Letters From the President
President’s Letter- Nov. 6, 2009
Congratulations To Tara O’Toole
On behalf of ISBI and all who share concerns about bioviolence dangers, I want to congratulate Dr. Tara O’Toole on her confirmation as Undersecretary of the Science and Technology Directorate at the Department of Homeland Security. This Directorate is responsible for preventing emerging dangers, including bioviolence, by identifying gaps in security that can be addressed by improving the nation’s detection and response capabilities.
Tara brings to this position extensive experience, publications, and activism that have focused the nation’s (and the world’s) attention on threats of intentionally inflicted disease. As a principal organizer of the Dark Winter and other exercises, perhaps no one has done as much to alert policy makers to the dangers of a terrorist release of smallpox.
Tara’s ardent advocacy of improved preparedness against bio-attacks has earned her a circle of critics – only in Washington would impassioned efforts to raise awareness of looming security threats provoke accusations of arrogance. A small group of vocal commentators argue that support for bioviolence preparedness is somehow antithetical to natural disease preparedness. I can say with some pride that these same commentators have been critical of my work as well.
Our paths have crossed occasionally; I cannot claim to know Tara well. We’ve had some differences of opinion. Before Dark Winter, we discussed my concerns about the priority of smallpox as a leading bioviolence threat. Over the years, I’ve come to share her concern about smallpox. And in my advocacy of law enforcement’s role in preventing bioviolence, we’ve disputed the relative weight to be given to prevention vs. preparedness. Yet, she notably spoke at the Interpol Bioterrorism Conference and invited Ron Noble (Interpol’s Secretary General) to speak at a contemporaneous W.H.O. workshop.
My point is that I’ve always found Tara to be a fair-minded while staunch advocate, and she certainly knows the issues. If she’s ruffled other people’s feathers, I can only hope that she continues to do so.
It’s worth noting that Tara is not the only Obama senior appointment with serious expertise on bioviolence policy. Andy Weber’s appointment as Assistant Secretary of Defense; David Heyman’s appointment as Assistant Secretary for Policy in DHS (where he’ll presumably work closely with Tara); and James Petro’s appointment at the NSC – all suggest the President’s commitment to strengthening efforts to combat biothreats.
Among all these people, Tara is the most senior U.S. government official responsible for anti-bioviolence policies. In that capacity, I’d like to take this opportunity to ask that she propound policies for addressing the international dimensions of bioviolence. Of course, in the Department of Homeland Security her first priority must be the nation’s security, yet bioviolence threats transcend borders. Indeed, she oversees the Office of International Cooperative Programs which sustains international science and technology partnerships that ISBI believes are essential to combating bioviolence. If ISBI can be helpful in this context, we welcome opportunities to work with DHS.