Astute pundits are rightly alerting us that the impeachment circus is a distraction to hide legislative shenanigans from the people.
But not even the most cynical among them could have guessed just how strange some of those shenanigans are.
The House quietly voted last week to require the Pentagon inspector general to tell Congress whether the department experimented with weaponizing disease-carrying insects and whether they were released into the public realm — either accidentally or on purpose.
The unusual proposal took the form of an amendment that was adopted by voice vote July 11 during House debate on the fiscal 2020 defense authorization bill, which lawmakers passed the following day.
The amendment, by New Jersey Republican Christopher H. Smith, says the inspector general “shall conduct a review of whether the Department of Defense experimented with ticks and other insects regarding use as a biological weapon between the years of 1950 and 1975.”
The Pentagon weaponizing ticks to spread Lyme disease is a new one on me. But Congress thinks there’s enough smoke hanging over the allegations to order a search for fire.
A book called “Bitten,” published this year, makes the case that the Defense Department research occurred and hints at a possible connection between the experiments and the spread of maladies such as Lyme disease, which is borne by ticks.
To Smith and other advocates of the Pentagon IG report, studying the past may provide data that can help stem the spread of Lyme disease in the future.
Lyme disease sucks. See author Alex Hellene’s account of his battle with the ailment for the gory details.
Between 300,000 and 427,000 new cases of Lyme disease occur each year, with further growth expected in the years ahead, said Smith, a founding co-chairman of the Congressional Lyme Disease Caucus, which advocates for greater awareness of the disease and for more funding for research into a cure.
“We need answers and we need them now,” Smith said.
I put the question to my cherished readers: What do you think the odds are we’ll ever get those answers?