Texas Gov. Rick Perry
named a special task force Monday to look into his state's response to pandemic diseases, such as Ebola, and he says he thinks President Barack Obama should do something similar.
The first case of the deadly Ebola virus diagnosed inside the United States is that of a man currently being treated at a Dallas hospital.
Perry said Tuesday on Fox News Channel's "On the Record with Greta Van Susteren" that the task force is needed to get a handle on any type of outbreak and disseminate information to public in the best way possible.
He noted that the Clinton and Bush administrations had a special assistant to the president for bio-security.
"President Obama let that lapse. I think that was an error," Perry said.
Though there are multiple government agencies that deal with such issues, it is important for the president to have one person who is responsible for overseeing the government's efforts, he said.
Perry, thought to be eyeing another run for president himself in 2016, has faced several challenges in his last year in office that he likely hopes show his chief executive chops. In addition to taking on the Ebola scare in Texas, he earlier beefed up border security as a flood of children from Central American countries began taxing federal border agents this spring and summer.
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