http://stream.publicbroadcasting.net/production/mp3/kcur/local-kcur-563929.mp3
Sen. Pat Roberts, the former Chair of the Senate Intelligence Committee and member of the Agriculture Committee, says biosecurity is a national concern and that Kansas is a natural place to put it front and center.
The proposed National Bio and Agro-Defense Facility, or NBAF, as it's known in Washington, will replace the aging lab on Plum Island, near New York. That lab has been the premier biosecurity facility to date.
The senator says he's proposing locating the facility in either Leavenworth or Manhattan, where a sophisticated biosciences lab already exists.
"One of our big selling points is we can do it pretty doggone quick," he says. "We have the agriculture biosecurity facility out at K-State that is unequaled in the world in what it can do, and we can do it a lot faster than any other state."
Roberts will make his pitch before a joint session of the Kansas House and Senate Monday morning.