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BIOTERRORISM AGREEMENT

Health officials from the United States, Canada, Great Britain, Mexico, and the European Union hammered out an agreement Wednesday calling for increased collaboration on bioterrorism issues that threaten public health and safety.

"I have really been pushing the need for more collaboration since the Sept. 11 attacks," Health and Human Services Secretary Tommy Thompson told reporters in a teleconference from Ottawa immediately after the meeting.

He said the health ministers he met with "expressed a high level of interest in expanding work" on bioterrorism and that their new policy agreement was called the "Ottawa Plan."

The plan includes pledges of joint cooperation in producing drugs and vaccines -- including vaccines for anthrax and smallpox, a priority topic given the anthrax cases worldwide and the perceived threat of smallpox being used as a biological weapon.

Thompson said the countries also would work together on regulations for vaccine development.

The health officials agreed to support the World Health Organization's surveillance network for bioterrorism events, to share emergency response plans, as well as health data on food and water safety. It also will cooperate on responses to potential nuclear events.

Thompson said another key point was to improve linkage among the countries' so-called Biosafety Level 4 laboratories, which are designed to be specially sealed to protect from any biological threat.

-- How confident are you in government's ability to deal with bioterrorism?

HOMELAND DEFENSE

A new generation of young Americans would be able to enlist to perform domestic "homeland defense" service or join the military under new bipartisan legislation unveiled Wednesday.

The bill represents a first step the government might take to fill an unknown -- but potentially massive -- new need from troops to protect U.S. infrastructure or conduct a sustained military campaign, lawmakers and military experts said.

Sens. John McCain R-Ariz., and Evan Bayh, D-Ind., outlined a bill that would establish new incentives to encourage Americans to sign up for military service or for new Homeland Defense activities protecting critical infrastructure, like bridges and nuclear power plants.

McCain said the $2.6 billion bill might help avoid re-instituting the draft or other more aggressive steps to beef up the military ranks and protect infrastructure.

Homeland Defense Director Tom Ridge is reportedly developing an analysis on projected manpower needs to conduct the war on terrorism, including here in the United States. Lawmakers said those numbers are unknown, but certainly in the thousands.

In contrast to the military's "Total Army Analysis" model used to calculate the troops and supplies required for a military campaign, the government has no reliable tool to identify the resources required for a massive, sustained, homeland defense operation, Reserve Officers Association Executive Director Jayson Speigel said.

"The Army knows what it needs for a (war with) Iraq or Korea. There is no such model for the domestic mission," Speigel said.

The government already has 51,000 reservists on active duty -- the most since the Gulf War -- but most are already stationed here in the United States, protecting critical infrastructure or conducting other homeland defense activities, according to the Reserve Officers Association of the United States. There are currently 900,000 people in the selected reserve, leaving the government some cushion. But that cushion could evaporate quickly if the war overseas expands or domestic security needs stay at this level for long.

-- What do you think?

THE FINAL FRONTIER

The future of the International Space Station is in doubt, with members of Congress expressing fears that it'll end up "a bargain basement space station ... rather than a world-class research facility."

At issue was a congressional review of a report released Nov. 2nd that suggested neither NASA nor the Office of Management and Budget can make a final estimate of how much additional money it will take to complete the baseline station. At the moment, the project is billions of dollars over its planned budget.

A spokesman for the Bush administration said the project's cost woes may be even greater than forecast. "The $4.8 billion (cost overrun) may not be the end of it," said Sean O'Keefe, deputy director of OMB.

While O'Keefe praised NASA's technical design and development of the station, he said major changes in the space agency's budgeting was needed to salvage the project.

Several members of Congress agreed the project had been poorly managed.

"I believe that billions of dollars has been misspent on this project," said Rep. Dana Rohrabacher, R-Calif., who chairs a subcommittee that reviews space agency projects. "NASA just has to be more effective in spending taxpayer dollars. Let's bring in some more partners to this project."

Some of the project's 16 existing partners, however, publicly expressed for the first time doubts about the future direction of the project.

In a statement released during Wednesday's congressional hearing, Canada's Space Agency questioned the ability of the United States to finish the station.

The European Space Agency, in a statement, also criticized NASA plans to scale back the station due to U.S. budget woes. Those cost-saving moves include canceling the space station's rescue craft and habitation modules, leaving the station only able to support a crew of three astronauts.

-- Do we need a space station? Why or why not? Wouldn't the billions of dollars be better spent elsewhere?