Ridge: CDC won't be part of new homeland security department

WASHINGTON - The Atlanta-based Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shouldn&#39;t be part of a massive reorganization of agencies into one homeland security department, director Tom Ridge said Thursday. <br> <br> Ridge, who spent the day explaining the restructuring plans to two congressional panels, said the agency that helped lead the anthrax investigation will work closely with the proposed new department, but the two will remain separate. <br> <br> Currently, CDC&#39;s mission only a small part of which involves bioterrorism falls under the jurisdiction of the Department of Health and Human Services and its secretary, former Wisconsin Gov. Tommy Thompson. <br> <br> ``There is a dual infrastructure here,&#39;&#39; Ridge told the Senate Governmental Affairs Committee. ``That infrastructure should remain part of HHS. The notion we would work through multiple agencies to establish protocol in advance of an incident is consistent with putting several agencies together, having a strategic focus.&#39;&#39; <br> <br> Georgia Democrat Max Cleland, a member of the panel, probed Ridge&#39;s thoughts on his legislation that would create a center within CDC focusing only on bioterrorism. Ridge didn&#39;t offer an endorsement but told a House committee later in the day that CDC&#39;s bioterrorism efforts would be eligible for a transfer of money from the new department he is expected to lead. <br> <br> ``The laboratories and expertise they have will be made available to the people of this country, and they&#39;ll have access to dollars under the new Department of Homeland Security,&#39;&#39; said Ridge, responding to a question from Rep. Bob Barr, R-Ga. <br> <br> Cleland has expressed concern about whether the Bush administration is committed to using CDC as the lead agency in case of future bioterror scares. Despite a sizable increase in overall bioterrorism funding, the administration&#39;s 2003 budget proposed an overall funding cut for CDC&#39;s Atlanta headquarters, where many buildings are falling apart. <br> <br> Cleland also sought assurances from Ridge, as he did from Thompson at an earlier hearing, that jurisdiction over bioterrorism investigations be clarified. Cleland contends CDC and the Federal Bureau of Investigation butted heads during the anthrax cases, primarily because of conflicting laws and regulations. <br> <br> ``There may be a point at which someone concludes that a threat to public safety is occurring and therefore automatically, by a stroke of a pen, CDC becomes the lead agency,&#39;&#39; Cleland said. ``We don&#39;t need competition. We need coordination, cooperation and communication.&#39;&#39; <br> <br> Rep. Saxby Chambliss, a Republican challenging Cleland in the Senate race, agreed there needs to be a clarification of rules but said Cleland&#39;s proposed center isn&#39;t the way to do it. <br> <br> ``Instead of creating another new layer of bureaucracy, the plan is we avoid that bureaucracy, funnel information not only from the top down but from the bottom up more quickly,&#39;&#39; he said.

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