Yesterday, President Bush unveiled a strategy to combat the threat of an avian flu pandemic, calling for $7.1 billion in emergency spending over the next three years to stockpile reserves of medicines and to move forward with the development of a new vaccine. Bush delivered a speech at the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, MD. The Senate has already included an additional $8 billion for combating a possible outbreak of the avian flu in the FY06 HHS-Labor Appropriations bill. The House has yet to approve additional funding but is expected to before the congressional session ends later this year. The only possible stumbling block in the House is there have been calls to offset the additional spending with more cuts elsewhere in the budget. White House News Release of President's Plan