WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Barbara A. Mikulski (D-Md.), Chairwoman of the Senate Appropriations Committee, today issued the following statement on the President’s request for emergency supplemental funding to address the Ebola outbreak:

 

“We face a grave and deadly disease in the ongoing outbreak of Ebola, and I commend the President for acting to address this crisis at home and abroad. This Committee will evaluate the request and on Wednesday, November 12, we will convene a hearing that will include witnesses from the federal agencies who are on the front lines leading this effort.

 

“I will evaluate this funding request using three key principles: First, we must move aggressively to fight this disease at the epicenter. That means targeting West Africa as we deploy resources from the U.S. Department of State, the U.S. Agency for International Development, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the U.S. Department of Defense. By working together, we can assist the nations of Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone in stemming the spread of the deadly virus there and elsewhere.

 

“Second, we must protect the United States at our points of entry – places where millions of people enter this country each and every day.

 

“And finally, we must do everything we can to protect the people of this country by supporting the scientific advances and discoveries to fight Ebola. That means not only tasking our critical public health and safety agencies to work together to prevent the spread of Ebola, but to also develop vaccines and treatments. Our state and local health departments, our disease detectives at the CDC, scientists at the National Institutes of Health and nurses, doctors and other health care workers are leaning into this fight. We must support them and invest in their work.”

 

 

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