An Era of Fear

Thank you, Mr. Sambrook. I’m delighted that the leader of a respected media organization is moderating our discussion. And I appreciate our distinguished table hosts and our guests for contributing to a discussion about how to respond to the power of fear.

The theme, An Era of Fear, suggests that the last few years have been colored by fright, anxiety, and concern, especially about terrorism. It’s true. Historians in my country talk about the Jazz Age and the Gilded Age, and future historians may look at the turn of the century as the era of fear. The fears of a Y2K disaster didn’t pan out, thank goodness, but the fear remained, and after September 11, many of our fears became real.

Fear is a compelling force. Rational, informed fear can motivate people to protect themselves from danger. But panic can cause economic, mental, and even medical harm to the people in its grip. Much of the fear in the world right now is related to terrorism and the threat of terrorism. That kind of fear is something the people in this room can do something about.

The greatest way we can minimize the damage of fear is to follow the Boy Scout motto—Be Prepared. Being prepared means preventing terrorism, and being prepared means being ready to respond swiftly when disaster strikes: ready to supply resources and good information immediately. And the same holds true for natural disasters and other threats.

I want to discuss a few incidents in my country that show why preparation makes the difference.

The United States was not prepared for September 11. Hundreds of heroes in New York and Virginia jumped into action and saved lives, but the fear that gripped the whole country magnified the damage. Because people were afraid to fly, the air transport industry, a $92 billion industry in 2000, produced only $80 billion in 2001. Taxpayers made up $15 billion of that loss, which means they suffered, too. New York’s economy also suffered. The direct damage of the terrorists was thousands of lives and $120 billion worth of destruction. The United States gross domestic product only inched up that year, from $9.8 trillion to $10 trillion. The indirect damage—the damage of fear, was immeasurable. We were unprepared.

We were also psychologically unprepared for the anthrax attacks that followed on the heels of the airline attacks. The number of casualties was much smaller, but fear caused panic and anxiety in an already fearful country—particularly in New York and Washington, which had already suffered on September 11.

Both the American people and the government have learned a lot from those events. We are now much better prepared for a whole range of possible threats. My department, Health and Human Services, took the lead on preparations for bioterrorism.

We’ve found that the very action and activity and discussion that go into getting prepared can allay people’s fears. They see that officials are thinking about threats and planning for them, and they feel better. It can be a calming process.

Last January, the Department of Health and Human Services gave state governments $1.1 billion to strengthen state and local public health infrastructure. That was the largest one-time investment in America’s public health system ever.

Also last year, President Bush signed the Public Health Security and Bioterrorism bill to provide $4.3 billion for bioterrorism preparedness. That included $1.5 billion to fund state and local preparedness activities, such as improving laboratory capacity, enhancing epidemiological and surveillance capacity, and strengthening communications systems.

And of course, we have been stockpiling vaccines and pharmaceuticals to rush to the site of any attack.

We are also developing new ones. This year, we will spend $750 million dollars to research the most dangerous biological agents, including anthrax, smallpox, ricin, and botox, and to develop vaccines and drugs to counter the effects of these biological agents.

I am pleased to announce tonight that President Bush will request $1.6 billion dollars to carry on this research in fiscal year 2004.

Thanks to our efforts, America is much better prepared for terrorism and for the fear of terrorism. A good example is smallpox. No terrorists have tried a smallpox attack, thank goodness. But a year ago, people were understandably worried about the potential for a smallpox attack. We worked diligently to prepare the country for a possible outbreak by ordering vaccines, developing a plan to offer them to emergency response personnel, and—perhaps most important—giving Americans reliable, clear information about the risks and responses to any outbreak. We know, and Americans know, that if terrorists strike America with smallpox, emergency personnel are prepared with good plans and adequate resources to treat those who are infected and prevent an epidemic.

Another public test of our preparedness occurred earlier this month. A few vials of bubonic plague were reported missing from a laboratory in Texas. While the news reached across the country very quickly, there was basically no panic. I think our smallpox and bioterrorism preparations had assured people that we knew what we were doing—that we knew how to control disease. This was a stark contrast to the anthrax attacks of 2001.

I would like to lay one more topic on the table for our discussions, and that is to charge the business leaders in this room to make sure your companies are making every reasonable effort to assure public safety and minimize the damage of uncontrolled fear—particularly with regard to terrorism.

If you work in the food industry, what are you doing to make sure the food supply is safe?

If you work in the energy industry, what are you doing to make sure energy supplies are secure?

If you work in shipping, manufacturing, or any other industry, how does your company affect public safety or put it at risk? What are you doing about it?

I would challenge every person in this room. How can we prevent terrorism—and how can we prevent terror?

I think we’ll have productive discussions at each of our tables during dinner, and I look forward to hearing the ideas and concerns that come up across the room.

For all our talk of an "era of fear," we must not forget that we also live in an era of hope.

Yes, there are the scourges of smallpox, anthrax, and AIDS -- and there is also the unprecedented scope and power of medical science.

Yes, there is the threat of terror -- and there is also our determination to fight it.

And yes, there is the uncertainty of the future and its many problems – but more people every day discover that free markets, free ideas, and free peoples are the indispensable keys to progress. We need to keep spreading the word.

There is fear. But there should never be despair. We should turn our fear into determination, and our determination into hope.

Last Revised: January 29, 2003

HHS Home | Questions? | Contact HHS | Accessibility | Privacy Policy | FOIA | Disclaimers

The White House | USA.gov | HHS Archive | No FEAR Act

U.S. Department of Health & Human Services · 200 Independence Avenue, S.W. · Washington, D.C. 20201