WASHINGTON (AP) - There is no evidence that alternative medicines, including some promoted on the Internet, are effective in treating anthrax or other biological agents, a leading government scientist said Wednesday.

Certain natural treatments could interfere with proven antibiotics, and there is little reason to believe they hold promise in responding to bioterrorist attacks, said Dr. Stephen E. Straus, director of the National Center for Complimentary and Alternative Medicine.

The public should have "an unwavering trust in the currently approved drugs and vaccines," he told the House Government Reform Committee. Straus also cautioned against "pursuing unproven remedies."

Across the Capitol, Sens. Edward Kennedy, D-Mass., and Bill Frist, R-Tenn., were to introduce a $3.2 billion bioterrorism spending package on Thursday.

The bill would spend $1.1 billion to stockpile antibiotics and vaccines and $1 billion to help state and local governments better prepare for a bioterrorist attack. The bill would also pay for improvements at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and stepped up food and agriculture inspections.

Surgeon General David Satcher noted that the anthrax scare has generated new interest in preparing for bioterrorism, a topic has received considerably less funding in years' past.

"If there's any good thing to come out of this, it's that we've learned so much in these last two to three weeks and it's really moved us forward toward getting ready," he said on a trip to Tennessee.

The Postal Service, on the front lines of the anthrax cases, defended its approach to the crisis but said it had trouble getting information from federal agencies, often learning "critical information" through the media.

"Initially, we did experience communication problems," Postal Service executive Deborah K. Willhite wrote Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa.

The American Federation of Teachers reported Wednesday that traces of anthrax were found at its national headquarters in the District of Columbia. The source was a set of mail trays that had come from the city's mail facility before it was shut down. The organization's mailroom is closed, but city health officials have not recommended testing for any employee.

The anthrax investigation continued in New Jersey, Washington and New York, where officials are trying to understand how a hospital worker was infected. The CDC said it was pulling some of its workers out of these cities and returning them to their regular jobs.

About three dozen people remain on duty at anthrax outbreak areas, down from about 150 at the height of the crisis, CDC spokesman Tom Skinner said Wednesday.

In New Jersey, two Pakistanis questioned last month by authorities investigating the anthrax scare were being held on immigration violations, their lawyer said. Neither has been charged with any terrorist activity.

At the House hearing, the committee chairman questioned witnesses about the use of alternative medicines in responding to a bioterror attack. Rep. Dan Burton, R-Ind., was told that no research was being funded and that the Food and Drug Administration had not approved no drugs because no one had applied.

Burton, apparently unsatisfied with that explanation, asked, "Unless it's brought to you by a pharmaceutical company, you don't take action?"

The FDA's Dr. Andrea Meyerhoff said any company can apply for a drug approval, but the FDA does not solicit applications.

Burton noted that there are only 15.4 million doses of smallpox available now, although the government is looking to buy more. Federal agencies should be encouraging alternatives in the interim, Burton said.

"We're facing a terrorism threat now," he said. Straus, who runs the alternative medicine center at the National Institutes of Health, said he is open to funding research that could determine whether natural remedies are effective.

But he warned that consumers may be fooled by Internet appeals and by advocates of alternatives that there are effective solutions available today.

Also testifying was Major General John S. Parker of the U.S. Army Medical Research and Materiel Command at Fort Detrick, Md. He said much more research is needed to develop new vaccines and determine what antibiotics are effective against various biological agents.

He said he is optimistic that with bioterrorism on the agenda, the private sector will show more interest in these areas. The government is now considering treatments for the general population, he noted, not just the military.

"Now the battlefield is home," he said. "It's been expanded a million-fold."

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