REEDLEY, Calif. (KMJ/KFSN) — Congressman Jim Costa unveils new legislation Tuesday to regulate highly infectious diseases and high containment laboratories.
The “Preventing Illegal Laboratories and Protecting Public Health Act” is meant to address gaps in federal law.
Over the past year of working with local, state, and federal leaders on investigating and cleaning up the illegal lab in Reedley, it became clear that changes were needed on the federal level to ensure public safety. This legislation is the first step to closing the gap in the regulation of labs and. will prevent bad actors from taking advantage of the public health system. It creates tracking, better review of anyone working with infectious diseases and deeper cooperation between local, state, and federal agencies.”
–Congressman Jim Costa
It would require sellers of highly infectious agents to keep records of all sales for at least five years.
The law would also require regular evaluation of lab facilities, led by a federal official.
It really is a national security issue beyond being a health and public safety matter.
-Congressman Jim Costa
The legislation comes after an illegal bio lab was found inside a warehouse in Reedley in December 20-22.
Authorities say the lab had blood samples, nearly 1,000 mice and misbranded medical devices.
Nicole Zieba, the Reedley City Manager, and Joe Prado, from the Fresno County Department of Public Health joined Costa at Reedley City Hall for the press conference on Tuesday.
Zieba said, “Its a non-partisan issue. It doesn’t matter if you are a Republican, Democrat, a Green, it doesn’t matter what you are, you don’t want deadly pathogens in the communities that you represent.
“The County of Fresno appreciates Congressman Costa for taking proactive steps by introducing legislation that will address issues experienced during the response to the unlicensed laboratory in Reedley,” said Joe Prado, Assistant Director, Fresno County Department of Public Health.
Prado said the proposed legislation will “fill gaps in our national biosecurity surveillance while establishing a standardized framework for tracking the movement of highly infectious materials. These measures will enable authorities to identify and mitigate potential risks more effectively.”
Costa pushed for federal investigations into the illegal lab, which led to a congressional investigation and the arrest of the lab owner, Jia Bei Zhu, also known as David Her.
“The Reedley incident highlighted a gap in the nation’s bio security. Any city around this country could have dozens of deadly pathogens stored next to sensitive locations and be completely unaware of it. Congressman Costa took this issue seriously from the very beginning and understood the national implications. His proposed legislation puts us on a path to closing that critical gap that will help keep every American safe from the hazards like those like those discovered in the Reedley lab.”
-Nicole Zieba, City Manager of Reedley.
The Preventing Illegal Laboratories and Protecting Public Health Act of 2024 would address the gaps in federal law outlined in the congressional report by Costa and the House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). The legislation would:
The text of the bill is available HERE.
A summary of the bill is available HERE.
Full recording of the press conference is available HERE.
Fresno City Council Member Garry Bredefeld releasing the following statement Tuesday regarding Congressman Jim Costa Unveiling Legislation Regulating Biolabs:
“I applaud and greatly appreciate Congressman Costa taking affirmative actions in fixing the glaring holes in our public health system that will help stop foreign actors from creating and distributing deadly and dangerous materials to harm our citizens and our national security, which we witnessed with the dangerous lab in Reedley.
That secret, illegal Chinese lab exposed serious flaws at all levels of government, but none more than our local County officials who deliberately hid its existence and refused to inform the public when they knew it was the right thing to do.
I look forward to ending this culture of secrecy on the Board of Supervisors and will ensure the public’s right to always know whenever there is a potential danger or threat.”
-Fresno City Council Member Garry Bredefeld
Listen to the report by KMJ’s Liz Kern.
