Baldwin Sounds Alarm on Trump’s Reckless Health Cuts Impact on U.s. Response to Ebola
WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Tammy Baldwin (D-WI) and her colleagues are sounding the alarm on the Trump administration’s cuts to public health programs, defunding of research, and mass firing of health experts, warning these actions have had a crippling impact on the country’s response to the growing Ebola disease outbreak. Specifically, Senator Baldwin and colleagues are calling on the Trump administration to reverse course on the deep cuts that have weakened the United States’ public health infrastructure and are also demanding answers about the impacts of foreign aid cuts on Americans health and safety.
“Diseases like Ebola spread quickly – they don’t stop at the borders of a country or care if you are ready for it. Unfortunately, this Administration has taken a hacksaw to our public health system and efforts to stop disease from spreading across the world, leaving American families even more vulnerable to this Ebola outbreak,” said Senator Baldwin. “The President and his team have fired thousands of health experts and abandoned proven ways to stop the spread and treatment of diseases, and we need some answers on why and what they are doing to it to keep Americans safe.”
In one effort, Senator Baldwin and colleagues called on Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. to reverse course on the deep cuts that have weakened the United States’ public health infrastructure and threatened response to global health outbreaks. The Senators detail how critical it is that HHS continue to invest in infectious disease research and develop better diagnostics and treatments to remain a world leader in combatting health threats. The Senators demand answers about who is leading the response to the Ebola outbreak, why they are not using existing infrastructure to respond to it, and when they will fill the leadership positions that are vacant.
Baldwin and colleagues are also pressing Secretary of State and National Security Advisor Marco Rubio on the impacts that foreign aid cuts and the United States’ withdrawal from the World Health Organization (WHO) have had on the United States’ ability to protect Americans from Ebola and hantavirus. Senator Baldwin and her colleagues are raising serious concerns that the Trump administration’s dismantling of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and withdrawal from the WHO have degraded the United States’ ability to detect and respond to emerging infectious diseases and protect Americans from other public health threats.
The lawmakers are urging the Trump administration to immediately reverse course on policies that have left the United States and the international community less prepared to respond to future outbreaks and put forward concrete solutions to protect the health and safety of the American people.
The letter to Secretary Kennedy was led by Senators Patty Murray (D-WA) and Tim Kaine (D-VA).
The letter to Secretary Rubio was led by Senators Patty Murray (D-WA), Tim Kaine (D-VA), and Reverend Raphael Warnock (D-GA).
Full text of the lawmakers’ letter to HHS Secretary Kennedy is available here.
Full text of the lawmakers’ letter to State Secretary Rubio is available here.
NOTE: This press release was submitted to Urban Milwaukee and was not written by an Urban Milwaukee writer. While it is believed to be reliable, Urban Milwaukee does not guarantee its accuracy or completeness.
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