WASHINGTON, D.C. — U.S. Senator Angus King (I-Maine) joined five of his Senate colleagues in a letter urging the President to reestablish the National Security Council’s (NSC) Global Health Security Directorate (GHSD) as a separate entity from the Counterproliferation and Biodefense Directorate (CBD). The coronavirus pandemic has highlighted the need for a central office to develop policies and coordinate responses to global health crises – a need first vocalized by Senator King in November 2019, when he questioned the shuttering of the PREDICT program that identify potential pathogen risks that pose threats to America and the world. This push also aligns with Senator King’s long-term efforts to bolster America’s scientific leadership in order to improve responses to global pandemics in the future.

“The U.S. government’s haphazard, uncoordinated response to the COVID-19 pandemic has laid bare the importance of a central body to set policies and coordinate the response,” wrote the senators. “We ask you that take a long-term, strategic approach to protecting America from this current crisis and future pandemics by reinstating the National Security Council’s (NSC) Global Health Security Directorate (GHSD) as a separate entity from the Counterproliferation and Biodefense Directorate (CBD). We ask the GHSD be adequately resourced and staffed by career public health officers from across the U.S. Government with a clear mandate to focus on pandemic preparedness policy and response, to provide a critical link between the health and intelligence communities.”

Today’s letter builds on Senator King’s efforts to reassert American leadership in global public health.  In November – before the emergence of coronavirus – Senator King questioned the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) decision to shutter the PREDICT program that tracks emerging potential pandemics. In February, he sponsored legislation that would permanently create a Presidentially-appointed position to manage outbreak response efforts, develop a global health security strategy, and authorize annual funding towards that goal. Though a relevant position has existed through executive order since 2016, that position has been vacant for nearly two years. He is also an original cosponsor of the bipartisan Public Health Emergency Response and Accountability Act, which would create a permanent reserve fund to enable quick and effective responses to future public health emergencies. Additionally, Senator King made public health the focus of the May edition of his Inside Maine podcast, highlighting the impacts that the coronavirus pandemic has had on the lives of Maine people, and federal, state, and local efforts to respond to the virus and keep Maine people safe.

Full text of the letter can be found HERE and below.

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Dear Mr. President,

The U.S. government’s haphazard, uncoordinated response to the COVID-19 pandemic has laid bare the importance of a central body to set policies and coordinate the response. We ask you that take a long-term, strategic approach to protecting America from this current crisis and future pandemics by reinstating the National Security Council’s (NSC) Global Health Security Directorate (GHSD) as a separate entity from the Counterproliferation and Biodefense Directorate (CBD). We ask the GHSD be adequately resourced and staffed by career public health officers from across the U.S. Government with a clear mandate to focus on pandemic preparedness policy and response, to provide a critical link between the health and intelligence communities.

A reinstated GHSD would enable NSC coordination to complement the health security work occurring throughout the United States. By marshaling the convening power of the White House, the GHSD could provide enhanced early warning and understanding of developing threats, based on intelligence of emerging pandemics, foreign government responses, and infection and death rates. Had the GHSD been adequately resourced and empowered prior to the ongoing pandemic, it would have been able to draw from its experience providing strategic coordination and guidance during Ebola in 2014 and Zika in 2016 to help combat Coronavirus. On 11 March 2020, Dr. Anthony Fauci told Congress about the GHSD, “We worked very well with that office. It would be nice if the office was still there.”

Health and intelligence experts warn that the U.S. remains vulnerable to pandemics and contagious disease. According to the Intelligence Community’s 2019 Worldwide Threat Assessment, “...the United States and the world will remain vulnerable to the next flu pandemic or large-scale outbreak of a contagious disease that could lead to massive rates of death and disability, severely affect the world economy, strain international resources, and increase calls on the United States for Support.” On 12 May 2020 Director of the National Institutes of Health’s National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases Dr. Anthony Fauci told the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions, "And even if we get better control over the next several months,  it's likely there will be the virus somewhere on this planet that will eventually get back to us." Bill Gates warns that a Coronavirus-like virus will probably happen, “every 20 years or so.”

The United States has the best scientists in the world. However, these scientists work for a host of different agencies, universities, and private organizations, none of which can singularly combat a pandemic. To meet this need, we strongly urge you to reinstate the GHSD as a separate entity from the CBD. An effective response requires unified action, led by a strategic coordinating body, that can leverage the vast expertise and tools available in the United States arsenal. We strongly urge you to reinstate the NSC’s GHSD as a separate entity from the CBD to permanently serve as a strategic coordinator with a mandate to focus on pandemic preparedness policy and response.

Thank you for your consideration of this request.