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Bioterrorism Preparedness: A Progress Report - and a Charge to the StatesThank you so very much, Robin (Read, President and CEO of the NFWL), for those very kind words. You have done so much for our country through your wonderful work with this tremendous Foundation. Your leadership has inspired many women - and men - in this room, and I thank you so much for it. It is great seeing Robin's husband, my old friend Sam Brunnelli. Sam was head of the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) for many years and he and I worked hand-in-glove on many projects. In fact, on behalf of ALEC, Sam once presented me with the beautiful bust of Thomas Jefferson that now sits in my office in Washington. It's always good to see someone like Sam who has done so much for our great country. I also want to welcome our distinguised guests from Mexico and Canada. I've been spending time over the past two days with the U.S.-Mexico Border Commission and working with my counterparts from the Mexican government on improving health care for our citizens along the border between our two countries. I so appreciate their good work and also the wonderful work of the Canadian government on so many issues of common concern. It's good to be with all of you. Women legislators are at the forefront of so many good things. And women's health care is an absolute priority for me at the Department of Health and Human Services. We are expanding care to poor women and increasing funding for breast cancer research and other diseases and conditions that predominantly affect women. We are working toward the next bold and compassionate step in welfare reform so that more women can climb out of the cycle of hopelessness they have known too long. So, we're moving forward in the Bush Administration and at HHS. But we could not do it without your help. State legislators are so vital to public service. We are partners together in public service, and I applaud all your good work in so many areas. You've picked a beautiful city to hold this, your 64th annual conference. That's a long and distinguished history. But San Diego's history goes back a bit further. It was 400 years ago this month that Sebastian Vizcaino sailed his flagship, the "San Diego," into what is now Mission Bay. He then sailed up the coast as far as Oregon. Sebastian Vizcaino was an explorer. He wanted to expand the boundaries of human knowledge as well as claim new territory for Spain. We're here today because in our time, exploration is continuing in many areas, not least of which is human health. We live in the most remarkable time in the history of medicine. For example, we can now perform corrective surgery on unborn children within the womb. Just this week, researchers announced a vaccine against cervical cancer. There are so many exciting breakthroughs that it's hard to keep track of them. It's a tremendous era in human health care. But much remains to be explored, to be discovered and then acted upon. It's in that context that I want to talk with you about an issue that is essential to the well-being of people throughout our hemisphere. It's an issue many of you have worked on with great diligence and energy in your state legislatures. I'm talking about the threat of bioterrorism. There can be few more compelling or urgent issues before any of us, at any level of government. But before I talk with you about bioterrorism preparedness, let me thank the NFWL for your outstanding work in fighting substance abuse and in working so vigorously to curtail the demand for illicit drugs. I know you enjoyed hearing from my distinguished colleague Charlie Curie on Thursday and that he gave you a good run-down of what we're doing in the war on drugs. Charlie and his team are doing great work. Charlie, the President and I are passionate about reducing drug abuse in the United States. That passion was reignited a couple of months ago when the Department of Health and Human Services released our 2001 National Household Survey on Drug Abuse. Overall, the Household Survey estimated that in 2001, 16.6 million Americans aged 12 or older were dependent on or abused either alcohol or illicit drugs. This is more than seven percent of the total population of our country. Frankly, that's seven percent too many. That's why the President and I so appreciate your tremendous "Shoulder to Shoulder" initiative. "Shoulder to Shoulder" was launched in tandem with Asa Hutchinson, head of the Drug Enforcement Administration, on May 23 in Washington, DC. This effort is bold, direct and uncompromising. Those who advocate loosening our anti-drug laws are hurting our young people, our communities and our society as a whole. That's why your work is not only commendable. It is urgently needed, and I thank you deeply for it. But there is another drug menace facing our nation, one whose immediate affect could be even more devastating than the long-term scourge of drug abuse: The threat of a terrorist attack that employs biological or chemical agents. All of our national resources were stretched thin last year when we were attacked on September 11 and then when the anthrax mailings brought our first bioterrorism attack. The good news is that we are getting stronger every day. That's in contrast to where we were one year ago. We have to admit none of us at either the state or federal levels were devoting the resources necessary to make us ready for a public health emergency, including a biological attack. Even as Governor, I fell into the same trap concerning public health. When I would weigh the costs of public schools, the University of Wisconsin system, prisons and direct health care services like Medicaid, improving the public health system would get put off until the next budget. I know many of you are feeling extraordinary budget constraints and that deficits are pressing hard against your need to fund some vital programs. But a bioterrorist attack could be sudden, massive and devastating. Please hear me when I say this: Whatever your budgetary constraints, don't ignore the need to prepare for such an assault. We're working together, more than ever. Our mutual focus - at all levels of government - is on building the public health infrastructure. And that's going to help not just in our bioterrorism preparedness, but also in our ability to deal with such health care crises as flu outbreaks, West Nile virus and other health emergencies. Beyond the public health system, we're building our bioterrorism capabilities in the federal government as well. Bioterrorism has been a priority for me from the time of my nomination as HHS secretary. The very first HHS briefing I received was on bioterrorism. I was still Governor of Wisconsin at the time. Among the first steps I took upon coming to Washington was raising the profile and importance of bioterrorism at HHS. In fact, I had a tough time getting reporters interested in bioterrorism during the first months of my tenure. In the spring and summer of 2001, I testified twice before congressional committees on bioterrorism. At both hearings there were more than a dozen reporters who swarmed me after the testimony. But all they wanted to talk about was stem cells. Not one word was written, nor one question asked, about bioterrorism. Now, I can't go past any reporter without at least one question on bioterrorism. We've transformed HHS into an agency that makes bioterrorism preparedness an essential priority. That's a dramatic culture change, particularly for some of our agencies. One of our greatest achievements has been creating the program and infrastructure to provide states with $1.1 billion to strengthen state and local public health. That is the largest one-time investment in our nation's public health system, ever. Just three weeks after the President signed the bill authorizing this money, HHS built and implemented the bioterrorism grant program and sent 20 percent of the money to states, asking them to develop their plans by April 15. The states sent us their plans quickly. They were solid, well-designed plans. We reviewed and approved them rapidly and now the money is in the hands of public health officials in your states and is being used to strengthen your local hospitals and public safety organizations and provide training and coordination for your local and regional health professionals. Put simply, we're constructing a cohesive public health system for all of America. The plans have been laid. The superstructure has been framed. And now the construction has begun and is well underway. A few months ago, we got more help when the President signed the Public Health Security and Bioterrorism bill, which was drafted by my department. This bill authorizes $4.3 billion for bioterrorism preparedness in fiscal year 2003. That's a 45 percent increase over fiscal year 2002 and authorizes the biggest one-time investment in bioterrorism preparedness - ever. We have purchased enough antibiotics to treat up to 20 million people exposed to anthrax. We have on hand enough smallpox vaccine for 160 million Americans and by December, we should have an additional 72 million doses from Acambis. Every American is going to be covered in the very near future. I know you're all aware that the president is evaluating our plan on smallpox vaccination. This is a very complicated matter and has to be addressed with great care, which the president is doing. But I want to commit to you today that when the decision is announced, we will reach out to you at the state level and explain what it means and how it can be put into effect, clearly and quickly. Since September 11, and at my strong urging and that of my department, we are also paying increased attention to the safety of our food supply. We persuaded Congress of the need to strengthen our food inspection efforts, and they responded with the resources to hire 832 new employees - all of whom are now on board and working. By the end of this year, the food and drug administration will be able to conduct 24,000 on-site import inspections, nearly double the total in 2001 and four times more than in 2000. That capacity will continue to increase, doubling again to 48,000 next years. That's a dramatically larger sample and much more of a safeguard for every American. So, we're moving forward and making positive, important changes. But we cannot - I'll repeat that: we cannot - do it alone. We need your help. We need state legislators not only to implement their states' preparedness plans but also to let us know your ideas about how we can better integrate local, state and federal responses and how we can improve preparedness in any and every way possible. That's not an idle request made by a polite politician. I mean it. My door and my phone lines are open to you. All of us know the name Golda Meir, the great Prime Minister of Israel. What you might not know is that Golda was originally a schoolteacher in my great home state of Wisconsin. Golda Meir was a woman of incredible ability, but she could never have done what she did without a profound sense of priority. As she put it, "I must govern the clock, not be governed by it." My friends, our enemies are real, and we only have so much time to prepare for their potential attacks. Let's all work together even more effectively - let's all "govern the clock" so that, if America is again struck as we were on September 11th, we are ready. Working together with you, I know we can and will be. Thank you all again so very much. I look forward to your questions. May God bless you all. Last Revised: November 27, 2002 |
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