Thank you, Mr. Chairman, for holding today's hearing on an issue that has occupied this Committee's attention since well before the terrorist attacks on September 11th and the anthrax mailings last fall. As Chairman of the Subcommittee on International Security, Proliferation, and Federal Services, I appreciate the work we've done together on federal efforts to prepare for acts of bioterrorism.

A clear refrain in the hearings we've held was that a "cultural divide" existed between the law enforcement and public health communities. It was evident then that the United States lacked a cohesive strategy to respond to terrorist attacks involving weapons of mass destruction.

The following points were evident from our joint hearing in October:

• Local first responders lacked the resources to respond quickly.

• Emergency responders must be able to communicate and coordinate seamlessly in the event of terrorist attacks with weapons of mass destruction (WMD).

• Local public health officials lack the capability to detect and identify harmful biological agents rapidly.

At that hearing, Secretary Thompson and I agreed that current methods were not adequate to deliver continuous monitoring of the air, water, and food supplies in the United States. We were not effectively coordinating biological agent detection research at federal agencies and academic and industrial laboratories.

The federal government is not unprepared to deal with WMD terrorism, but preparedness levels are not uniform across the United States. Much deserved attention has been paid to our crumbling public health sector. However, efforts to improve our public health infrastructure will not automatically trickle down to the medical community. Adequate WMD terrorism training of health care professionals has been hindered by a lack of economic incentives for hospitals and clinics. Local and community hospitals should have the best training and information in order to protect and treat Americans.

I recently introduced legislation to support the development of technologies to minimize the impact of bioterrorism by alerting authorities and medical personnel to a biological threat before symptoms occur. Another bill I introduced will use existing capabilities in the National Disaster Medical System to strengthen bioterrorism preparedness and to expand WMD emergency training opportunities for health care professionals. This legislation will contribute to the dual national goals of advanced biological agent detection technologies and improved emergency medical response training.

I welcome Secretary Thompson and our other witnesses to today's hearing and I look forward to learning what the Department of Health and Human Services has done in the past six months to improve our public health and professional medical response to potential terrorist attacks with weapons of mass destruction.