We are far better prepared to deal effectively with a public-health threat than we were in 2001, a time when America's public-health infrastructure was crumbling due to decades of neglect.

Now is not the time to be backing up.

No single state, and no community within any state, has reached a full level of preparedness. The act has made a tremendous difference, but the safety of the American public requires us to do more.

It's about early detection and rapid response. The threats are not going away.

We are not credible year after year when we cannot get our priority populations vaccinated.

I'll never forget when the movie started and the spaceship that kept going and going. By the time that thing passed overhead, I knew what I wanted to do with the rest of my life.