to our Nation's economy. U.S. food and agriculture accounts for roughly one-fifth of the Nation's...