Missourian Jim Talent left U.S. Senate service nearly three years ago, but his work in public service remains in high gear.

After losing his Senate seat to Claire McCaskill in 2006, Mr. Talent became a distinguished fellow in military affairs at the Heritage Foundation. Just this month, the St. Louis Countian who served 12 years in Congress formed the American Freedom and Enterprise Foundation, a group advocating free market solutions to a range of problems.

This week, he emerged in another role with a more ominous subject. Mr. Talent serves as co-chairman of the Commission on the Prevention of Weapons of Mass Destruction Proliferation and Terrorism, and a report by the bipartisan group showed shortcomings in the nation’s preparedness to deal with bioterrorism.

In a conference call with Missouri reporters Wednesday, the Republican said the commission studies “what happens if the worst people get the worst weapons.” In the interim accounting (the final report is due in January), the group said America’s leaders have not developed a common understanding of the threat of biological weapons.

“Our government as a whole has not become entirely comfortable with the idea that this is as significant a threat as a nuclear threat,” he said. “We’re afraid the bio-threat gets shorted.”

The report also said the Obama administration has appointed no senior national-security official with a background in bio-defense and has underfunded programs to stockpile vaccines and other attack countermeasures. The commission suggests $3.3 billion; the current allocation is $300 million.

Mr. Talent said the government has also not made the needed investments to react quickly to a disease emergency.

Though distribution of H1N1 vaccines has been criticized as sluggish, the former lawmaker said the United States can meet the challenge of an attack involving pathogens. “It requires the kind of concerted, continual, high-priority effort that is hard in a democracy,” Mr. Talent said.

It’s safe for supper

Ms. McCaskill used a Senate hearing this week to make clear a point about “the other white meat.”

The Missouri Democrat had this exchange during questioning of Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius.

“Can we state for the record definitively, it can’t be said often enough, that no one can contract H1N1 from eating pork?” the senator said.

Ms. Sebelius replied, “No one can contract H1N1 from eating pork.”

The testimony took place Wednesday at a hearing of the Homeland Security and Government Affairs Committee. The term “swine flu” has caused consumer concerns about eating pork, a false impression that has damaged this agricultural sector. Ms. McCaskill wanted to hammer home the point, even tying it to another of her pet issues.

“Pork rules,” she said. “There is no reason to avoid pork ... unless it’s an earmark.”

Ken Newton can be reached

at kenn@npgco.com.