House subcommittee considers ammonium nitrate bill

House subcommittee considers ammonium nitrate bill    The Subcommittee on Prevention of Nuclear and Biological Attack of the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Homeland Security will hold a hearing Wednesday, followed by an open markup session, on a bill that would require the Secretary of Homeland Security to regulate the production, storage, sale and distribution of ammonium nitrate.
   The hearing on H.R. 3197, the Secure Handling of Ammonium Nitrate Act of 2005, will begin at 1 p.m. Wednesday in Room 2237 of the Rayburn House Office Building in Washington, D.C.
   Witnesses expected at the hearing include Jimmie C. Oxley, professor of chemistry at the University of Rhode Island; James W. McMahon, director of the New York State Office of Homeland Security; Gary W. Black, president of the Georgia Agribusiness Council; William Paul O'Neill Jr., representing the board of directors of the Agricultural Retailers Association; and Carl Wallace, a plant manager from Terra Mississippi Nitrogen Inc., testifying on behalf of The Fertilizer Institute.
   The text of the bill said the legislation is necessary 'on account of the prior use of ammonium nitrate to create explosives used in acts of terrorism in Oklahoma City, Bali and Istanbul, and to prevent terrorists from acquiring ammonium nitrate to create explosives.'