Earlier this week, the House of Representatives' Committee on Homeland Security announced that it was crafting a bill that, in essence, puts the "World at Risk" recommendations into legislation. I'm not in favor of this action as it stands, but it does allow the congresspersons to declare "progress" toward the war on WMD terrorism.
Today, Rep. Bill Pascrell (D-NJ) and Rep. Peter T. King (R-NY), Ranking Member of the Committee on Homeland Security, introduced H.R. 5498, The WMD Prevention and Preparedness Act of 2010. This legislation will make progress toward implementing the recommendations of the WMD Commission and will improve U.S. efforts to prevent, deter, detect, and respond to an attack by a weapon of mass destruction.
Calling the legislation a "comprehensive approach to improving America's biodefense capabilities," WMD Commission Chair, Sen. Bob Graham, and Vice-Chair, Sen. Jim Talent, have both endorsed the bill. In a joint statement, Sens. Graham and Talent said: "Moving this bill quickly through the legislative process, and to the President's desk for signature, will be an incredibly important step in improving America's biodefense posture. This legislation reaches across many committees and agency jurisdictions. Our years of experience in Congress tell us this bill will require vigorous support from Congressional leadership on both sides of the aisle. We pledge our full support, and will work closely with Congressional leadership, Members, and staff during the legislative process."
Rep. Pascrell said: "The WMD Commission has told us that almost nine years after 9/11 we still do not have a comprehensive national strategy to counter the grave threat that weapons of mass destruction pose to our nation. I am very proud we have the endorsement of the Commission for our bipartisan legislation. The WMD Prevention and Preparedness Act of 2010 we introduced today is in fact an extensive blueprint to address the greatest catastrophic risk we face and we are dedicated to getting it implemented."
Rep. King said: "The WMD Commission has offered the sobering finding that a WMD attack is 'likely' to occur somewhere in the world by 2013, something that Senators Graham and Talent reiterated in April when they testified before the Homeland Security Committee. Public reports from former intelligence community officials indicate that Al-Qaeda is seeking to acquire or develop WMDs, which they surely would seek to use against the U.S. This legislation will enhance America's capabilities to protect American lives from such a WMD attack. I am happy to have partnered with Bill Pascrell on this legislation."
It's a load of shit. Most of the direction in the legislation are aimed at things already being done within DHS and DHHS, for example, implementing the BioWatch program, conducting a biennial bioterrorism risk assessment, assessing commercial emergency responder equipment, using hazard plume models for CBRN terrorism response, developing cleanliness standards, and so on. It's somewhat amusing that the legislation directs background checks for people applying to use "select agents" to limit terrorist access, but it's okay, on the other hand, for terrorists to avoid background checks for guns.
I'm not against congressional interest in this area, but I am against Congress directing specific policy actions with inaccurate and limited policy analysis. And no, I don't count the "World at Risk" report as adequate policy analysis. This is just more incrementalism by Congress so that its members can feel good about its role in addressing bioterrorism. It's not actually going to improve much, and it doesn't offer a holistic approach to WMD terrorism, but as long as it all looks like we are... then it's all good.
It's all so silly when you realize that governments at all levels are slashing already underfunded public health programs that have proven, over decades, the most effective at controlling epidemic diseases. Imagine tuberculosis making a comeback (as it is in some parts of the world), perhaps in new drug resistant forms, because these idiots poured all the funding into incompetent biodefense programs, while the real public health system disintegrated.
Posted by: Carl O. | 17 June 2010 at 02:57 PM