Bioterrorist Threat Prompting Thompson’s Philosophical Shift to Greater Federal Role, Boston Globe Columnist Says

Last fall's anthrax incidents and the possibility of future bioterrorist attacks have forced HHS Secretary Tommy Thompson to shift philosophically from strong support of state power to the conclusion that a "big threat is requiring a big response from big government," David Shribman writes in a Boston Globe "National Perspective" piece. As governor of Wisconsin, Thompson was one of the leading advocates of "passing power from Washington to the states." But at HHS, Thompson has moved to centralize "command and coordination" of responses to possible bioterrorist attacks on the federal level. For instance, he has worked to ensure that the United States will have enough smallpox vaccine for every resident, and he helped push for the 45% increase in bioterrorism preparedness spending sought in President Bush's budget proposal -- the "largest onetime investment in public health in American history." Still, Shribman writes that preparation for bioterrorism requires the coordination of the federal government and the states, and in this respect, some of Thompson's "old instincts may serve him well." Shribman adds, "He needs to slay the sort of bureaucratic drift that permits his department to have five incompatible bookkeeping systems and more than 200 different computer systems, some with 20-year-old software. He needs to succeed in his pledge to respond within 30 days to the 38 states that have submitted terrorism response proposals. ... He needs to let the states revert to their roles as laboratories of experimentation." Shribman concludes, "In a time of peril, politicians have discovered they need to be flexible -- and so do their political philosophies" (Shribman, Boston Globe, 4/23).