The Hill: American lives are worth budgeting for with biodefense
Former Sen. Joe Lieberman (D-Conn.) and former Gov. Tom Ridge (R-Pa.), co-chairs of the bipartisan Blue Ribbon Study Panel on Biodefense

“…When it comes to naturally occurring biological threats, we agree with Bill Gates, whose charitable foundation has provided funds to address biological outbreaks. … Naturally occurring pathogens have the power to destroy lives and economies. … We call upon the president to release the National Biodefense Strategy soon and ensure that his next budget request to Congress conforms to the priorities in this strategy, showing how money requested for biodefense programs supports the National Strategy’s goals and objectives. The White House should also establish a new, government-wide, Biodefense Coordination Council composed of senior officials from responsible departments, independent agencies, and independent institutions, as well as private sector and state, local, tribal, and territorial representatives. This council could help identify redundancies and gaps in our biodefense before they wind up costing lives and wasting dollars. Finally, Congress should create its own bipartisan biodefense working group to consider new legislation that would strengthen our national biodefense and hold the executive branch accountable for using federal funding to execute the National Biodefense Strategy responsibly…” (2/28).