A BIO-RESPONSE REPORT CARD
Download the full report: Bio-terrorism Attack Preparedness (pdf)
The idea for this report card project began late
last year, when we asked ourselves the question, “If the nation is
unprepared for a biological attack, what more can we do?” Since 2001,
the United States government has spent more than $65 billion on
biodefense, and yet it has done so without an end-to-end, strategic
assessment of the nation’s bio-response capabilities. This report
seeks to fill that gap.
By design, this review provides a high-level
analysis of a complex enterprise. Our hope is that this report will
result in a better-prepared nation. We know America’s leaders want to
address what everyone agrees is a task of the highest priority:
ensuring the safety and security of our citizens.
Eleven of the nation’s leading biodefense experts
have guided our project, and many more have informed this report. Its
purpose is to provide America’s leadership both a strategic assessment
and concrete advice, in a user-friendly form, so that policymakers
better understand what can and should be done.
This report offers:
• An overview of current
and emerging bioterrorism threats,
• Fundamental
expectations and evaluations for each of seven bio-response
categories,
• An overview of
challenges that affect the entire bio-response enterprise, and
• Recommended priorities
that will strengthen the nation’s bio-preparedness and response
capabilities.
Our nation will always face the threat of biological disasters. The
more robust our nation’s preparedness, however, the more we reduce the
consequences and the likelihood of being attacked. Most important,
strong biodefense capabilities will bring us closer to the day when
biological threats, whether natural or man-made, are no longer
potential weapons of mass destruction.
Senator Bob Graham,
Chairman
Senator Jim Talent, Vice
Chairman
Randy Larsen, CEO
Lynne Kidder, President |
