093_HR0357

                                     LRB093 12037 KEF 16702 r

 1                          HOUSE RESOLUTION

 2        WHEREAS, Crucial gaps exist in the country's  ability  to
 3    counter  a  biological  threat;  the  National  Institutes of
 4    Health have  identified  a  serious  shortage  of  high-level
 5    biocontainment  laboratories  in the United States; there are
 6    no such facilities in the Midwest at this time; and

 7        WHEREAS, The University of Illinois at Chicago  seeks  to
 8    establish  a National Biocontainment Laboratory in Chicago as
 9    a key component in the  Nation's  biodefense  infrastructure;
10    the   UIC   National   Center  for  Biodefense  and  Emerging
11    Infectious Diseases, a  $200  million,  309,000  square  foot
12    state-of-the-art  biocontainment  laboratory, will be located
13    within the Illinois Medical District on the UIC  campus,  and
14    will  be  a  critical  resource  for the City, the State, the
15    Midwest, and the Nation to defend against and respond to acts
16    of bioterrorism; and

17        WHEREAS, The University of Illinois at Chicago  submitted
18    an  application  to the National Institutes of Health to fund
19    the construction of the National Biocontainment Laboratory on
20    February 10, 2003; therefore, be it

21        RESOLVED,  BY  THE  HOUSE  OF  REPRESENTATIVES   OF   THE
22    NINETY-THIRD  GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that
23    we  support  the  University   of   Illinois   at   Chicago's
24    application  to  the  National  Institutes  of  Health  for a
25    National Biocontainment Laboratory, to be located within  the
26    Illinois  Medical District, in the City of Chicago; and be it
27    further

28        RESOLVED, That a copy of this resolution be presented  to
29    each  member of the Illinois congressional delegation; and be
30    it further

31        RESOLVED, That a suitable  copy  of  this  resolution  be
 
                            -2-      LRB093 12037 KEF 16702 r
 1    presented  to  the  Chair  of  the  Board  of Trustees of the
 2    University of Illinois, Lawrence C. Eppley, to the  President
 3    of  the   University of Illinois, James J. Stukel, and to the
 4    Chancellor of the University of Illinois at  Chicago,  Sylvia
 5    Manning.