Frustrated over the failure of HHS to comply with the law and stockpile KI, 13 members of the Florida delegation have asked Secretary Kathleen Sebelius to reconsider her dangerous policy of pretending evacuation is the key to protecting Americans facing a nuclear crisis.  Led by Rep. Bill Young (R-FL) and Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-FL), the bipartisan group pointed out the factual flaws underlying her policy, the impracticalities of evacuation for Florida, and the absurdity of arguing that only those who live within a 10 miles of a nuclear facility are at risk from an accident or a terrorist attack.

The ridiculousness of her position is even more apparent now that the Department of Homeland Security has announced that if there is a nuclear emergency, people will not be allowed to evacuate for as long as 72 hours while the government decides what to do.  Amazingly, here’s what appears to be the Secretary’s current position: we’ll evacuate you – just not in time.

The 13 Florida members got it right.  Secretary Sebelius, it’s time to fix this ridiculous policy.

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According to reports, Senator Charles Schumer (D-NY) is demanding that the Obama Administration fund additional measures to protect New York City from the threat of a makeshift nuclear device or radioactive bomb.  Pointing to what happened over the weekend in New York, the Senator asked for the creation of a security ring around Manhattan to detect radiological and biological weapons.  The Senator noted that New York is the number one target for terrorism in the United States and the federal government has to help protect it.  He did not mention one of the most important protections that could be made available to all New Yorkers – KI.

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There are now three different videos posted on the Internet claiming the Pakistani Taliban was responsible for the failed bomb attack Saturday evening in Times Square in New York.  The bomb was discovered by a street vendor who noticed the abandoned SUV was running with keys in the ignition and its emergency lights flashing.  The Nissan Pathfinder was filled with gasoline, fireworks, alarm clocks and fertilizer.

New York Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly said police have no evidence to support these claims.  Mayor Bloomberg said there was no evidence tied to international terrorism but, according to the AP, Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano said it was too early to rule out any suspects.

The Pakistani Taliban claimed the New York bomb was intended to avenge the deaths of two al-Qaeda operatives who were killed by U.S. forces in Tikrit 12 days ago.  The two were thought to have played a role in the car bombing in London in 2007.  Terrorism experts were quick to point out that the Pakistani Taliban has been known to lie about its involvement in various terrorist activities.

Some observers noted that the SUV was parked near the headquarters of Viacom, which owns Comedy Central.  Recently, the network aired a controversial “South Park” episode that portrayed the Prophet Muhammad dressed in a bear costume.  Various individuals and organizations have promised reprisals against the show’s creators for the episode.

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According to USA Today, the White House has warned state and local governments not to expect a “significant federal response” at the scene of a terrorist nuclear attack for 24 to 72 hours after the blast, according to a planning guide sent to local government officials.  The Administration’s alarming admission makes even more inexplicable its failure to make KI available throughout the country.

At the recent Nuclear Security Summit in Washington, D.C., President Obama told delegates from around the world that if al-Qaeda or another terrorist group got a nuclear device, the loss of life would be catastrophic.  And, he noted, it would be extremely hard to mitigate damage from the blast.

The guide, which is entitled, “Planning Guidance for Response to a Nuclear Detonation,” was developed by a task force headed by the White House Homeland Security Council. It was circulated to state and local government officials and first responders in January 2009.

According to the guide, a 10-kiloton nuclear explosion would level buildings within half a mile of ground zero, generate 900-mph winds, bathe the landscape with radiation and produce a plume of fallout that would drift for hundreds of miles.  Disaster experts say local governments aren’t prepared for a nuclear attack. “There isn’t a single American city, in my estimation, that has sufficient plans for a nuclear terrorist event,” says Irwin Redlener of Columbia University‘s Mailman School of Public Health.

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Yesterday, intelligence experts told a U.S. Senate Committee that they are certain terrorists will attack the U.S. this year.  According to the Director of National Intelligence, Dennis Blair, said, “An attempted attack, the priority is certain.”  The CIA Director, Leon Panetta, FBI Director Robert Mueller, and Lt. General Ronald Burgess, director of the Defense Intelligence Agency, all agreed.

Their testimony was different than the assessment given just last year.  They made it clear that al Qaeda is again capable of attacking the United States in the United States.  Mr. Blair also noted in his prepared testimony that the terrorist organization continues its pursuit of nuclear weapons, and detection is more difficult since the switch from multi-cell attacks to operations that involve few individuals.

Unfortunately, other members of the Obama Administration apparently remain unaware of the conclusions of the intelligence experts.  Secretary Sebelius still has not changed her position on KI, and the White House has refused to respond to the Markey letter asking the Administration to implement the 2002 Bioterrorism Act.  Faced with the reality of a terrorist attack this year, the Administration prefers to keep its head buried in the sand – oblivious, indifferent and, for us, dangerous.

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The Obama Administration has proposed making $54 billion available to build new nuclear power plants, according to the budget the White House sent to Congress yesterday.  The amount is nearly triple previous loan guarantees.  The Energy Department is expected to announce the first recipients in a matter of months, as several power companies are lining up to build the first new U.S. reactor since 1996.

Unfortunately, the budget sent to the Hill by President Obama failed to include a single cent for the purchase and distribution of KI, making it the second time this administration has failed to implement the Congressional mandate in the Bioterrorism Act of 2002.

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A new study by Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government reveals that al Qaeda agents went to McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario during their search for nuclear and biological weapons.  According to the study’s author, known operatives Adnan el-Shukrijumah, Abderraouf Ben-Habib Jdey and Zacharias Moussaoui  were at the University in 2001. Mr. Shukrijumah and Mr. Jdey are still at large.  Moussaoui is serving a life sentence without parole at the Federal Supermax Prison in Florence, Colorado for plotting “to murder thousands of innocent people in New York, Virginia, and Pennsylvania.”

The study provides a glimpse into al Qaeda’s search for the world’s most destructive weapons.  As the author notes, “Organizing a coherent strategy to prevent this nightmare from occurring begins with a clear recognition that WMD terrorism is a real and imminent threat.”  McMaster University has filed a $2 million defamation suit against the study’s author.

Click here to see the study.

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A bipartisan Congressional commission has given the Obama Administration an “F” for its efforts to prevent biological terrorism.  “The clock is ticking and time is running out,” the Commission reported.  “We are not where we need to be…our major metropolitan areas are not prepared.”  Congress established the Commission on the Prevention of Weapons of Mass Destruction and Terrorism two years ago.  Led by former Senators Bob Graham (D-FL) and Jim Talent (R-MO), its creation was one of the recommendations from the 9/11 Commission.  According to the newly released report, the Administration must stop acting as if the problem is too hard to fix.

The Commission’s most recent findings are eerily similar to the government’s failure to stockpile KI, and the danger to the American public is just as great. What will it take for Congress and the Administration to wake up?

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Yesterday evening, during his State of the Union Address, President Obama called for the construction of a new generation of safe, clean nuclear power plants.  His request echoed similar statements by top Administration officials, including Carol Browner, the Director of the White House Office of Energy and Climate Change Policy.  The number of facilities being proposed is not yet known.  Currently, there are 104 plants in the country.  The co-chair of the Clean and Safe Energy Coalition, former governor Christine Todd Whitman, has suggested the number could be as high as 32.

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Rep. Ed Markey (D-Mass.), chairman of the Energy and Environment Subcommittee of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, asked President Obama to revisit the Bush administration’s decision to ignore a 2002 law requiring that the inexpensive and highly effective anti-radiation drug potassium iodide (KI) be provided to all communities living within 20 miles of our nation’s 104 nuclear power plants.

“We need to be fully prepared for any type of nuclear emergency,” said Rep. Markey. “Potassium iodide is a simple, cheap, proven drug that can save lives in the event of a radiological release. Without it, millions of Americans are needlessly at risk in the event of a terrorist attack or a serious accident at a nuclear reactor.”

“The Bush White House – intent on politicizing every scientific decision possible – ignored the will of Congress, the recommendations of the National Academy of Sciences, and the findings of its own Health and Human Services Secretary,” Rep. Markey continued.  “Instead, President Bush chose to deny communities free access to this potentially life-saving drug.  I urge President Obama to fulfill his legal and moral obligation by reversing this decision and providing those living within 20 miles of nuclear reactors the protection they deserve.”

For a copy of the Markey letter, click here.

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