White House to back bioterrorism bill

By Major Garrett
CNN White House Correspondent

CRAWFORD, Texas (CNN) -- The Bush White House will endorse a $3.25 billion Senate bill on Thursday intended to beef up the nation's ability to detect and respond to biological and chemical weapons attacks, senior administration and congressional sources tell CNN.

The bipartisan bill is the product of weeks of intense negotiations between the Senate and the White House. Its key provisions include:

-- $1.1 billion to increase the U.S. stockpiles of vaccines, including smallpox and anthrax.

-- $1 billion to improve the public health system's ability to respond to biological or chemical attacks. Of this amount, $400 million will be delivered to the states in the form of block grants that governors may use in any way they see fit. The remainder will be devoted to improving the ability of hospitals to respond to an attack.

-- $1.1 billion to improve the detection of food-borne attacks. The money will be devoted to increased inspection of imported foods and inspection of U.S. food production facilities.

White House support of the Senate bill is considered vital for its passage. There is no companion House bill as yet, but the White House and top Senate aides expect the House to pass an identical bill after the Senate acts. Rep. Greg Ganske, R-Iowa, says he plans on introducing a bill Friday.

Sen. Edward Kennedy, D-Massachusetts, and Sen. Bill Frist, R-Tennessee, are the principal architects of the bill. Kennedy originally sought nearly $10 billion for the bill, but agreed to whittle his proposal down after the White House agreed to treat this bill as a "down payment" on future action to address biological and chemical threats.

The bill would authorize the $3.25 billion in the current budget year. That means Congress would have to agree to spend the money. Senate aides said they expect to secure the funding in final budget negotiations with the White House.