Kerry Shifts Focus To Bioterrorism

(CBS/AP)  Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry said Wednesday the United States lacks a national strategy in its efforts to reduce the threat of a bioterrorist attack that could kill or endanger millions of Americans.

Kerry said that while funding for biopreparedness has increased, President Bush has proposed budget cuts in key areas. The Kerry campaign cited reports that the administration proposed cutting the state and local biopreparedness program by 11 percent, or $105 million, and trimming funding for biodefense countermeasures overall by $49 million.

Hospitals are overburdened, Kerry said, and essential drugs and vaccines have not been adequately developed. He said his plan to make health insurance more affordable and accessible will reduce lines in emergency rooms, relieve pressure on state budges, and sharpen the focus on bioterrorism and other health issues.

"Too many hospitals and emergency rooms are overwhelmed, staggering beneath the everyday burdens of our broken health system," he said in prepared remarks. "And our states and cities and towns need leadership and guidance from Washington, not more of the same policy that says, 'Figure this out on your own.'"

Kerry said as president he would appoint one person to oversee all bioterrorism programs, budgets and strategic priorities and to work with state and local leaders pursuing preparedness goals. Investing in education and research in new technologies can reduce casualties, control disease and save lives, he said.

The Massachusetts senator was meeting Wednesday with first responders and public health officials in Florida, a key state in the 2004 election and one Kerry has visited 17 times since he began seeking the presidency. The campaign said the International Association of EMT's and Paramedics, with 7,000 members in 14 states, endorsed Kerry.

Kerry's focus on bioterrorism is part of a tour promoting his national security policies. On Tuesday, he outlined measures he contended would dramatically reduce the chances of terrorists acquiring nuclear weapons, which he called the greatest threat facing the America.

Kerry promised to safeguard all existing nuclear weapons and materials by the end of his first term if elected.

He also pledged to reduce existing weapons stockpiles, halt production of the materials used to make them, end nuclear weapons programs in nations like North Korea and Iran, and halt the Bush administration's program to develop a new generation of nuclear weapons. He said such a U.S. program would undermine U.S. efforts to persuade other countries to reduce their weapons stockpiles.

Kerry added that he would boost international efforts to stop the trafficking of nuclear materials and promised to name a national coordinator for nuclear terrorism and counterproliferation, a Cabinet-level post, to focus on the issue full time.

Bush campaign spokesman Steve Schmidt dismissed Kerry's plan as embracing objectives already laid out by the president. "His failure to accept the success of negotiations with Libya and his criticism of a multilateral approach to confront the threat from North Korea demonstrate that John Kerry can't help but play politics with national security," Schmidt said.