Bordallo Participates in Avian Flu Exercise

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE—February 7, 2006—Washington, D.C.—

Congresswoman Madeleine Z. Bordallo participated today in Exercise Global Tempest, a forum to assess the range of policy issues available to the United States to respond to an outbreak of pandemic influenza.  This exercise was hosted by the National Defense University (NDU) and sponsored by the Office of the Secretary of Defense.

“Today’s exercise allowed us to discuss measures that need to be taken to prepare for a flu outbreak,” Bordallo stated.  “The discussion, which included other Members of Congress and federal government officials, allowed us to look at the problem from a broad perspective,” Bordallo concluded.
 
The exercise began with two hours of “game play,” where participants joined in a facilitated consensus decision-making process.  For this initial exercise, participants were divided into two groups:  elected officials and subject matter experts.  Video and graphics were used to simulate real situations.  The exercise involved the following scenario:  a novel influenza strain emerges in Southeast Asia and rapidly spreads across the globe.  It becomes widespread in the U.S. three months after the first cases of human-to-human transmission were confirmed in Thailand.  The pandemic paralyzes global health facilities, equipment, medications, and personnel, and disrupts critical infrastructure services throughout the world. 
 
“We have to prepare for the threat of a flu pandemic.  Participating in this exercise increased my understanding of the serious risk of a pandemic and Guam’s vulnerability due to our proximity to Asia,” Bordallo concluded.
 
The National Defense University program brings together Members of Congress, senior level Executive Branch officials, and military leaders for strategic-level crisis simulation exercises.  Congressional participants included Sen. Pat Roberts, Senate Select Intelligence Committee Chairman; Rep. Jane Harman, Ranking Member on the House Select Intelligence Committee; Rep. Nita Lowey, a member of the House Appropriations Committee; and six other Members of Congress.  Executive department participants included the Honorable Gordon England, Deputy Secretary of Defense; Vice Admiral Richard Carmona, U.S. Surgeon General; and others. It is the fifteenth exercise conducted by the Office of the Secretary of Defense to date.
 

###

Contact:  Alicia Chon in Washington, D.C. at (202) 225-1188 or Joseph E. Duenas at (671) 477-4272/4.