I'm here to discuss our strategy to prevent and protect the American people from possible outbreak presents made perfectly clear that our number one priority is in the event of a pandemic is to save lives.

The president has a plan to do just that.

First, we must detect outbreaks that occur anywhere in the world.

Second, we must protect the American people by stockpiling vaccines and anti viral drugs and improve our ability to rapidly produce new vaccines against a pandemic string.

We need to have a surveillance plan that allows us to identify when an incident has occurred in the world.

The sooner we know more quickly and more adequately, we can respond.

Way thought it would be irresponsible not to take on the pandemic planning effort to make sure that whenever it is under whatever president's watch, that as a nation we're better prepared because it's the right thing to do.

It can't be avoided.

Pandemic is unlike other natural disasters, outbreaks can happen simultaneously and hundreds or even thousands of locations at the same time.

And unlike storms or floods which strike in an instant and then recede, a pandemic can continue spreading destruction in repeated waves that can last for a year or more.

And one day many lives could be needlessly lost because we failed act today.