Biodefense Monograph

“Progress of ‘Biodefense for the 21st Century’ – A Five-Year Evaluation,” Chapter 3, Project on National Security Reform Case Studies Working Group Report, March 2012 (Originally presented on Thursday, January 15, 2009)

National strategies related to bioterrorism have emphasized a single approach to responding to a bioterror attack and assigned specific roles and responsibilities to discrete agencies, but there is limited evidence of real integration or oversight of these strategies. The NSC and the Homeland Security Council (HSC) both evaluate biological terrorism issues and recommend policy initiatives (international and domestic, respectively). Within the HSC, a senior director for biological defense addresses avian and pandemic influenza, and a joint NSC/HSC Policy Coordinating Committee (PCC) exists to coordinate cross-agency efforts to counter biological threats. There is no evidence, however, that the PCC has an implementation strategy or has conducted actual oversight, critical evaluation, or integration of bioterrorism planning and response capabilities. The overall execution of the Biodefense Strategy has been disorganized and incoherent, resulting in gaps in protecting U.S. citizens and critical infrastructure against the threat of biological terrorism.