Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2006
Floor Speech
DEPARTMENTS OF LABOR, HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES, AND EDUCATION, AND RELATED AGENCIES APPROPRIATIONS ACT, 2006 -- (Senate - October 27, 2005)
BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT
Mr. DURBIN. Mr. President, I rise in support of the amendment being offered by the Senator from Iowa. It might not be this winter, it might not be next winter, but it is going to happen. The virtual certainty of a pandemic flu is what public health leaders are telling us we as a country need to be prepared for. So are we prepared? The obvious answer is no.
Last week, HCD Research polled 846 doctors from across the country about their sense of how well prepared America is to face a pandemic flu. Four out of five of the doctors surveyed said America is not prepared for a public health crisis that we have been told is virtually certain to occur.
When it comes to public health challenges, America can do better. What is our national leadership on this issue? We still do not have a national pandemic preparedness plan. The administration has been working on a plan, literally, for years.
As we head into this flu season, still there is no plan coming from this administration. Communities need Federal guidance. This is not an issue where every village, every town, every State can make its own policy.
California's State health officer said:
While state and local officials have been taking what steps they can to prepare for avian flu, they've been eagerly anticipating a national preparedness plan to tell them how to seal up those gaps. And where is that plan? The administration tells us to expect one sometime soon but it is long, long overdue.
Japan has had its national pandemic preparedness plan in place since 1997. Canada, Austria, Great Britain, all have a national preparedness plan in place. We look forward to seeing this plan from this administration.
In the meantime, I am joining Senators HARKIN, OBAMA, and KENNEDY to offer this pandemic flu amendment. Senator Harkin has been our voice and our leader on this issue. Senator Kennedy has made a lifetime of public service devoted to public health issues. Senator Obama, my new colleague from the State of Illinois, was one of the first to speak out in our State and bring this to my attention and the attention of so many Members. I salute all three of them for their extraordinary leadership.
This proposal would make $8 billion available to immediately ramp up preparation for the flu pandemic, whether it is the H5N1 strain now rampant in birds or another virulent strain that might threaten us. We know this pandemic is virtually inevitable, in the words of Dr. Gerberding of the Centers for Disease Control.
What does this amendment do? It gives the Federal health agencies what they need to move immediately and aggressively to get this country ready for a global pandemic flu.
Let's start with hospitals. That is an important line of defense for people sick with flu. Communities and hospitals need to develop surge capacity to figure out how to take care of people when the beds are filled and the emergency room is overwhelmed and the neighboring counties face similar situations. The Trust for America's Health anticipates U.S. hospitals will swell by more than 2 million people if we face this flu pandemic. But Health and Human Services Secretary Leavitt has worried aloud that communities haven't even prepared for this surge in hospital admissions.
The American College of Emergency Physicians President Rick Blum says:
We've pumped billions of dollars into preparedness since 9/11 but virtually none of that has gone to the one place where we know that 80 percent of the patients go first.
Whether it is a terrorist attack, a natural disaster, or a public health disaster, hospitals are stretched now to have staff to handle the daily flow of patients. They are already operating with a real shortage of nurses and other health professionals.
Realistically, aren't a significant percentage of those health care workers going to get sick themselves if we have a new pandemic or stay away from the clinical setting once the pandemic hits?
These are serious and important questions we need to ask, answer, and be prepared to face.
The Harkin amendment provides $750 million for communities to prepare for additional hospital beds and working with shortages of doctors, nurses, and other health professionals.
The amendment also provides $3 billion so the Federal Government can get in line to buy antiviral medicines to have on hand for an outbreak of flu. Until there is cash in hand to purchase the drugs, the Government cannot contractually commit to buy them; they cannot even get in line to buy them.
The United States has about 2.3 million courses of antiviral medications stockpiled--2.3 million for a nation of our size. We expect another 2 million by the end of next month. That is enough to treat about 2 percent of the U.S. population, far short of the international standard of 20 to 25 percent.
Senator Frist has asked the Secretary to try to increase that stockpile to ensure treatment so that we could treat 50 percent of America. Our amendment would provide Secretary Leavitt with the resources he needs to make it happen. We go beyond political rhetoric to political reality.
Our amendment also provides $3.3 billion so we can intensify our search for a vaccine that could protect Americans from contracting flu in the first case. If we can develop and manufacture a vaccine that is effective against the pandemic flu, we might be able to stop this flu epidemic in its tracks. Testing drugs is expensive. It is time consuming. We have to invest in it and invest in it now.
The amendment also adds $60 million for global surveillance. I heard one public health official describe this as ``situational awareness.'' Margaret Chan, who leads the pandemic flu planning efforts for the World Health Organization, estimates there is a window of only ``20 to 21 days'' in which a local outbreak could be controlled before it is turned loose on the world.
Fareed Zakaria, in the recent issue of Newsweek on this particular issue of the flu pandemic, wrote as follows:
Many people believed that globalization meant that government would become less important. But as we see, today's world has actually made government more crucial. Only government can tackle a problem like this one, not by being big but by being smart and effective. And we need good governance not just at home but beyond. Without effective international coordination, we are doomed to failure.
If we hope to contain this flu, we have to know where and when the first outbreak occurs, and we can only do that if we step up the work we are doing with other countries to monitor contagious diseases.
Karen Hughes, a confidante of President Bush, now with the State Department, recently spoke about the $5.5 million the United States has spent on technical assistance to other countries--$5.5 million. That is not enough, and we know it.
Secretary Leavitt concluded his trip to seven Asian countries with this observation:
Right now, the world's surveillance is not adequate to protect us.
Many people in the Bush administration are acknowledging the problem. What we want them to do is acknowledge the solution, the Harkin-Kennedy-Obama amendment. We need this money. Americans deserve Federal leadership. We need leadership that prepares us for a disaster, not just telling us it is coming but doing something. America can do better to make our individuals and families safe from these public health threats.
A few weeks ago, President Bush praised John Barry's book, ``The Great Influenza,'' a historical account of the 1918 pandemic flu. If you read the book, you will find John Barry was critical of the role of Government in that influenza outbreak. He blamed lack of preparation in this country on Congress. Here is what he said:
They cut every budget request in half.
Are we facing the same thing today? Are we doomed to repeat that same mistake when it comes to this avian influenza? We will not be if we take the leadership initiative of Senator Harkin. We are not seeing the leadership from the White House at this moment that the country needs. It is time for Congress to move decisively, to enact this amendment, to provide direction in funding and progress to prepare the United States for the virtual certainty of a pandemic flu outbreak.
Senator Frist has made it clear he wants the Senate to finish its business and go home by Thanksgiving, but unless and until we address the avian flu pandemic, we should not go home. We should go home to an America that gives thanks that its leaders in Congress--in the House and the Senate--had the vision and determination to deal with this public health challenge. Our work will not be completed until we do.
Mr. President, I yield the floor.
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