The federal government’s plans to build a cutting-edge research facility to study biological threats and develop vaccines and antidotes has come under criticism. Homeland Security officials have been accused of playing politics in choosing a location for the new lab.
A panel of experts ranked 17 potential sites across the nation based on their merits and forwarded the list to Homeland Security Undersecretary Jay Cohen. He narrowed the list to five finalists, and in doing so, clearly ignored the experts’ advice. Most notable was the inclusion of Mississippi on the list of finalists. The experts had ranked Mississippi 14th.
Critics understandably question how politics influenced Cohen’s decisions. Rep. Bennie Thompson, chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee, is from Mississippi, as is Sen. Thad Cochran, the ranking Republican on the Senate Appropriations Committee. As well, Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour is a former chairman of the Republican National Committee.
Perhaps the largest problem for the new lab, wherever it is built, will be finding enough competent scientists. Yet Cohen dismissed the concern. He actually eliminated one potential site ranked higher than Mississippi, Beltsville, Md., because it had too many skilled researchers, weakly arguing that the federal government would have to compete with private companies for their services.
In a memo explaining the decision, Cohen stunningly dismissed the fact that there is not a base of expertise in Mississippi for such a lab, as there is in other areas. “When built,” he wrote, “they will come.”
Such a glib answer is ridiculous. The location of the laboratory shouldn’t be left to the whims of politics. But such has sadly come to be expected in the Bush administration. Cohen should reverse his decision. If not, Congress should step in and make sure a site is chosen based on its merits.
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