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U.S. Department of Health and Human Services | ||||
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| TESTIMONY OF: | TOMMY G. THOMPSON, SECRETARY OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES |
| PLACE: | Testimony Before Senate Appropriations Committee, Washington, D.C. |
| DATE: | May 2, 2002 |
Chairman Byrd, Senator Stevens and Members of the Committee: Thank you for inviting me here today to discuss the President's FY 2003 Homeland Security request and the efforts of the Department of Health and Human Services to continue our preparations for bioterrorist attacks. You have been strong advocates for building America's readiness and, on behalf of President Bush and on my own behalf, I thank you so very much for your support.
Senator Byrd, let me express my condolences on the death of your beloved dog Billy. Lord Byron wrote of his own dog that he had "beauty without vanity, strength without insolence, courage without ferocity."
I know you felt that way about Billy, Mr. Chairman, and as someone who has owned many dogs throughout my life, please know that I understand your sorrow.
Let me begin by noting our progress on bioterrorism preparedness funding to date. Within three weeks after the President signed the supplemental appropriation on January 10, our department put together a program and structure for dispersing $1.1 billion to the states for public health system improvements.
We gave states 20 percent of their share of the $1.1 billion program immediately and asked them to send us -- by April 15 -- their proposals for spending the remaining 80 percent to build a stronger, more unified public health systems. The vast majority of these plans came in last week and we are reviewing them. We have given about ten extensions to 3 states and 7 territories and given them until May 15th to prepare their proposals.
Mr. Chairman, I know you are concerned with the speedy delivery of funding to the states. So, let me note that as of today, just slightly more than $2 million has been drawn down against that initial 20 percent.
We now have 11 teams in place reviewing the submitted plans. We will approve or modify them and release the funds by the end of the month. We are committed to moving expeditiously, I assure you.
The FY 2003 bioterrorism budget request for HHS is $4.3 billion, an increase of $1.3 billion, or 45 percent, above FY 2002. This request constitutes the largest one-time spending increase on bioterrorism preparedness ever, and I believe we have set-up our preparedness program more rapidly than any comparable federal program has ever been organized.
These efforts are evidence of the President's commitment, and my own, to making sure that our country is ready to respond effectively and immediately should an attack occur.
The President's budget supports a variety of activities to prevent, identify, and respond to incidents of bioterrorism. These include epidemic detection and response ... maintaining and securing the National Pharmaceutical Stockpile ... performing research to improve our methods, training, and health care service delivery ... and assisting our state, local and other federal partners in improving our capability to respond to an emergency.
We continue to get stronger every day, and I'm extremely proud of the progress we have made with your support. In short, we are building a more cohesive public health system and doing so faster than many people thought possible.
The FY 2003 budget requests $1.5 billion to fund state and local preparedness activities, such as improving laboratory capacity, enhancing epidemiological and surveillance capacity and improving communications systems. Of this unprecedented request, $518 million will be used to build hospital preparedness to upgrade treatment and infection control areas, expand medical surge capacity and purchase decontamination equipment.
Strengthening our public health and medical systems and improving coordination with first responders is our highest priority. We have moved quickly, and an unprecedented amount of money has been made available to states in a very short period. This is indicative of our commitment to move faster and build quickly.
The FY 2003 budget also includes $184 million to construct, repair and secure facilities at the CDC, of which $120 million is for facilities related to bioterrorism research. We are ensuring a ready supply of essential vaccines and a robust National Pharmaceutical Stockpile.
State local public health workers and hospitals must have access to adequate supplies of medicines, and must be trained to receive and distribute these essential supplies once they are delivered. So, we purchased enough antibiotics to treat 20 million people exposed to anthrax and enough smallpox vaccine for every American. With the recent donation of smallpox vaccine by Aventis Pasteur, we can respond in an emergency even sooner than I had anticipated.
Thanks to your support in the FY 2002 appropriation, tremendous progress has been made. Yet even with this progress, we still have a lot more work to do.
We must invest in the development of new drugs, vaccines, and diagnostic procedures. The biomedical research enterprise of this nation is one of our greatest assets in the war against terrorism, and the President's request for the National Institutes of Health is $1.7 billion for these research activities.
Mr. Chairman, I was also troubled by the challenges faced by the FDA to ensure the safety and security of our food supply. For this reason, I requested emergency funding last year to increase inspection at our ports and other locations across America.
With the funds this Committee provided, we committed to hiring 655 new field staff for food safety. Hiring and training these new inspectors is FDA's top priority, and I am pleased to report to you that FDA has hired 624 of them as of today, just three months after these funds were provided. As these inspectors are trained, FDA will double physical examinations of food imports in FY 2002, and double them again in FY 2003. We have also asked for an additional $17 million just for food safety above the 2003 request.
While food safety has been FDA's most visible role in protecting against bioterrorism, I have also asked for additional $5 million for blood safety efforts. FDA must expand its capacity to ensure the availability of safe blood and blood products at the time of an emergency.
Finally, let me note, Mr. Chairman, that we also have strong relationships with our federal counterparts, most notably Homeland Security. Tom Ridge and I have a very strong working and personal relationship, going back to our days as governors. We, and our teams, have worked well together. And I am very pleased with our working relationships with Justice, the FBI and Defense. We work closely together and share information effectively.
It was Theodore Roosevelt who reminded us that, in his words, "The chief factor in achieving triumph is what has been done in thorough preparation and training before the beginning of war." It is all of our hope that our terrorist enemies will not strike again. But if they do, we are following Teddy Roosevelt's counsel. We will be ready.
Mr. Chairman, Senator Stevens and member of the Committee, thank you again for your attention to these most serious matters and for your support of the Administration's efforts. I would be pleased to answer any questions you might have.