OFFICE OF THE PRESIDENT 
UNIFORMED SERVICES UNIVERSITY 
OF THE 
HEALTH SCIENCES 
4301 JONES BRIDGE ROAD 
BETHESDA. MARYLAND 20014 
May 15, 1984 
Bernard Talbot, M.D., Ph.D. 
Deputy Director 
National Institute of Allergy 
and Infectious Diseases 
National Institutes of Health 
Bethesda, Maryland 20205 
TEACHING HOSPITALS 
WALTER REED ARMY MEDICAL CENTER 
NATIONAL NAVAL MEDICAL CENTER 
MALCOLM GROW AIR FORCE MEDICAL CENTER 
WILFORD HALL AIR FORCE MEDICAL CENTER 
Dear Dr. Talbot: 
Re: Proposal to Clone Shiga-like Toxin 
Gene from E. col i 
Fed. Reg. 49:17673, 1984 (Apr 24, 1984) 
Since Drs. O'Brien and Holmes have asked the Recombinant DNA Advisory Committee 
(RAC) to address four specific issues, reference Federal Register 49:17673, 
1984 (April 24, 1984), this letter is submitted to the Committee to aid in its 
del iberations. 
At the RAC meeting on 6 February 1984, Mr. Jeremy Rifkind, President, Foundation 
on Economic Trends, submitted a press release, "'Arms Control Impact Statement' 
requested for DoD Toxin Experiment". The statue from which he quoted is as 
follows: 22 U.S.C. 2576, "(a) In order to assist the Director in the performance 
of his duties with respect to arms control and disarmament policy and negoti- 
ations, any Government agency preparing any legislative or budgetary proposal 
for "(3) any other programs involving technology with potential military 
application or weapon systems which such Government agency or the Director 
believes may have a significant impact on arms control and disarmament policy 
or negotiations shall, on a continuing basis, provide the Director with full 
and timely access to detailed information, in accordance with the procedures 
established pursuant to section 2575 of this title, with respect to the nature, 
scope and purpose of such proposal." 
The Department of Defense does not believe that the O' Brien-Holmes proposal 
(program) has (would have) a significant impact on arms control and disarmament 
policy or negotiations. 
As a technical point, the current O' Brien-Holmes request to RAC was neither a 
legislative nor budgetary proposal. Their original budgetary proposal was 
reviewed and approved by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious 
Diseases (AI 20148). 
Sincerely, 
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