April 19, 2005

            EAST LANSING – Attorney General Mike Cox welcomed to Michigan today Georgia Attorney General Thurbert Baker, Delaware Attorney General Jane Brady, and experts from the Centers for Disease Control and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security for a first-of-its-kind national homeland security conference.

            Attorney General Cox, Chairman of the National Association of Attorneys General Homeland Security Committee, welcomed more than 80 law enforcement officials from around the country for training on preparation and responses to bioterrorist or public health emergencies.

            "As lawyers and advisors to other State office holders, the Attorneys General play a critical role in our nation’s homeland security and in the national emergency response plan," Cox said. "We have created an informative and ambitious agenda to make sure that every State Attorney General’s office will be prepared to respond to an emergency in an efficient and deliberate manner."

            The agenda includes workshops on the Role of the Attorney General in a Public Health Emergency and Legal Lessons Learned from 9/11, in addition to simulated exercises.

            Titled "Building Legal Preparedness for Public Health Emergencies," the two-day conference is being held today and Wednesday at Michigan State University’s Kellogg Conference Center. The conference is a presentation of Michigan Attorney General Mike Cox, the National Association of Attorneys General, the Michigan State University School of Criminal Justice, The Public Health Law Program of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, with the support of The Alfred P. Sloan Foundation.

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