BUSH: It's one thing to shut down airplanes. It's another thing to
prevent people from coming in to get exposed to the avian flu.
And who best to be able to effect a quarantine?
'Quarantine' or 'occupation'?
rkm
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http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/10/04/AR2005100400584.html
Washington Post
Transcript of President Bush's Press Conference
Courtesy of FDCH/e-Media
Tuesday, October 4, 2005; 11:39 AM
---<snip>---
QUESTION: Mr. President, you've been thinking a lot about
pandemic flu and the risks in the United States if that should
occur.
I was wondering, Secretary Leavitt has said that first
responders in the states and local governments are not
prepared for something like that. To what extent are you
concerned about that after Katrina and Rita?
And is that one of the reasons you're interested in the idea
of using defense assets to respond to something as broad and
long-lasting as a flu might be?
BUSH: Yes. Thank you for the question.
I am concerned about avian flu. I'm concerned about what an
avian flu outbreak could mean for the United States and the
world.
BUSH: I have thought through the scenarios of what an avian
flu outbreak could mean. I tried to get a better handle on
what the decision-making process would be by reading Mr.
Barry's book on the influenza outbreak in 1918. I would
recommend it.
The policy decisions for a president in dealing with an avian
flu outbreak are difficult.
One example: If we had an outbreak somewhere in the United
States, do we not then quarantine that part of the country?
And how do you, then, enforce a quarantine?
It's one thing to shut down airplanes. It's another thing to
prevent people from coming in to get exposed to the avian flu.
BUSH: And who best to be able to effect a quarantine?
One option is the use of a military that's able to plan and
move. So that's why I put it on the table. I think it's an
important debate for Congress to have.
I noticed the other day, evidently, some governors didn't like
it. I understand that. I was the commander in chief of the
National Guard and proudly so. And, frankly, I didn't want the
president telling me how to be the commander in chief of the
Texas Guard.
But Congress needs to take a look at circumstances that may
need to vest the capacity of the president to move beyond that
debate. And one such catastrophe or one such challenge could
be an avian flu outbreak.
--
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"Apocalypse Now and the Brave New World"
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