House panel hot over online access to federal lab equipment

Lawmakers on the House Government Reform National Security Subcommittee on Tuesday voiced outrage at reports that investigators from the General Accounting Office (GAO) purchased from government Web sites surplus laboratory equipment that had been used in the production of biological pathogens.

"The cheap, virtually unregulated availability of low-cost biological laboratory equipment poses a risk to national security," said subcommittee Chairman Christopher Shays, R-Conn., adding that the Defense Department "should not be a discount shopping outlet for would-be bioterrorists."

GAO's Gregory Kutz testified that by creating a front company, investigators purchased incubators, centrifuges and safety equipment for $4,100, a fraction of the equipment's market cost.

Investigators also purchased 379 defective suits that previously had been issued to law enforcement agencies for protection against chemical and biological agents, despite January 2003 regulations limiting the resale of the suits. GAO said the military has sold 286,000 surplus suits online since 2000.