Ambush. Vegas blindside. Watch your ass.
Joe took a deep breath and allowed himself a smile. They were coming at him from all sides now. Fine. He was ready.
“We’ll be rearranging today’s agenda slightly to accommodate a member’s schedule. The first topic we’ll be addressing is the funding request for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Allow me to defer to the ranking member for two minutes.”
Joe smiled inwardly. Everything about his announcement was out of sorts and designed to throw the ranking member of the president’s party off-kilter. The only item on today’s agenda remotely related to Harper and the outbreak in Las Vegas was the WHO funding. Joe would allow the congressman an opportunity to fire first, leaving him the ability to rebut and make a closing argument. It would be the last words the jury in the court of public opinion would hear.
After stumbling and stammering through the first thirty seconds of his allotted time for opening remarks, the congressman began to repeat the same political talking points given to the Nevada governor and the president’s surrogates, who’d flooded the airwaves in the last forty-eight hours. Joe allowed him to speak as he made several references to the falsehood that Harper had suggested the Las Vegas quarantine.
Joe remained stoic throughout, occasionally taking notes, which amounted to nothing more than a doodle on a legal pad. He didn’t care what the congressman had to say about Harper or the political spin being disseminated through the media about the quarantine. He was prepared for his response.
The timer hit two minutes. Joe interrupted the long-winded congressman from California. He had to be careful, as he didn’t want to be perceived as defending his wife. That was the trap being set for him. Instead, he made a powerful statement on behalf of the CDC.
“Today, we are here to discuss the funding request for the CDC, an agency whose mission is to keep America safe from deadly infectious diseases and other threats. These threats can take many forms. Deadly pathogens are one. Biological weapons and bioterror are another. Zoonotic transmission of zika and yellow fever, for example, are also a threat to the safety of all Americans.
“To be sure, one might argue that nuclear missiles and electromagnetic pulse attacks can bring our country to its knees. Our Department of Defense is well prepared to repel those threats. Our military might, despite prior attempts to slash the DOD’s budget, is second to none. I firmly believe the CDC—which is charged with the responsibility of preventing, detecting, and responding to disease threats, both in America and around the world—deserves the same tools other national security departments receive.
“We learned with Ebola that in just thirty-six hours, an outbreak in a remote village can reach major cities on any continent, spurring a global crisis. Even outbreaks that don’t cross national borders can have an adverse economic impact on the United States.
“The CDC has put together a means to reduce the impact of global health threats on our nation in many ways. The Global Disease Detection Operations Center monitors threats from nearly two hundred nations daily. The Rapid Response Team of more than four hundred epidemiologists and scientists can deploy in as little as forty-eight hours.
“Infectious diseases will never go away, and the hardworking individuals within the Epidemic Intelligence Service know this and risk their lives to protect us from this real and ancient threat. In fact, nobody—I mean nobody in this room, or in Washington, DC, or around this nation—cares more about protecting American citizens from infectious diseases than the virus hunters of the EIS.
“Let me explain something else. They are keenly aware that the decisions they make and the suggestions they give our government officials have a profound effect on people’s lives. They recognize the human toll goes well beyond the illness of infected patients. The impacts of global outbreaks tear into the souls of families, healthcare systems, communities and economies, which can become destabilized by their advice.
“The CDC doesn’t get the benefit of second guesses. Monday-morning quarterbacks or bigmouth pundits—who, if they’re wrong, simply slough it off and wait for their next media appearance—don’t impact lives like the disease detectives. That’s why they’re meticulous, detailed, and methodical about their work. That’s why they move quickly when a possible outbreak occurs to gather all the facts before they make suggestions to our government on how to act.
“You see, they understand that while global health security is good for the United States, instilling panic in its citizens is not. Just as disease outbreaks can cost lives, responding to a perceived threat out of fear can destroy communities, economies, and families.”
Joe paused and glanced down at the timer. He was well beyond his five-minute time allotment, but he held the gavel, and nobody could stop him. He took a deep breath and concluded his statement.
“Call me cynical, but the use of the CDC, an agency critical to the protection of our country, as a political pawn in any manner is outrageous even by Washington standards. If this subcommittee wants to debate the necessity of the dollars requested in the current budget, let’s have that debate. But to use an isolated event, which is disputed, as a form of leverage is unconscionable.
“I yield the floor to the ranking member for two minutes.”
When he was done, he realized that Harper’s reputation was on the line. As much as he wanted her to stay home and discard this notion of an undercover investigation on Mainland China, he realized that if she was successful, her reputation would be repaired. He didn’t care what the California congressman said; he’d heard it all before.
Joe swung around in his chair to ask his aide to check in with Spangler. Instead, he was greeted with a smile and a thumbs-up from his chief of staff. Harper was one step closer to a long flight to Beijing.
Chapter Nineteen
CDC Headquarters
Atlanta, Georgia
“Dr. Randolph, even if we were to sign off on this ridiculously risky suggestion of yours, there are people way above our pay grade who’d need to review this from all angles. That takes time.”
“We don’t have time!” Harper shot back.
The scheduled meeting with the two CIA agents was contentious from the start. Harper didn’t make matters any easier by calling the men out for changing their names.
Apparently, you’ve forgotten you’re from East St. Louis, she’d said. She issued a reminder. Belleville and O’Fallon, if I recall.
The two agents had introduced themselves to Dr. Reitherman’s secretary as Agents Aiken and Williston. Harper immediately recognized the names as towns just east of Augusta, Georgia, where she and her grandmother used to shop for clothes when she was growing up.
That started the meeting off on an awkward footing. Ignoring the purpose of the agents’ visit, Harper set the agenda with her request of assistance to investigate the disease in China. The blindside resulted in the somewhat hostile atmosphere.
The shorter agent, who’d been a twinge more friendly on their first encounter, tried to strike a conciliatory tone.
“Dr. Randolph, we want to cooperate with you, just as you have with us,” he began, holding up a thick file folder of data on the four Chinese men who were the first to succumb to the mysterious virus. “You have to understand something. China is second only to North Korea in their determination to control every living human being on their soil. Certainly, there are more brutal regimes, but none are as technologically sophisticated as the Chinese. Establishing a dossier for you takes time. Then it takes even more time for us to plant the data in the Chinese surveillance system.”