Biodefense experts told the Senate Agriculture Committee the U.S. is ill-prepared for an intentional or natural disease outbreak that could devastate the nation’s food supply. Former U.S. Senator and now Co-Chair of a Blue-Ribbon Study on Biodefense, Joseph Lieberman agro-defense is a real national security problem.

Lieberman told Senate Ag members his blue-ribbon panel found poor U.S. agency coordination, focus, and funding in an area that can be just as scary as a nuclear threat. He cited a recent report that North Korea may also have bioweapons.

Lieberman’s panel is calling for a national biodefense strategy that the White House is now working on, countermeasures for livestock disease outbreaks, and a prevention fund for animal health.

Former Joint Chiefs Chairman General Richard Myers heads Kansas State University, doing animal and plant disease research for the National Bio Agro Defense facility, ‘NBAF,’ being built nearby in Manhattan, Kansas…

Myers called on Congress to enact enforceable statutes before, he says, “it becomes too late.”