[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 29 (Tuesday, March 17, 1998)]
[Senate]
[Pages S2123-S2124]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mr. FAIRCLOTH:
  S. 1786. A bill to provide for the conduct of a study and report 
concerning the ability of the Centers for Disease Control and 
Prevention to address the growing threat of viral epidemics and 
biological and chemical terrorism; to the Committee on Labor and Human 
Resources.


         centers for disease control and prevention legislation

  Mr. FAIRCLOTH. Mr. President, I rise today to introduce legislation 
to address the growing threats of viral epidemics and bioterrorism in 
our nation. I have serious concerns that one of our nation's first 
lines of defense, the CDC, may not have adequate resources to address 
these increasingly serious problems.
  Scientists meeting at the International Conference on Emerging 
Infectious Disease in Atlanta last week concluded we were only slightly 
better prepared today to handle a biologic attack than we were in 1991 
at the start of Desert Storm, and we were totally ill-prepared then! 
While the U.S. military prepares to vaccinate our troops against 
anthrax, there is currently no national plan to protect civilians from 
this deadly virus.
  Ironically, the day after the International Infectious Disease 
conference, a business located in Phoenix was threatened with a 
bioterrorism attack involving an envelope supposedly soaked with the 
deadly anthrax virus, sending ten employees to the hospital. This comes 
on the heels of an earlier FBI arrest of two men in Las Vegas who 
claimed to have anthrax in their possession.
  This growing threat is real, and not limited to germs used in war. 
The first

[[Page S2124]]

recorded case of bioterrorism occurred in 1984, when members of a 
religious cult in Oregon deliberately contaminated local salad bars 
with the salmonella bacteria, causing 751 cases of fever, diarrhea and 
abdominal pain. Their goal had been to incapacitate voters so they 
could sway a local election.
  More recently, we've seen many diseases we thought we'd conquered 
reappearing in more virulent forms. Since December, 26 Texans have died 
and hundreds fallen ill from an outbreak of an invasive Group A 
streptococcus bacteria. In Milwaukee, contaminated drinking water 
sickened 400,000 citizens and sent 4,000 to the hospital with over 50 
deaths.
  Mr. President, I voiced my concern that the Centers for Disease 
Control does not have the resources necessary to fight these wars with 
Secretary Shalala at the Labor, Health and Human Services 
Appropriations Subcommittee hearing last week, and have asked that the 
Subcommittee Chairman, my colleague from Pennsylvania, Senator Specter 
join me in holding a hearing on the agency's role and abilities to meet 
these growing threats.
  Let me take a few moments now to share my concern with my colleagues 
by asking a question: What do bioterrorism, natural and manmade 
disasters, contaminated food and water supplies, and epidemics have in 
common? The answer may come as a surprise--the lynchpin to combating 
any of these life-threatening situations are the 3,000 state, county 
and local health departments in this country, working in cooperation 
with the Centers for Disease Control.
  Most people would be shocked to learn that the very network that is 
supposed to play a role in providing a first line of defense against 
these threats--the 3,000 health departments scattered across the United 
States--are in most cases not computer linked with the command center, 
CDC. Only 40 percent of our health departments are on-line today. The 
remainder need computer hardware, training and manpower to be able to 
connect. Local health departments also need laboratory capability to be 
able to test the agents suspected of causing a threat--presently these 
samples have to be shipped off-site to be tested, wasting valuable 
response time.
  The warning signs are there. Were this a military operation, with the 
enemy amassing on our borders, we would have no hesitation nor would we 
question the need for additional resources. We should do nothing less 
when lives are threatened by disease. CDC forms a triage with state and 
local health departments and other important governmental agencies to 
combat disease and biologic threats.
  While CDC has become well known world-wide as the ``disease 
detectives,'' the public and many of my colleagues are probably unaware 
of the work they perform with their law enforcement, military and 
intelligence agency colleagues in the biologic and chemical warfare 
arena. CDC's Epidemiologic Intelligence Service school produces highly 
trained epidemiologists from these agencies to deal with these deadly, 
newly emerging threats. Every state should have at least one graduate 
from the Epidemiologic Intelligence Service School--currently, less 
than half have someone with these skills.
  Additionally, CDC's National Center for Infectious Diseases, the 
Public Health Practice Program Office and the National Center for 
Environmental Health also play key roles in ensuring the preparedness 
of the public health response.
  The legislation I'm introducing today is simple. It asks that the 
Centers for Disease Control report to Congress within sixty days in 
regard to their resources and readiness to respond to the growing 
threats of viral epidemics, biologic and chemical threats. I intend to 
focus on this when we discuss this at a future hearing, and am looking 
forward to learning how we can improve our ability to address this 
growing threat.
  Unfortunately, our public health departments are operating under 
severe constraints with about one-third lacking even the most basic 
technology for communications or access to advanced training. One thing 
is certain, not one link in our public health defense can operate in a 
vacuum because disease knows no political or geographic boundaries.
  In the days ahead as we set our priorities for appropriations and 
budget, it is time, and past time, that we place a priority on 
investing in local public health department infrastructure. Otherwise, 
we may find that the cost of our neglect is more than any of us are 
willing to pay.
  Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the text of the bill be 
printed in the Record.
  There being no objection, the bill was ordered to be printed in the 
Record, as follows:

                                S. 1786

       Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of 
     the United States of America in Congress assembled,

     SECTION 1. STUDY CONCERNING THE CAPABILITIES OF THE CENTERS 
                   FOR DISEASE CONTROL AND PREVENTION.

       (a) Study.--The Secretary of Health and Human Services 
     shall conduct a study concerning the ability of, and 
     resources available to, the Centers for Disease Control and 
     Prevention to address the growing threats of viral epidemics 
     and biologic and chemical terrorism.
       (b) Report.--Not later than 60 days after the date of 
     enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Health and Human 
     Services shall prepare and submit to the appropriate 
     committees of Congress a report concerning the results of the 
     study conducted under subsection (a), including the 
     recommendations of the Secretary for improving the ability 
     and resources of the Centers for Disease Control and 
     Prevention to address the growing threats of viral epidemics 
     and biologic and chemical terrorism.
                                 ______