[Congressional Record Volume 148, Number 49 (Friday, April 26, 2002)]
[Senate]
[Pages S3464-S3465]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                         ADDITIONAL STATEMENTS

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              REGARDING THE CAREER OF JEFFREY KOPLAN M.D.

 Mr. HARKIN. I come to the floor today to recognize the 
accomplishments of an outstanding public servant, Dr. Jeffrey P. 
Koplan.
  While it is a great loss to the Federal Government that he is leaving 
the Directorship of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, it 
is through his successful 26 years of public service that we have a 
healthier nation and world today.
  I have come to know Dr. Koplan over the past 3\1/2\ years, during 
which he has so admirably led our country's premier disease prevention 
agency. I can say without reservation that you could not find a person 
with greater conviction and integrity. Dr. Koplan was the founding 
Director of the National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and 
Health Promotion. As such, he led the nation to recognize the critical 
need for strong public health programs to address these leading causes 
of death and disability.
  During his tenure, CDC has worked with a myriad of partners to raise 
and sustain immunization coverage levels to unprecedented levels. That 
effort has resulted in the lowest number of vaccine-preventable disease 
cases ever recorded for many diseases. In fact, during Dr. Koplan's 
watch, measles transmission in the United States was interrupted for 
the first time ever. I do not have the time to list all of Dr. Koplan's 
accomplishments, but these few highlight the reasons that Senator 
Specter and I have worked so closely with Dr. Koplan in funding the 
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. He has been a model of 
cooperation between all levels and types of government working together 
to meet the needs of the nation.
  On the personal side, I have come to know Dr. Koplan as: A man of 
great integrity and a scientist of great distinction; always putting 
the protection of people's health first--willing to make difficult 
decisions and take action on the basis of the best science available; 
recognizing the global dimensions of health--that infectious diseases, 
environmental hazards, bioterrorism, and chronic illnesses cross all 
borders--so we must learn from other countries and lend our support to 
them; and well known for his quick wit, extensive grasp of health 
issues, and complete dedication to CDC and its mission of protecting 
the health and safety, not only of all Americans, but the people of the 
world.
  It is with regret and admiration that I say farewell to Dr. Koplan. 
He will be a hard act to follow.
  Mr. SPECTER. I would like to echo the comments of my partner on the 
Appropriations Committee. Over the years, Senator Harkin and I have 
funded the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and we've been 
able to watch its growth under the able leadership of Dr. Jeffrey 
Koplan.
  Let me list for you just a few of his many successes while working at 
CDC and as its Director.
  Perhaps most important was Dr. Koplan's ambitious and much-needed 
campaign to upgrade CDC's buildings and facilities, enabling the agency 
to better protect the nation's health and safety. He invited Senator 
Harkin and I to visit the CDC labs in Atlanta, where we found our 
nation's laboratories in a deplorable condition. We've been happy to 
support his effort to upgrade these facilities and, if any of you had 
the same opportunity to visit the CDC labs, I'm sure you'll agree that 
this effort was long overdue and will serve this country well for years 
to come.
  Dr. Koplan had many other accomplishments during his tenure at CDC 
including the establishment of a system that will take the pulse of our 
nation's health through a quick computerized disease reporting system 
to which local health departments will be linked; focusing the nation's 
attention on the obesity and diabetes epidemics threatening the health 
of millions of Americans; and summarizing patterns of tobacco use among 
women and

[[Page S3465]]

called for stronger national and local efforts to implement proven 
solutions to reduce and prevent tobacco use among women and girls.
  Over the past two years, the CDC has aided State, local and 
international health authorities over 200 times, to investigate 
outbreaks of disease, including anthrax, West Nile Virus, Ebola, 
tuberculosis, sexually transmitted diseases, lead poisoning, birth 
defect clusters, homicide-suicide clusters, nutritional deficiencies, 
and flood-related illnesses. The CDC, along with NIH and FDA, initiated 
a new plan to prevent bovine spongioform encephalopathy, also known as 
``mad cow'' disease, from affecting the U.S. food supply. As a result, 
the U.S. has one of the safest food supplies in the world.
  Last but certainly not least, Dr. Koplan led our nation's public 
health authorities in becoming better prepared to respond quickly and 
effectively to a bioterrorist attack on this country. And, indeed, he 
was our country's public health leader during the first such attack, 
working around the clock to prevent people exposed to anthrax from 
developing the disease. Because this was a new reality for our nation, 
Dr. Koplan placed special emphasis on learning every lesson possible 
from the experience so that we are now better prepared should we face 
another attack.
  I commend him for all that he has done to protect the health and 
well-being of the American people. I wish him well.

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