Officials, Experts Say Moving Public Health Duties to New Homeland Security Department Could ‘Undermine’ Prevention, Tracking Efforts

Legislators, health advisers and General Accounting Office officials on June 25 said at a House hearing that President Bush's proposal to move public health responsibilities from HHS to the proposed Department of Homeland Security could "undermine the basic effort to keep Americans healthy" in part because public health concerns would "take a backseat" to bioterrorism threats, the AP/Philadelphia Inquirer reports (Anderson, AP/Philadelphia Inquirer, 6/26). The House Energy and Commerce Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee hearing was held after House Majority Leader and Chair of the Select Committee on Homeland Security Dick Armey (R-Texas) formally introduced Bush's plan (HR 5005) for the new department (CQ Daily Monitor, 6/25). Congress must approve the department, which would absorb operations, employees and funds from existing federal agencies, including parts of the CDC and the NIH, and would have an annual budget of $37.5 billion and 170,000 employees (Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report, 6/10). The proposal would transfer programs that "help state and local governments cope with outbreaks of naturally occurring diseases and pathogens" -- including the Office of Emergency Preparedness, the Strategic National Stockpile and CDC divisions -- from HHS to the new department, a GAO report released June 25 stated.

Proposal Criticism
However, Bush's plan "does not clearly provide a structure" that would allow programs to assist with homeland security as well as public health, GAO Director of Public Health Issues Janet Heinrich said (AP/Philadelphia Inquirer, 6/26). Rep. John Dingell (D-Mich.) added that the proposed changes would "increase the 'fragmentation'" in agencies dealing with bioterrorism and public health and could "undermine state and local efforts to combat terrorism" (Mullins, CongressDaily, 6/25). In addition, Ronald Atlas, president-elect of the American Society for Microbiology and a University of Louisville biology professor, said lawmakers should "ensure that federal research into infectious diseases remains under the control of HHS" (AP/Philadelphia Inquirer, 6/26). The National Academy of Sciences on Monday released a report that said it is "essential" for Congress to coordinate future research and development within a potential Department of Homeland Security (Schmid, AP/Nando Times, 6/25).