22 January 1999
Source: http://library.whitehouse.gov/PressReleases-plain.cgi

    January 22, 1999

    REMARKS BY NATIONAL SECURITY ADVISOR SANDY BERGER; DR.
    JOSHUA LEDERBERG, NOBEL LAUREATE, AND JAMIE GORELICK, OF
    FANNIE MAE FOUNDATION,

                               THE WHITE HOUSE

                        Office of the Press Secretary
    ______________________________________________________________
    For Immediate Release                        January 22, 1999

             REMARKS BY NATIONAL SECURITY ADVISOR SANDY BERGER;
                   DR. JOSHUA LEDERBERG, NOBEL LAUREATE,
               AND JAMIE GORELICK, OF FANNIE MAE FOUNDATION,

               ON KEEPING AMERICA SECURE FOR THE 21ST CENTURY

                        National Academy of Sciences
                             Washington. D.C.

                 MR. BERGER:  Good morning to all of you and welcome.
    Let me thank you all for coming.  Let me acknowledge in particular
    Dr. Bruce Alberts, President of the National Academy of Sciences; Dr.
    William Wulf, President of the National Academy of Engineering; and
    Dr. Kenneth Shine, President of the National Academy of Medicine.

                 We are here to discuss emerging threats to America's
    security as we reach a new century.  How do we respond to the threat
    of terrorists around the world, turning from bullets and bombs to
    even more insidious and potent weapons?  What if they and the rogue
    states that sponsor them try to attack the critical computer systems
    that drive our society?  What if they seek to use chemical,
    biological, even nuclear weapons?  The United States must deal with
    these emerging threats now, so that the instruments of prevention
    develop at least as rapidly as the instruments of disruption.

                 Today we are confronting these challenges with an
    extraordinary team of dedicated professionals across our government
    -- with law enforcement efforts headed by Attorney General Reno and
    FBI Director Freeh; with strong diplomacy backed by a strong defense
    under Secretary of State Albright and Secretary of Defense Cohen;
    with better intelligence under the direction of Director Tenet; and
    determined efforts to contain weapons proliferation under Energy
    Secretary Richardson; with emergency management under FEMA Director
    Witt; private industry cooperation directed by Secretary Daley; and
    aviation security under Transportation Secretary Slater; and with
    public health and management and medical research guided by Health
    and Human Services Secretary Shalala -- who probably did not think
    she was going to be part of the national security team when she
    became Secretary of HHS.

                 And since last spring, with the efforts of the
    President's National Coordinator for Security Infrastructure
    Protection and Counterterrorism, Richard Clarke, who is working to
    make all these pieces fit together in a united effort.  And most of
    all, we have a President who, from the outset of his administration,
    has put the task of meeting new security threats at the very
    forefront of our national security strategy -- a President who has
    driven all of us to seek out the best minds and ask the important
    questions as we prepare for the future.

                 Today the President will announce new initiatives to
    combat these emerging threats.  But before the President addresses
    us, I want to present two important representatives of the private
    sector.  The involvement of the private sector in these efforts, from
    top researchers at our universities to industry leaders, together
    with the participation of state and local governments, is absolutely
    critical if we are to succeed.

                 We're pleased to be joined today by Jamie Gorelick, who
    will discuss the danger that our critical infrastructures are
    becoming vulnerable to computer and other forms of attack, the cyber
    threat.  She is Vice Chair of Fannie Mae, the nation's largest funder
    for home mortgages.  She is also the former co-chair of the Advisory
    Committee of the President's Commission on Critical Infrastructure
    Protection.  And we in the administration know her well from her
    extraordinarily able tenure as Deputy Attorney General and General
    Counsel of the Department of Defense.

                 But first we will hear from Dr. Joshua Lederberg, a
    geneticist and President Emeritus of the Rockefeller University in
    New York.  Dr. Lederberg won the Nobel Prize in Medicine at age 33 --
    which, I suppose, not only makes me a failure -- (laughter) -- but
    only gives my children a few years.  (Laughter.)  At least the
    President can say that he was governor by the time he was 33.
    (Laughter and applause.)

                 Dr. Lederberg has been a frequent advisor to our
    government on the threat of biological weapons, and he was a key
    participant in a roundtable on this issue that the President convened
    last spring.

                 Dr. Lederberg.  (Applause.)

                 DR. LEDERBERG:  Mr. President, distinguished officers of
    government, scientific colleagues, ladies and gentlemen.  For over
    half a century I've had the joy and excitement of research on the
    microbial world, its evolution, the conspiracies it harbors, and its
    ambiguous competition with the human species.

                 There have been many occasions in this very hall to
    share news of profound scientific discoveries which not only broaden
    our conceptual understanding of ourselves and our biological extended
    family in the living world, but gave us ever sharper tools to deal
    with pestilence and decay.

                 But throughout that time, I've been imbued with the fear
    that, just as happened with physics and chemistry, that great
    advances in medicine would be turned into engines of war.  That fear
    has been compounded by the deterioration of civil order that might
    otherwise restrain the use of weapons of mass destruction, and by the
    ease with which nature already provides the germs of disease that
    might be used as weapons.

                 In fact, the very triumph of the democratic world's
    military technology with guided missiles and dominance of the
    battlefield drives the agents of disorder to ever more subversive
    means of attack and inspires new scales of terrorism, grand and
    small.

                 We have made great progress, diplomatically and in
    international law, with the prohibitions against biological and
    chemical weapons, though there is some way to go in their
    enforcement.  However, our civilian populations have, until now, been
    almost undefended against bioterrorism, in an era where political
    disorder weakens the system of deterrence that had been our main
    shield throughout the Cold War.

                 The reconstruction of bio-defenses must be regarded as a
    branch of public health and it is equally necessary to deal with
    cyclic renewals of historic national plagues as much as with those
    borne of malice.

                 So it has been extremely gratifying that during the past
    months and year these concerns, voiced so persuasively by many of my
    colleagues here at the Academy and the Institute of Medicine, have
    reached the attention of the highest levels of government, and action
    plans have been embodied in numerous executive orders and in the
    budgetary proposals that the  President will discuss this morning.

                 Thank you, and here's Jamie Gorelick.  (Applause.)

                 MS. GORELICK:  Mr. President, distinguished guests.  Ten
    years ago I would not have put cyber terrorism at the top of the
    threats to our national security.  But the landscape has changed.
    Given how well-armed we are, as Josh said, as a nation, but how
    reliant we are on computers in our everyday business and private
    lives, our nation's cyber systems become a tremendous target.

                 Today a small group of technically sophisticated people
    with nothing more than off-the-shelf computer equipment can get into,
    can disrupt the computers and the Internet connections on which our
    finance, telecommunications, power, water systems, emergency service
    systems all depend.

                 Is this speculation?  No, it is not.  In exercise
    eligible receiver, our Defense Department conducted a war game using
    this technique and came to just that conclusion.  And terrorists,
    organized crime, drug cartels, as well as nation states are either
    creating cybertech capabilities or are talking about using them.  I
    believe that cyberspace is the next battlefield for this nation.

                 Now, cyber terrorism may be a new issue to many
    Americans, but it's not new to me and it's not new to this
    administration.  In 1995, our Attorney General asked me to chair a
    critical infrastructure working group that brought together Justice
    and Defense and the intelligence community to begin to address what
    we saw as a new and emerging threat.  The President then appointed a
    commission on critical infrastructure protection whose advisory board
    I co-chaired.

                 In response to his commission's work, last year the
    President signed two directives -- to strengthen U.S. readiness to
    meet unconventional threats to our nation, and to protect our
    critical infrastructures.  He appointed a national coordinator, Dick
    Clarke, to review and handle and coordinate security infrastructure
    protection and counterterrorism, and a national plan is under
    development to ensure that America can defend itself in cyberspace.

                 Now, as part of that national plan I hope that we can
    see action in a number of areas, three of which I see as particularly
    pressing.  The first, both the public and private sectors need to be
    aware of the problem and the security measures that can be taken to
    address it.  I'd like to see the private sector work with the federal
    government to make sure that we have enough people who are trained in
    computer security, which we do not now have.

                 Second, we need to encourage ways for the government and
    the private sector to share information on cyber intrusions and on
    new techniques for preventing those intrusions, and responding to
    them.  A government-chartered, privately-run center could do this,
    and also help develop standards for use in both industry and
    government.  This will complement the government's obligation to
    ensure that we have the ability to respond as a nation to any attack.

                 Third, the companies that manage and assess risk for
    private sector clients, like insurance companies and accounting
    firms, need to focus on the risk that American businesses face from
    cyber attacks.  I'd like to see the widespread use of cyber security
    best practices and standards as a tool of good business
    management for every business.

                 I want to thank the President for his appreciation of
    the threat and his commitment of resources to address it.  And I will
    urge the business community to respond in kind.  This President has
    always been sensitive to the promise of the Information Age, what it
    can mean to students, what it can mean to families, to a world drawn
    closer in many ways by the speed of communication.  At the same time,
    he knows that that promise comes with a price, and the price is
    vigilance, because so much is at stake.

                 We're grateful for his leadership both in promoting the
    cyber world and in protecting it.

                 Ladies and gentlemen, it is my honor and my personal
    privilege to present to you the President of the United States.
    (Applause.)

                          END

    January 22, 1999

    REMARKS BY THE PRESIDENT ON KEEPING AMERICA SECURE FOR THE
    21ST CENTURY

    10:30 A.M. EST

                                    THE WHITE HOUSE

                             Office of the Press Secretary
    ______________________________________________________________
    For Immediate Release                          January 22, 1999

                                REMARKS BY THE PRESIDENT
                     ON KEEPING AMERICA SECURE FOR THE 21ST CENTURY

                              National Academy of Sciences
                                    Washington, D.C.

    10:30 A.M. EST

            THE PRESIDENT:  Thank you very much.  Jamie, Dr. Lederberg, I'd like to
    thank you for your service in this and so many other ways.  I would like to
    thank Sandy Berger for many things, including indulging my nagging on this
    subject for the better part of six years now.

            I was so relieved that Dr. Lederberg not very long ago -- well, last
    year -- brought a distinguished panel of experts together to discuss this
    bioterrorism threat, because I then had experts to cite on my concern and nobody
    thought I was just reading too many novels late at night.  (Laughter.)

            Madame Attorney General, Secretary Shalala, Secretary Richardson,
    Director Witt, Deputy Secretary Hamre, Commandant of the Coast Guard and our
    other military leaders who are here, Mr. Clarke, ladies and gentlemen.  I'm
    delighted to be here to discuss this subject.  With some trepidation, Sandy
    Berger noted that Dr. Lederberg won a Nobel Prize at 33, and I was governor --
    you can infer from that that I was not very good at chemistry and biology.
    (Laughter.)

            But any democracy is imbued with the responsibility of ordinary citizens
    who do not have extraordinary expertise to meet the challenges of each new age.
    And that is what we are all trying to do.  Our country has always met the
    challenges of those who would do us harm.  At the heart of our national defense
    I have always believed is our attempt to live by our values -- democracy,
    freedom, equal opportunity.  We are working hard to fulfill these values at
    home.  And we are working with nations around the world to advance them, to
    build a new era of interdependence where nations work together -- not simply for
    peace and security, but also for better schools and health care, broader
    prosperity, a cleaner environment and a greater involvement by citizens
    everywhere in shaping their own future.

            In the struggle to defend our people and values and to advance them
    wherever possible, we confront threats both old and new -- open borders and
    revolutions in technology have spread the message and the gifts of freedom but
    have also given new opportunities to freedom's enemies.  Scientific advances
    have opened the possibility of longer, better lives.  They have also given the
    enemies of freedom new opportunities.

            Last August, at Andrews Air Force Base, I grieved with the families of
    the brave Americans who lost their lives at our embassy in Kenya.  They were in
    Africa to promote the values America shares with friends of freedom everywhere
    -- and for that they were murdered by terrorists.  So, too, were men and women
    in Oklahoma City, at the World Trade Center, Khobar Towers, on Pan Am 103.

            The United States has mounted an aggressive response to
    terrorism -- tightening security for our diplomats, our troops, our air
    travelers, improving our ability to track terrorist activity, enhancing
    cooperation with other countries, strengthening sanctions on nations that
    support terrorists.

            Since 1993, we have tripled funding for FBI anti-terrorist efforts.  Our
    agents and prosecutors, with excellent support from our intelligence agencies,
    have done extraordinary work in tracking down perpetrators of terrorist acts and
    bringing them to justice.  And as our air strikes against Afghanistan -- or
    against the terrorist camps in Afghanistan -- last summer showed, we are
    prepared to use military force against terrorists who harm our citizens.  But
    all of you know the fight against terrorism is far from over.  And now,
    terrorists seek new tools of destruction.

            Last May, at the Naval Academy commencement, I said terrorist and outlaw
    states are extending the world's fields of battle, from physical space to
    cyberspace, from our earth's vast bodies of water to the complex workings of our
    own human bodies.  The enemies of peace realize they cannot defeat us with
    traditional military means.  So they are working on two new forms of assault,
    which you've heard about today: cyber attacks on our critical computer systems,
    and attacks with weapons of mass destruction -- chemical, biological,
    potentially even nuclear weapons.  We must be ready -- ready if our adversaries
    try to use computers to disable power grids, banking, communications and
    transportation networks, police, fire and health services -- or military assets.

            More and more, these critical systems are driven by, and linked together
    with, computers, making them more vulnerable to disruption.  Last spring, we saw
    the enormous impact of a single failed electronic link, when a satellite
    malfunctioned -- disabled pagers, ATMs, credit card systems and television
    networks all around the world.  And we already are seeing the first wave of
    deliberate cyber attacks -- hackers break into government and business
    computers, stealing and destroying information, raiding bank accounts, running
    up credit card charges, extorting money by threats to unleash computer viruses.

            The potential for harm is clear.  Earlier this month, an ice storm in
    this area crippled power systems, plunging whole communities into darkness and
    disrupting daily lives.  We have to be ready for adversaries to launch attacks
    that could paralyze utilities and services across entire regions.  We must be
    ready if adversaries seek to attack with weapons of mass destruction, as well.
    Armed with these weapons, which can be compact and inexpensive, a small band of
    terrorists could inflict tremendous harm.

            Four years ago, though, the world received a wake-up call when a group
    unleashed a deadly chemical weapon, nerve gas, in the Tokyo subway.  We have to
    be ready for the possibility that such a group will obtain biological weapons.
    We have to be ready to detect and address a biological attack promptly, before
    the disease spreads.  If we prepare to defend against these emerging threats we
    will show terrorists that assaults on America will accomplish nothing but their
    own downfall.

            Let me say first what we have done so far to meet this challenge.  We've
    been working to create and strengthen the agreement to keep nations from
    acquiring weapons of mass destruction, because this can help keep these weapons
    away from terrorists, as well.  We're working to ensure the effective
    implementation of the Chemical Weapons Convention; to obtain an accord that will
    strengthen compliance with the biological
    weapons convention; to end production of nuclear weapons material.  We must
    ratify the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty to end nuclear tests once and for all.

            As I proposed Tuesday in the State of the Union Address, we should
    substantially increase our efforts to help Russia and other former Soviet
    nations prevent weapons material and knowledge from falling into the hands of
    terrorists and outlaw states.  In no small measure we should do this by
    continuing to expand our cooperative work with the thousands of Russian
    scientists who can be used to advance the causes of world peace and health and
    well-being, but who if they are not paid, remain a fertile field for the designs
    of terrorists.

            But we cannot rely solely on our efforts to keep weapons from spreading.
    We have to be ready to act if they do spread.  Last year, I obtained from
    Congress a 39 percent budget increase for chemical and biological weapons
    preparedness.  This is helping to accelerate our ongoing effort to train and
    equip fire, police and public health personnel all across our country to deal
    with chemical and biological emergencies.  It is helping us to ready armed
    forces and National Guard units in every region to meet this challenge; and to
    improve our capacity to detect an outbreak of disease and save lives; to create
    the first ever civilian stockpile of medicines to treat people exposed to
    biological and chemical hazards; to increase research and development on new
    medicines and vaccines to deal with new threats.

            Our commitment to give local communities the necessary tools already
    goes beyond paper and plans.  For example, parked just outside this building is
    a newly designed truck we have provided to the Arlington, Virginia, Fire
    Department.  It can rapidly assist and prevent harm to people exposed to
    chemical and biological dangers.

            But our commitment on the cyber front has been strong, as well.  We've
    created special offices within the FBI and the Commerce Department to protect
    critical systems against cyber attack.  We're building partnerships with the
    private sector to find and reduce vulnerabilities; to improve warning systems;
    to rapidly recover if attacks occur.  We have an outstanding public servant in
    Richard Clarke, who is coordinating all these efforts across our government.

            Today, I want to announce the new initiatives we will take, to take us
    to the next level in preparing for these emerging threats.  In my budget, I will
    ask Congress for $10 billion to address terrorism and terrorist-emerging tools.
    This will include nearly $1.4 billion to protect citizens against chemical and
    biological terror -- more than double what we spent on such programs only two
    years ago.

            We will speed and broaden our efforts, creating new local emergency
    medical teams, employing in the field portable detection units the size of a
    shoe box to rapidly identify hazards; tying regional laboratories together for
    prompt analysis of biological threats.  We will greatly accelerate research and
    development, centered in the Department of Health and Human Services, for new
    vaccines, medicines and diagnostic tools.

            I should say here that I know everybody in this crowd understands this,
    but everyone in America must understand this:  the government has got to fund
    this.  There is no market for the kinds of things we need to develop; and if we
    are successful, there never will be a market for them.  But we have got to do
    our best to develop them.  These cutting-edge efforts will address not only the
    threat of weapons of mass destruction, but also the equally serious danger of
    emerging infectious diseases.  So we will benefit even if we are successful in
    avoiding these attacks.

            The budget proposal will also include $1.46 billion to
    protect critical systems from cyber and other attacks.  That's 40 percent more
    than we were spending two years ago.  Among other things, it will help to fund
    four new initiatives.  First, an intensive research effort to detect intruders
    trying to break into critical computer systems.  Second, crime -- excuse me --
    detection networks, first for our Defense Department, and later for other key
    agencies so when one critical computer system is invaded, others will be alerted
    instantly.  And we will urge the private sector to create similar structures.

            Third, the creation of information centers in the private sector so that
    our industries can work together and with  government to address cyber threats.
    Finally, we'll ask for funding to bolster the government's ranks of highly
    skilled computer experts -- people capable of preventing and responding to
    computer crises.

            To implement this proposal, the Cyber Corps program, we will encourage
    federal agencies to train and retrain computer specialists, as well as
    recruiting gifted young people out of college.

            In all our battles, we will be aggressive.  At the same time I want you
    to know that we will remain committed to uphold privacy rights and other
    constitutional protections, as well as the proprietary rights of American
    businesses.  It is essential that we do not undermine liberty in the name of
    liberty.  We can prevail over terrorism by drawing on the very best in our free
    society -- the skill and courage of our troops, the genius of our scientists and
    engineers, the strength of our factory workers, the determination and talents of
    our public servants, the vision of leaders in every vital sector.

            I have tried as hard as I can to create the right frame of mind in
    America for dealing with this.  For too long the problem has been that not
    enough has been done to recognize the threat and deal with it.  And we in
    government, frankly, weren't as well organized as we should have been for too
    long.   I do not want the pendulum to swing the other way now, and for people to
    believe that every incident they read about in a novel or every incident they
    see in a thrilling movie is about to happen to them within the next 24 hours.

            What we are seeing here, as any military person in the audience can tell
    you, is nothing more than a repetition of weapons systems that goes back to the
    beginning of time.  An offensive weapons system is developed, and it takes time
    to develop the defense.  And then another offensive weapon is developed that
    overcomes that defense, and then another defense is built up -- as surely as
    castles and moats held off people with spears and bows and arrows and riding
    horses, and the catapult was developed to overcome the castle and the moat.

            But because of the speed with which change is occurring in our society
    -- in computing technology, and particularly in the biological sciences -- we
    have got to do everything we can to make sure that we close the gap between
    offense and defense to nothing, if possible.  That is the challenge here.

            We are doing everything we can, in ways that I can and in ways that I
    cannot discuss, to try to stop people who would misuse chemical and biological
    capacity from getting that capacity.  This is not a cause for panic -- it is a
    cause for serious, deliberate, disciplined, long-term concern.  And I am
    absolutely convinced that if we maintain our clear purpose and our strength of
    will, we will prevail here.  And thanks to so many of you in this audience, and
    your colleagues throughout the United States, and like-minded people throughout
    the world, we have better than a good chance of success.  But we must be
    deliberate, and we must be aggressive.

            Thank you very much.  (Applause.)

    January 22, 1999

    FACT SHEET

                                  THE WHITE HOUSE

                           Office of the Press Secretary
    For Immediate Release
    January 22, 1999

                                    FACT SHEET

                   Keeping America Secure for the 21st Century:
                   Computer Security and Critical Infrastructure

    Today, President Clinton will announce new initiatives to defend the
    nation's computer systems and critical infrastructure from cyber-terrorism.
    The most critical sectors of our economy -- power-generation,
    telecommunications, banking, transportation and emergency services -- are
    potentially vulnerable to disruptions from computer attack.

    President Clinton will propose in the Fiscal Year 2000 budget spending
    $1.46 billion to defend against this emerging threat.  This represents an
    increase of $400 million from the FY 1999 budget proposal.  It will include
    funding for the following initiatives:

    Critical Infrastructure Applied Research Initiative:  The President's
    budget proposal includes $500 million for research and development efforts.
    A portion of these funds will be spent on new initiatives to improve
    information assurance by safeguarding networks.  Funds will also be
    dedicated to developing tools that can identify anomalous activities and
    "Trojan Horses" (malicious codes installed by unauthorized users).

    Computer Intrusion Detection Networks:  The Defense Department has already
    begun to install intrusion detection systems and create a network to warn
    key computers of an attack.  Under the President's initiative,  a similar
    system for other Federal agencies will be evaluated and designed.  These
    networks will ensure that when one computer system is attacked, others in
    the network will be instantly warned of the intrusion, informed of the mode
    of attack used, and provided with methods to stop it.

    Information Sharing and Analysis Centers (ISACs):  As part of the
    public-private partnership, we will support the initial establishment of
    ISACs to foster private sector development of best practices and standards
    for computer security, to encourage the sharing of vulnerability analysis,
    and to provide outreach and training programs.  These ISACs will enable the
    Federal government to provide private industry with threat information
    without compromising privacy, civil liberties or proprietary data.

    Cyber Corps: This program will address the shortage of highly skilled
    computer science expertise in the government and enable agencies to recruit
    a cadre of experts to respond to attacks on computer networks. It will use
    existing personnel flexibilities, scholarship and financial assistance
    programs, and examine new scholarship programs to retrain, retain and
    recruit computer science students.

                                        ###

    January 22, 1999

    FACT SHEET

                                  THE WHITE HOUSE

                           Office of the Press Secretary
    For Immediate Release                                    January 22, 1999

                                    FACT SHEET

                         Funding for Domestic Preparedness
                      and Critical Infrastructure Protection

    The President's Fiscal Year 2000 budget includes requests for $2.849
    billion for critical infrastructure protection, computer security, and
    domestic preparedness against a weapons of mass destruction attack.
    The budget request also proposes $7.162 billion for conventional
    counter-terrorism security programs.

    Domestic Preparedness against Weapons of Mass Destruction

    In May 1999 the President proposed adding $300 million for a new weapons of
    mass destruction domestic preparedness program.  As a result, the 1999
    enacted level was $1.281 billion.  The President's FY 2000 funding request
    for countering the threat of terrorist use of weapons of mass destruction
    continues and expands the program to $1.385 billion.

    The FY 2000 request would include increases of $30 million above the
    previous level for research into new vaccines and medicines, an additional
    $15 million to fund Public Health Surveillance to detect an attack, and an
    additional $13 million to create new metropolitan medical response teams.

    Highlights of the FY 2000 budget include:

    $52 million to continue procurement of a national stockpile of specialized
    medicines to protect the civilian population

    $611 million for training and equipping emergency personnel in U.S. cities,
    planning and exercising for weapons of mass destruction contingencies and
    strengthening public health infrastructure.

    $206 million to protect U.S. government facilities

    $381 for research and development, including pathogen genome sequencing,
    vaccines, new therapies, detection and diagnosis, decontamination, and
    disposition of nuclear material.

    Critical Infrastructure Protection and Computer Security

    The President's FY 2000 request includes $1.464 billion for protection of
    critical infrastructure and computer security.  This represents a 40%
    increase in the two budget years since the President created the Critical
    Infrastructure Protection Commission.

    The highlights of this program include:

    Critical Infrastructure Applied Research Initiative ($500 million)

    Intrusion and Detection Systems:  In addition to ongoing Department of
    Defense funding, $2 million will be spent to design and evaluate a similar
    system for other Federal agencies

    Information Sharing and Analysis Centers (ISACs):  As part of the
    public-private partnership, we will provide $8 million to support the
    initial establishment of ISACs

    Cyber Corps: This program will address the shortage of highly skilled
    computer science expertise in the government and enable agencies to recruit
    a cadre of experts to respond to attacks on computer networks.  It will use
    existing personnel flexibilities, scholarship and financial assistance
    programs, and $3 million to examine new scholarship programs to retrain,
    retain and recruit computer science students.

    Counter-terrorism Security

    In addition to the programs above, the President's FY 2000 budget request
    for all anti-terrorism and counter-terrorism programs is $8.547 billion, a
    12% increase over the FY 1999 enacted level and an 18% increase over FY
    1998.

    The President also requested a supplemental appropriation in FY 1999 of
    $2.064 billion after the Africa bombings.  This includes $1.4 billion to
    provide additional security measures to diplomatic and consular facilities
    and rebuild the two embassies destroyed in Dar es Salaam and Nairobi.

                                        ###

    January 22, 1999

    FACT SHEET

                                  THE WHITE HOUSE

                           Office of the Press Secretary
    For Immediate Release                                           January 22,
    1999

                                    FACT SHEET

                   Keeping America Secure for the 21st Century:
                         President Clinton's Initiative on
                   Biological and Chemical Weapons Preparedness

    President Clinton has made defending the United States against chemical and
    biological weapons a top national security priority.  The possibility that
    outlaw nations and terrorist groups will seek to use these weapons
    represents one of the greatest threats to American security in the 21st
    century.  The Administration has sought to defend against these threats
    through diplomatic and military means abroad and through increased
    preparedness at home.  In his Fiscal Year 2000 budget -- which includes $10
    billion to defend against terrorism and weapons of mass destruction --
    President Clinton will propose major increases in funding to strengthen
    America's defenses against the threat of biological and chemical weapons.

       Vaccine Research and Development - The Department of Health and Human
    Services will receive an additional $43.4 million for research and
    development to defend against  biological weapons - almost a  150%
    increase.  The bulk of it - $30 million - will go to research on new
    vaccines, including vaccines for smallpox and anthrax for eventual use in
    the national medical stockpile.  The Food and Drug Administration will
    receive $13.4 million for enhanced regulatory review of vaccines and
    therapeutics.  In addition, the National Institutes of Health will receive
    $24 million for research on diagnostics, vaccines, antimicrobials and
    genomic research.

       Public Health Surveillance - President Clinton will propose that funding
    for improvements in the public health surveillance system and public health
    infrastructure increase by 22% to $86 million.  This will translate into
    increased lab capacity, strengthened epidemological capabilities for state
    and local health departments and more resources for  communications and
    information technology.  The Center for Disease Control will create a
    network of regional labs to provide rapid analysis and identification of
    select biological agents.

       Metropolitan Medical Response Systems - President Clinton will propose
    increasing funding by almost 400% to more than $16 million for Metropolitan
    Medical Response Systems. These local emergency medical teams will respond
    to a biological or chemical weapons emergency.  Twenty-five new such teams
    will be funded.

    President Clinton's new initiatives build upon a record of accomplishment
    in confronting the dangers of emerging threats at home and abroad.

       Beginning in fiscal 1997, the Administration began funding a five-year
    effort to equip and train first responders in the 120 largest metropolitan
    areas in the nation.

       Last year, the President proposed and Congress approved of more than
    $300 million in additional funds for weapons of mass destruction
    preparedness.  Among the initiatives begun  were the  renovation of the
    public health surveillance system so medical personnel can detect a
    biological weapons release early and save lives.  This appropriation also
    went to establish the first ever civilian medical stockpile, which will
    contain necessary medication to treat those exposed to biological or
    chemical weapons.  Funding levels for the medical stockpile will be
    maintained in the President's FY2000 budget.

       The United States led international efforts to ratify the Chemical
    Weapons Convention, which we signed in 1997, and American diplomats are
    currently working to strengthen the Biological Weapons Convention.

       The Clinton Administration has also pursued  cooperative programs and
    activities aimed at reducing the threat of proliferation of biological
    weapons expertise with nations of the former Soviet Union, spending $30
    million in these areas during the last five years.  The President's budget
    proposal seeks more than $150 million to expand these efforts over the next
    five years.

       Through military action against production facilities for weapons of
    mass destruction in Iraq and Sudan, the United States has acted to degrade
    and eliminate the ability of these two nations to build weapons of mass
    destruction and supply them to terrorists.

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