Alexander Lu (R) – Alabama
Senate Committee on Science
Position Paper
Topic #1: Biological Disaster Preparedness
Over the past one hundred years, the United States of America have been working
to prepare for and centralize relief efforts in case of a biological disaster, where
pathogens which damage life in an ecosystem are spread. These disasters may rise from
a number of sources, natural or manmade. In the 20th century, the issue remained
relatively unaddressed. However, with the advent of biological weapons it has become a
matter of utmost importance. It is vital that the United States of America have a plan in a
situation where the release of biological pathogens on their soil becomes possible.
However, even with these one hundred years of planning and preparation, the United
States are not prepared whatsoever in case of a biological disaster. The bureaucracy of
FEMA has shown to be a disorganized and useless chain of command through its actions
during Hurricane Katrina. To make matters worse, organizations that are relatively
effective such as the Red Cross or the Center for Disease Control and Prevention are
poorly funded and poorly equipped. And possibly worst of all, the government continues
to create more new programs to deal with disasters, further tangling the web of
bureaucracy around all those already involved in biological disaster response, delaying
response times in the extremely time sensitive periods which follow biological disasters
(Takeda and Helms 411).
I will rise in strong support of new plans on how to better prepare America for a
potential biological disaster.
The current organizations and plans the nation has
regarding the response to biological disasters are highly ineffective. FEMA is completely
wrapped up in bureaucracy. The chain of command, beginning with ten regional offices
and ending with the Department of Homeland Security, which chained itself to FEMA in
1979, makes any action FEMA carries out extremely delayed and slow, which is among
the worst things an organization which responds to natural disasters can do. In the lost
time spent deliberating on the fine points of relief efforts and organization, people at the
scene of the disaster suffer, and even die. This was proven through Hurricane Katrina.
After the hurricane hit New Orleans, breaking the levees and flooding the city, FEMA
was named in charge of the relief effort. On their website, in the event of a natural
disaster, the organization promised “a swift and effective recovery effort” (“Preparedness
and Response”). However, what occurred instead was what can only be deemed as
bureaucracy in its fullest effect. People who did not have evacuations prepared were left
to die on their rooftops, left stuck inside hospitals, inside their nursing homes, as FEMA
deliberated on sending buses from across the state to evacuate people. The U.S. Fire
Administration, a branch of FEMA, directed “that fire and emergency departments across
the country remain in their jurisdictions until such time as the affected states request
assistance” (“First Responders Urged Not To Respond To Hurricane Impact Areas
Unless Dispatched By State, Local Authorities”). These kinds of actions, which go
completely against morality in the favor of politics, are typical of FEMA in its responses
to natural disasters.
One of the most effective organizations in dealing with the relief effort after
Hurricane Katrina was the Coast Guard, which worked without bureaucracy pulling the
strings (Sobel and Leeson 2). However, as effective as they were, neither they nor other
organizations such as the Red Cross or the Center of Disease Control and Prevention are
prepared to deal with a full on biological disaster. This year, the Department of Defense
has a budget of $515.4 billion, only 2.4% of which goes to the Department of Health and
Human Services. This petty amount is not nearly enough to cover the expenses acquired
during relief efforts after biological disasters. The difficulty and amount of money it
would take to set up quarantines to prevent the spread of disease, set up shelter, and
disseminate information to the general public would not be covered by the funds the
department currently has. In addition, it would not be nearly enough to fund research
into and distribute vaccines where they are needed.
The way to fix the dire situation our nation is in when it comes to biological
disaster preparedness is clear. The system currently in place must be uprooted and
changed at its very core. FEMA, a disastrous attempt to centralize many different
organizations which prepare for and respond to disasters into one centralized government
group is too deeply implanted in the vines of bureaucracy. The department’s current
organization must be dissolved and replaced by a more straightforward one. The new
FEMA would need to create detailed plans in case of a biological disaster. This plan
would have to include, but not be limited to setting up quarantines, dispatching personnel,
and distributing vaccines. The national government must pass laws which allow for other
laws to be bypassed by the new FEMA in order to quickly respond and save lives in the
face of biological and other disasters, without the hassles of bureaucracy. In addition,
more funding needs to be placed into FEMA and other disaster response organizations
such as the Red Cross, so that the organizations may buy more supplies, hire more
workers, and conduct more detailed research into vaccines and drugs.
Biological
disasters become a more real threat by the day in the United States, and time is running
out for the government to address it before it is too late.
Works Cited
Margaret B. Takeda and Marilyn M. Helms. “Bureaucracy, meet catastrophe: Analysis of
Hurricane Katrina relief efforts and their implications for emergency response
governance.” International Journal of Public Sector Management 19 (2006): 397411
Sobel, Russell S. and Peter T. Leeson. "Flirting with Disaster: The Inherent Problems
with FEMA." The Cato Institute. July 19, 2006. 29 Mar 2009
<http://www.cato.org/pub_display.php?pub_id=6516>
“Preparedness and Response.” Department of Homeland Security.
http://www.dhs.gov/xprepresp/. 29 March, 2009.
“First Responders Urged Not To Respond To Hurricane Impact Areas Unless Dispatched
By State, Local Authorities.” Department of Homeland Security.
http://www.fema.gov/news/newsrelease.fema?id=18470. 29 March, 2009.