Sen. Max Cleland and a prominent businessman acted Wednesday to bolster the clout and funding for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention as it prepares for a bioterrorism attack.
The Georgia Democrat, suspicious of the Bush administration’s proposed budget cuts for construction at the Atlanta facility, advocated a new national center to combat bioterrorism, which would be housed at the CDC.
In a separate announcement, Home Depot co-founder and former CEO Bernard Marcus _ a longtime CDC booster _ pledged $3.9 million to help equip a 24-hour emergency response hub for the facility established about six months ago amid the anthrax scare.
According to the CDC Foundation, which coordinates public-private partnerships for the agency, it’s one of the largest gifts the CDC has ever received.
In a phone interview Wednesday, Cleland said he had spoken with Marcus about the CDC two weeks ago but was unaware Marcus would make the donation or even sought such a center.
“In many ways, our thinking is alike,” said Cleland, who announced his proposal during an afternoon speech at Emory University. “It’s painfully obvious to me we’re not really geared up for a really coordinated response to another terrorist attack. I’ve been plugging the CDC’s role all along, but now is the time to formalize it.”
While Marcus’ money would help improve technology at what is now a temporary 24-hour hub, Cleland’s proposed center would go much farther. It would put the CDC in charge of training response teams, developing local contingency plans, implementing disease surveillance systems and tracking dangerous biological agents and toxins.
Cleland plans to introduce the legislation when Congress returns to session next week, but a spokesman for the Department of Health and Human Services, which oversees the Atlanta center, said Cleland’s proposal would duplicate some existing efforts.
HHS Secretary Tommy Thompson had already created a center in Washington to coordinate all information involving a bioterrorism attack, said spokesman Bill Pierce. Leading the effort is D.A. Henderson, who once directed the campaign to eradicate smallpox.
Pierce said CDC would play a major role, but Henderson’s Office of Public Health Preparedness is the one that spearheads the communications among health agencies. Cleland contends that office is too small and suggests his proposed center would complement it, not necessarily replace it.
“It’s clear as a bell the secretary and the administration are very serious about the role of the CDC and about its importance,” Pierce said.
However, Cleland has grown skeptical of that since President Bush proposed major construction cuts for the Atlanta facility, where many buildings are crumbling and leaking despite the deadly viruses they house.
Although Bush is asking for a major boost in federal bioterrorism money, CDC’s budget would dip from $2.25 billion this year to $1.52 billion in the next budget year. Administration officials point out much of the difference is for one-time projects, including $512 million to purchase a smallpox vaccine.
Most of the Georgia delegation has advocated a larger role for CDC, but Republican Reps. Bob Barr and Saxby Chambliss, who is challenging Cleland for the Senate this year, called the senator’s proposal unnecessary.
“This is another typical liberal reaction whereby Cleland seeks to create another bureaucractic maze that will slow down the response and reaction time if we do have an attack of bioterrorism,” said Chambliss, who leads a House panel on homeland security.
Even Charlie Stokes, president of the CDC Foundation, stopped short of advocating more oversight power for the agency.
“No matter how the government chooses to organize itself, CDC’s history, activities during recent events and capacity dictate it will always be at or near the top,” Stokes said.