|
Washington, D.C. --- U.S. Rep. Frank Pallone, Jr. (D-NJ), a senior member of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, today assailed President Bush for assigning U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security Michael Chertoff a significant role in our nation's avian flu response plan. The New Jersey congressman held a roundtable discussion with local officials in his congressional district last month on local preparedness for an avian flu pandemic.
"I'm shocked President Bush would turn to Secretary Chertoff to play a key role in the federal response to an avian flu pandemic. Didn't the president learn anything from Hurricane Katrina?
"Michael Chertoff is the same man responsible for the incompetent, inept and tragically unacceptable response to Hurricane Katrina. If Secretary Chertoff couldn't properly oversee the administration's response to a hurricane along the gulf coast that we knew about days in advance, how is he supposed to play a pivotal role in the response to a flu pandemic that could hit at any time?
"It's time the Bush administration show that it can actually lead in a time of crisis, and I'm afraid that turning to Secretary Chertoff once again demonstrates this administration still has a long way to go.
"If a pandemic hit the U.S. today, we would be woefully unprepared, and this detailed response plan does not change that fact. The president also continues to ignore the needs of state and local governments, who currently do not have the resources in place to respond to the worst-case scenario." |
