Daniel Akaka: “I rise to address the threat of bioterrorism to our Nation's security. President Bush has asked Vice President Cheney to…”

“I rise to address the threat of bioterrorism to our Nation's security. President Bush has asked Vice President Cheney to ``oversee the development of a coordinated national effort so that we may do the very best possible job of protecting our people from catastrophic harm.'' He also asked Joseph Allbaugh, Director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, FEMA, to create an Office of National Preparedness to implement a national effort. On May 9, 2001, Attorney General Ashcroft testified before a Senate Appropriations subcommittee that the Department of Justice is the lead agency and in sole command of an incident while in the crisis management phase, even if consequence management activities, such as casualty care and evacuation, are occurring at the same time. Clearly, FEMA and the Department of Justice need to work together to shoulder the burden of responding to a large scale event. What is unclear, however, is how the Department of Justice will know that its crisis management skills are needed during a bioterrorism event.”