The Armed Services Committee’s Subcommittee on Emerging Threats and Capabilities held a hearing on Wednesday entitled “Outside Views on Biodefense for the Department of Defense,” featuring expert testimony from members of the bipartisan Blue Ribbon Study Panel on Biodefense to provide an overview of the panel’s findings and recommendations.
“The Department of Defense plays a large role in the U.S. biodefense enterprise, contributing bio-detection tools, medical countermeasures, and protection and decontamination technologies,” Subcommittee Chair Joe Wilson (R-SC) said in his opening remarks. “The recent response to the Ebola outbreak illustrates the importance of the Department of Defense’s biodefense contributions to broader government and global efforts.
“This hearing is especially timely in preparing for our subcommittee hearing next week with the Department of Defense on countering weapons of mass destruction policy and programs for Fiscal Year 2017. The findings and recommendations discussed today will be important aspects of our review of the Fiscal Year 2017 Department of Defense biodefense enterprise.”
Ken Wainstein, a Blue Ribbon Study Panel member, as well as ex officio member Dr. Gerald W. Parker, testified before the subcommittee about the critical nature of maintaining a dynamic national defense against the growing threat that is posed by both biological weapons and naturally occurring diseases.
Wainstein, who served as general counsel of the Federal Bureau of Investigation and as chief of staff to Director Robert S. Mueller, as well as the first assistant attorney general for national security and the homeland security advisor to President George W. Bush, warned that biodefense is a pressing concern that must be addressed by Congress through the provision of stronger oversight and accountability. The U.S, Wainstein added, needs to create an enduring strategy that will enhance its defense against biological attack and infection.
Wainstein said that anthrax is one of the largest threats facing the nation. Because of the nature of ISIL, including its funding and access to hospitals and labs, an anthrax attack is “infinitely more severe” today.
“It’s a new threat and it’s newly enhanced,” Wainstein warned.
To prepare for such an attack, Parker, the associate vice president for public health preparedness and response and principal investigator for the Texas A&M Center for Innovation in Advanced Development and Manufacturing, said that military-civilian collaboration is essential.
To that end, Parker said, the nation’s BioWatch program is currently insufficient for its biodefense needs. The federal BioWatch program is tasked with detecting the release of pathogens as part of terrorist attacks on major American cities. Created in 2001, the program reportedly operates in Philadelphia, New York City, Washington, DC, San Diego, Boston, Chicago, San Francisco, Atlanta, St. Louis, Houston, Los Angeles and 21 other cities.
Parker said that the only real answer to countering attacks is an integrated strategy to field effective and affordable solutions. To achieve that goal, however, inter-agency cooperation and communication are key.
“We’re in the age of biology and we need to collaborate digitally, but our concern is protecting the information so that ‘bad people’ don’t gain access to our scientific research,” Parker said. “We need strong, centralized leadership, driving by a singular goal, with an eye toward the budget…with clear objectives. People are working and they are trying to work collaboratively, but sometimes the process becomes more important than the outcome.”
Parker said the most important thing is to prepare for threats before they happen.
“What is paramount is what we do in between outbreaks,” Parker said. “During an outbreak of Ebola is not the time to develop defense. We have to use the time in between the outbreaks.”