[Congressional Bills 113th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Res. 701 Introduced in House (IH)]

113th CONGRESS
  2d Session
H. RES. 701

 Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives that the current 
     outbreak of Ebola in Guinea, Sierra Leone, and Liberia is an 
  international health crisis and is the largest and most widespread 
                 outbreak of the disease ever recorded.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             July 31, 2014

  Ms. Bass (for herself, Mrs. Davis of California, Mr. Cicilline, Mr. 
 Crowley, Mr. Hastings of Florida, Mr. Honda, Ms. Jackson Lee, Ms. Lee 
  of California, Mr. Levin, Ms. McCollum, Mr. McGovern, Mr. Rush, Mr. 
 Wolf, Mr. Lewis, Mr. Price of North Carolina, Mr. Meeks, Mr. Conyers, 
Mr. Carson of Indiana, Mr. Clyburn, Mr. Ellison, Ms. Norton, Ms. Brown 
of Florida, Mr. Danny K. Davis of Illinois, Mr. Fattah, Mr. Al Green of 
 Texas, Ms. Eddie Bernice Johnson of Texas, Ms. Moore, Mr. Payne, Mr. 
    Rangel, Mr. Richmond, Mr. David Scott of Georgia, Ms. Sewell of 
 Alabama, Ms. Wilson of Florida, Ms. Kelly of Illinois, Ms. Clarke of 
New York, Mrs. Christensen, Mr. Thompson of Mississippi, Mr. Sires, Mr. 
    Connolly, Mr. Deutch, Mr. Engel, Ms. Gabbard, Mr. Keating, Mr. 
   Lowenthal, Mr. Schneider, Mr. Vargas, Ms. Frankel of Florida, Mr. 
      Marino, Ms. Ros-Lehtinen, Mr. Chabot, Mr. Poe of Texas, Mr. 
Rohrabacher, Mr. Salmon, Ms. Roybal-Allard, Ms. Kuster, Ms. Brownley of 
   California, Mrs. Negrete McLeod, and Mr. McDermott) submitted the 
 following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign 
                                Affairs

_______________________________________________________________________

                               RESOLUTION


 
 Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives that the current 
     outbreak of Ebola in Guinea, Sierra Leone, and Liberia is an 
  international health crisis and is the largest and most widespread 
                 outbreak of the disease ever recorded.

Whereas Guinea, Sierra Leone, and Liberia are currently facing the largest and 
        most geographically widespread Ebola outbreak ever recorded;
Whereas as of July 23, 2014, according to the World Health Organization (WHO) 
        there are 1,201 suspect and confirmed cases of Ebola in Guinea, Sierra 
        Leone, and Liberia resulting in 672 deaths;
Whereas on average, Ebola kills up to 90 percent of the people who contract the 
        disease and currently there is no specific approved treatment or vaccine 
        available to prevent the disease;
Whereas the current outbreak is the first major Ebola outbreak in West Africa 
        and is present in both urban and rural areas, many of the region's 
        health workers did not have experience or training to care for patients 
        with the disease or protect themselves from contraction;
Whereas the current Ebola outbreak has already crossed international borders, 
        such as the Liberian passenger who arrived in Lagos, Nigeria, with the 
        disease in late July and died there;
Whereas without containment of the disease and additional support from the 
        international community, the outbreak could become a greater regional 
        and global health threat;
Whereas Ebola is contagious and transmitted to humans through close contact with 
        bodily tissue, blood, secretions, organs, or other bodily fluids of 
        infected persons or animals;
Whereas treatment of Ebola requires immediate and prolonged isolation of 
        patients and vigilant observation of infection control protocols to 
        prevent further spread and contraction of the disease;
Whereas the Ministry of Health of Guinea, the Ministry of Health and Sanitation 
        of Sierra Leone, and the Ministry of Health and Social Welfare of 
        Liberia are working with national and international partners to 
        investigate and respond to the outbreak but need additional support to 
        properly care for patients and control the outbreak;
Whereas Doctors Without Borders is currently the main international aid 
        organization treating people affected by the virus, and currently does 
        not have the capacity to treat all patients requiring their care;
Whereas United States support to foreign nations to prepare and respond to 
        disease outbreaks through coordination of several United States 
        Government agencies, including the U.S. Agency for International 
        Development (USAID), the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention 
        (CDC), the Department of State, and the Department of Defense;
Whereas since March 2014, the CDC has deployed over 40 experts at a cost of 
        $600,000 and currently has a 7-person team in Guinea, one staff person 
        in Sierra Leone, and a team of 9 in Liberia assisting the respective 
        Ministries of Health and the World Health Organization (WHO) led 
        international response to this Ebola outbreak, and recently activated 
        CDC's Emergency Operations Center to support the response;
Whereas since the emergence of the current Ebola outbreak, USAID has provided 
        $750,000 to the WHO Global Outbreak and Response Network (GOARN) for 
        deployment of technical experts and $500,000 to WHO's Africa Regional 
        Office (AFRO) for operational and personnel support;
Whereas despite the significant work from the Ministry of Health of Guinea, the 
        Ministry of Health and Sanitation of Sierra Leone, and the Ministry of 
        Health and Social Welfare of Liberia and international support from the 
        United States Government, the WHO, Doctors Without Borders, and other 
        international partners more must be done to increase capacity, 
        knowledge, and experience to deal with the outbreak of Ebola in West 
        Africa which has severely hampered the ability of affected countries to 
        quickly detect and respond to the outbreak; and
Whereas there is a drastic need for additional resources, including 
        knowledgeable medical professionals and equipment to strengthen quality 
        of care and surveillance for case finding and contact tracing: Now, 
        therefore, be it
    Resolved, That the House of Representatives--
            (1) asserts that the current outbreak of Ebola in Guinea, 
        Sierra Leone, and Liberia is an international health crisis and 
        is the largest and most widespread outbreak of the disease ever 
        recorded;
            (2) acknowledges the lifesaving work already done by the 
        Ministry of Health of Guinea, the Ministry of Health and 
        Sanitation of Sierra Leone, and the Ministry of Health and 
        Social Welfare of Liberia, the United States Government, the 
        World Health Organization, Doctors Without Borders, and other 
        international partners;
            (3) calls on the international community and all nations to 
        immediately provide additional resources and services to 
        develop the capacity of affected nations to address current and 
        future public health crises;
            (4) requests that the United States work in a coordinated 
        capacity to develop a unified global health security plan to 
        adequately respond to disease outbreaks globally and prioritize 
        global health security;
            (5) calls upon the United States to work with international 
        health authorities to assist endemic nations in the development 
        and fielding of medical countermeasures (diagnostics, vaccines, 
        and therapeutics) to treat victims and those at risk of Ebola; 
        and
            (6) urges the United States Government to prioritize the 
        elimination of Ebola as a public health threat.
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