Date: Tue, 29 Jan 2002 15:15:39 -0500
Subject: Special E-Mail to ASM Members
From: "Webmaster"
Reply-To: membership@asmusa.org
Dear ASM Member,
We have been contacted several times by the FBI and asked to cooperate
in the ongoing criminal investigation of transmission through the mail
of the bacterium that causes anthrax. The latest request from the FBI
is posted below. It is a message to be sent to ASM members asking
anyone who has information about the likely perpetrator to contact the
FBI directly. This message will be sent within the next day or so.
Last fall, the FBI asked ASM to make its membership list available. The
FBI made the request, shortly after the anthrax-laced letters were sent
to members of Congress and to employees of news organizations
contaminating the US mail and exposing hundreds of US citizens to
anthrax. The FBI asked for help in identifying possible perpetrators of
this crime involving someone with knowledge of microbiology. The
request was considered by three elected national officers, the
President, Abigail Salyers, the President-elect, Ron Atlas and the
Secretary, Judy Daly. Legal counsel to the ASM also reviewed the
request. After receiving advice from counsel, these elected
representatives concluded it was appropriate and responsible to provide
a list of ASM members to the FBI. The reasons are;
· The request came from a legitimate law enforcement agency at a time
when terrorists were assaulting the United States and its citizens. Anthrax
had already claimed the lives of five innocent victims. The action was
criminal and not ideological.
· The FBI had already approached individual members for help. The officers
saw the provision of the full membership list as a patriotic act on
behalf of the ASM, which could take a positive action to aid in the
search for a murderer who used a biological weapon, and specifically a
microorganism. Moreover, the Council Policy Committee, the executive
committee of ASM, had just affirmed the longstanding position of the
Society that microbiologists will work for the proper and beneficent
application of science and will call to the attention of the public or
the appropriate authorities misuses of microbiology or of information
derived from microbiology. ASM members are obligated to discourage any
use of microbiology contrary to the welfare of humankind, including the
use of microbes as biological weapons.
· ASM is not a secret society--The membership of ASM is publicly available
on the web site and lists of members are supplied to legitimate
requesters for a fee. Thus, it could already have been obtained by the
FBI, although it might have been somewhat more tedious than having it
supplied as a unified document.
. Legal counsel advised the officers that the FBI, as an alternative,
would issue a subpoena for the names.
Prior to sending the list, the ASM requested and received a written
assurance from the FBI that the information would be used only for the
purposes of the specific investigation and not for any other purpose,
nor would the information be released under any Freedom of Information
Act request.
It appears, based on a profile generated by the FBI, that an
individual, possibly a US citizen, with significant expertise in
microbiology, is likely involved in the terrorist act. ASM is ready to
assist in any way possible the effort to identify, arrest, and convict
the person responsible for the crime and to ensure that there are no
more victims. Bioterrorism violates the fundamental principles
expressed in the Code of Ethics of the Society and is abhorrent to the
ASM and its members.
Abigail Salyers,
President. ASM