Tom Daschle
Thomas "Tom" Andrew Daschle is an American politician and lobbyist who served as a United States senator from South Dakota from 1987 to 2005.
September 11, 2001
Thomas Daschle was targeted by Amerithrax after he expressed opposition to the Patriot Act.
Daschle claims he was asked by vice president Dick Cheney "not to investigate" the events of 9/11.[1] He told reporters, "the vice president expressed the concern that a review of what happened on September 11 would take resources and personnel away from the effort in the war on terrorism. I acknowledged that concern, and it is for that reason that the Intelligence Committee is going to begin this effort, trying to limit the scope and the overall review of what happened. But clearly, I think the American people are entitled to know what happened and why."[2]
Career
From 1969 to 1972, Daschle served in the United States Air Force as an intelligence officer with the Strategic Air Command. In 1978 Daschle was elected to the United States House of Representatives at the age of 31, winning the race by a margin of 139 votes, following a recount, out of more than 129,000 votes cast. Daschle served four terms in the House of Representatives and quickly became a part of the Democratic leadership. In 1986, Daschle was elected to the US Senate in a close victory over incumbent Republican James Abdnor. In his first year, he was appointed to the Finance Committee. In 1994 he was chosen by his colleagues to succeed the retiring Senator George Mitchell as Democratic minority leader.
In the 2004 Senate election, John Thune defeated Daschle by 4,508 votes, 50.5% to 49.4%. It was the first time that a Senate party leader had lost a bid for reelection since 1952.
Following his reelection defeat, Daschle took a job with the lobbying arm of the K Street law firm Alston & Bird. Because he was prohibited by law from lobbying for one year after leaving the Senate, he instead worked as a "special policy adviser" for the firm, lobbying for Big Pharma. He has since lobbied extensively for Big Pharma companies.
In an appearance on Meet the Press on February 12, 2006, former senator Daschle endorsed a warrantless surveillance program conducted by the National Security Agency (NSA), explaining that he had been briefed on the program while he was the Democratic leader in the Senate[3].
Tom Daschle is a Member of the Global Leadership Foundation, an organization which works to support democratic leadership, prevent and resolve conflict through mediation and promote good governance in the form of democratic institutions, open markets, human rights and the rule of law. It does so by making available, discreetly and in confidence, the experience of former leaders to today's national leaders.
Daschle was also vice chair of the board of directors of the regime change organizer National Democratic Institute for International Affairs.
Daschle was also a panelist on the Blue Ribbon Study Panel on Biodefense, a body that recommended changes to U.S. policy to strengthen national biodefense. In order to address biological threats facing the nation, the Blue Ribbon Study Panel on Biodefense created a 33 step initiative for the U.S. Government to implement. Headed by former senator Joe Lieberman and former governor Tom Ridge, the Study Panel assembled in Washington, D.C., for four meetings concerning current biodefense programs. The Study Panel concluded that the federal government had little to no defense mechanisms in case of a biological event. The Study Panel's final report, The National Blueprint for Biodefense, proposes a string of solutions and recommendations for the U.S. Government to take, including items such as giving the vice president authority over biodefense responsibilities and merging the entire biodefense budget. These solutions represent the Panel's call to action in order to increase awareness and activity for pandemic related issues. [4]
Events Participated in
| Event | Start | End | Location(s) | Description |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bilderberg/2008 | 5 June 2008 | 8 June 2008 | US Virginia Chantilly | The 56th Bilderberg, Chantilly, Virginia, 139 guests |
| Clade X | 15 May 2018 | 15 May 2018 | A pandemic/biowarfare preparation exercise by Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security. Held May 2018. | |
| Food Chain Reaction | November 2015 | November 2015 | Washington DC | Set in the 2020 to 2030 period, the exercise focused on problems in the food supply due to population growth and severe weather, triggering social unrest. Held November 2015. ended with the implementation of a global carbon tax. |
References
- ↑ Meet the Press, May 2002, Host Tim Russert, Guest Dick Cheney
- ↑ http://edition.cnn.com/2002/ALLPOLITICS/01/29/inv.terror.probe/
- ↑ https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/02/12/AR2006021201174.html
- ↑ http://www.biodefensestudy.org/
