[Congressional Record Volume 160, Number 134 (Thursday, September 18, 2014)]
[Senate]
[Pages S5878-S5880]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
RECOGNIZING THE EBOLA OUTBREAK IN WEST AFRICA
Mr. PRYOR. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate
proceed to the consideration of Calendar No. 572, S. Res. 541.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will report the resolution by title.
The legislative clerk read as follows:
A resolution (S. Res. 541) recognizing the severe threat
that the Ebola outbreak in West Africa poses to populations,
governments, and economies across Africa and, if not properly
contained, to regions across the globe, and expressing
support for those affected by this epidemic.
There being no objection, the Senate proceeded to consider the
resolution, which had been reported from the Committee on Foreign
Relations, with an amendment to the preamble, as follows:
(Strike the preamble and insert the part printed in italic.)
Whereas Ebola hemorrhagic fever is an extremely infectious
virus that causes severe illness with a fatality rate that
can well exceed 50 percent;
Whereas Ebola is spread through contact with blood,
secretions, or other bodily fluids of infected humans and
animals and can have an incubation period of up to 21 days;
Whereas the Ebola virus first appeared in the Democratic
Republic of the Congo in 1976 and has afflicted communities
in Africa at least 20 times since then;
Whereas the current Ebola outbreak first occurred in
February 2014 in forested areas of southeastern Guinea and
subsequently spread to Liberia, Sierra Leone, Nigeria, and
Senegal, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo recently
discovered the outbreak of a separate strain of the virus;
Whereas this is the first outbreak of Ebola in West Africa
and the biggest and most complex to date, due to its
emergence in populated, transient border areas, making
containment a significant challenge;
[[Page S5879]]
Whereas, to date, according to the Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention, Ebola had infected more than 4,400
people in West Africa and caused nearly 2,300 confirmed
deaths;
Whereas the current Ebola outbreak has occurred in
countries with some of the weakest health systems in the
world facing severe shortages of healthcare workers,
laboratories essential for testing and diagnosis, clinics and
hospitals required for treatment, and medical supplies and
protective gear, such as latex gloves and face masks required
to prevent contamination of health facilities;
Whereas these weak and inadequate healthcare facilities, a
lack of health staff trained in Ebola response, and
misconceptions about the virus have resulted in numerous
infections of health workers and patients unable to receive
appropriate response and care;
Whereas effective countermeasures for stemming the spread
of Ebola, such as isolation, meticulous infection control
practices, case investigation, and contact tracing require
more trained personnel and resources than are currently
available in West Africa;
Whereas, although Ebola can be contained with good public
health and burial practices, it continues to spread due to a
lack of accurate public information, insufficient treatment
facilities, limited local language capacities required for
health education, and an unwillingness to allow those
infected to be isolated from family members;
Whereas governments are collaborating closely with
international donors and taking strong measures to contain
the virus, including announcing states of emergency and
establishing emergency response centers;
Whereas the limitations on transportation and travel and
closing of businesses have had a devastating economic impact
throughout the region and may cause social instability and
exacerbate the humanitarian crisis if not properly managed
and offset;
Whereas the international community has committed to
support solutions to the current limitations on air traffic
and establish a common operational platform to address acute
problems associated with food security, protection, water,
sanitation and hygiene, primary and secondary health care,
and education, as well as the longer-term recovery effort
that will be needed in the face of the complex social
consequences of this emergency;
Whereas the Governments of the Democratic Republic of the
Congo and Uganda have sent experts familiar with such
outbreaks to Liberia to assist with the outbreak response,
and the Governments of Senegal and Ghana have agreed to serve
as logistics and coordination centers for the international
assistance effort, providing vital corridors for supplies and
personnel;
Whereas, after visiting affected communities in West
Africa, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director
Tom Frieden said on September 2, 2014, ``There is a window of
opportunity to tamp this down, but that window is closing . .
. we need action now to scale up the response.'';
Whereas the United States Government has provided more than
$175,000,000 in support through the Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention, the United States Agency for
International Development, the World Health Organization, and
the United States Armed Forces since February 2014 and
intends to mobilize additional resources and support as
announced by President Obama on September 16, 2014;
Whereas the United States Government helped to fund the
development of the Zmapp biopharmaceutical experimental drug
that was given to United States health workers afflicted with
the virus and was recently donated to Liberian doctors with
encouraging effect and has prompted calls for further
research and development of such vaccines;
Whereas, on August 5, 2014, the United States Government
deployed a multi-agency Disaster Assistance Response Team
composed of staff from Federal agencies, including the United
States Agency for International Development, the Centers for
Disease Control and Prevention, the Department of Defense,
the Department of Health and Human Services, and the Forest
Service to coordinate the United States Government's response
efforts;
Whereas the World Health Organization published on August
28, 2014, a roadmap for scaled-up response that aims to stop
the virus in 6 to 9 months and calls for 750 international
and 12,000 local health workers to contribute to the halt of
the Ebola outbreak; and
Whereas, earlier this year, the United States Government
joined with partner governments, the World Health
Organization, other multilateral organizations, and
nongovernmental actors to launch the Global Health Security
Agenda, a 5-year commitment to prevent, detect, and
effectively respond to infectious disease threats such as
Ebola: Now, therefore, be it
Resolved,
Mr. PRYOR. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the resolution
be agreed to, the committee-reported amendment to the preamble be
agreed to, the preamble, as amended, be agreed to, and the motions to
reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table with no
intervening action or debate.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
The resolution (S. Res. 541) was agreed to.
The committee-reported amendment to the preamble in the nature of a
substitute was agreed to.
The preamble, as amended, was agreed to.
The resolution, with its preamble, as amended, is as follows:
S. Res. 541
Whereas Ebola hemorrhagic fever is an extremely infectious
virus that causes severe illness with a fatality rate that
can well exceed 50 percent;
Whereas Ebola is spread through contact with blood,
secretions, or other bodily fluids of infected humans and
animals and can have an incubation period of up to 21 days;
Whereas the Ebola virus first appeared in the Democratic
Republic of the Congo in 1976 and has afflicted communities
in Africa at least 20 times since then;
Whereas the current Ebola outbreak first occurred in
February 2014 in forested areas of southeastern Guinea and
subsequently spread to Liberia, Sierra Leone, Nigeria, and
Senegal, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo recently
discovered the outbreak of a separate strain of the virus;
Whereas this is the first outbreak of Ebola in West Africa
and the biggest and most complex to date, due to its
emergence in populated, transient border areas, making
containment a significant challenge;
Whereas, to date, according to the Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention, Ebola had infected more than 4,400
people in West Africa and caused nearly 2,300 confirmed
deaths;
Whereas the current Ebola outbreak has occurred in
countries with some of the weakest health systems in the
world facing severe shortages of healthcare workers,
laboratories essential for testing and diagnosis, clinics and
hospitals required for treatment, and medical supplies and
protective gear, such as latex gloves and face masks required
to prevent contamination of health facilities;
Whereas these weak and inadequate healthcare facilities, a
lack of health staff trained in Ebola response, and
misconceptions about the virus have resulted in numerous
infections of health workers and patients unable to receive
appropriate response and care;
Whereas effective countermeasures for stemming the spread
of Ebola, such as isolation, meticulous infection control
practices, case investigation, and contact tracing require
more trained personnel and resources than are currently
available in West Africa;
Whereas, although Ebola can be contained with good public
health and burial practices, it continues to spread due to a
lack of accurate public information, insufficient treatment
facilities, limited local language capacities required for
health education, and an unwillingness to allow those
infected to be isolated from family members;
Whereas governments are collaborating closely with
international donors and taking strong measures to contain
the virus, including announcing states of emergency and
establishing emergency response centers;
Whereas the limitations on transportation and travel and
closing of businesses have had a devastating economic impact
throughout the region and may cause social instability and
exacerbate the humanitarian crisis if not properly managed
and offset;
Whereas the international community has committed to
support solutions to the current limitations on air traffic
and establish a common operational platform to address acute
problems associated with food security, protection, water,
sanitation and hygiene, primary and secondary health care,
and education, as well as the longer-term recovery effort
that will be needed in the face of the complex social
consequences of this emergency;
Whereas the Governments of the Democratic Republic of the
Congo and Uganda have sent experts familiar with such
outbreaks to Liberia to assist with the outbreak response,
and the Governments of Senegal and Ghana have agreed to serve
as logistics and coordination centers for the international
assistance effort, providing vital corridors for supplies and
personnel;
Whereas, after visiting affected communities in West
Africa, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director
Tom Frieden said on September 2, 2014, ``There is a window of
opportunity to tamp this down, but that window is closing . .
. we need action now to scale up the response.'';
Whereas the United States Government has provided more than
$175,000,000 in support through the Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention, the United States Agency for
International Development, the World Health Organization, and
the United States Armed Forces since February 2014 and
intends to mobilize additional resources and support as
announced by President Obama on September 16, 2014;
Whereas the United States Government helped to fund the
development of the Zmapp biopharmaceutical experimental drug
that was given to United States health workers afflicted with
the virus and was recently donated to Liberian doctors with
encouraging effect and has prompted calls for further
research and development of such vaccines;
Whereas, on August 5, 2014, the United States Government
deployed a multi-agency Disaster Assistance Response Team
composed of staff from Federal agencies, including the United
States Agency for International Development, the Centers for
Disease Control and Prevention, the Department of Defense,
the Department of Health and Human Services, and the Forest
Service to coordinate the United States Government's response
efforts;
Whereas the World Health Organization published on August
28, 2014, a roadmap for
[[Page S5880]]
scaled-up response that aims to stop the virus in 6 to 9
months and calls for 750 international and 12,000 local
health workers to contribute to the halt of the Ebola
outbreak; and
Whereas, earlier this year, the United States Government
joined with partner governments, the World Health
Organization, other multilateral organizations, and
nongovernmental actors to launch the Global Health Security
Agenda, a 5-year commitment to prevent, detect, and
effectively respond to infectious disease threats such as
Ebola: Now, therefore, be it
Resolved, That the Senate--
(1) recognizes the severe immediate threat that Ebola poses
to populations, governments, and economies in Africa;
(2) recognizes that the limited capacity of the initial
outbreak countries of Guinea, Sierra Leone, and Liberia to
combat the epidemic has been exhausted and the potential
threat to regions beyond Africa if this, the largest of all
Ebola outbreaks, is not contained;
(3) expresses support for those affected by this epidemic
and affirms its sympathy for victims of Ebola and their
families;
(4) supports the Governments of Guinea, Liberia, Sierra
Leone, Nigeria, Senegal, and the Democratic Republic of the
Congo for their ongoing efforts to combat the Ebola virus in
their countries and regionally;
(5) urges citizens of affected countries to respect
preventative guidelines provided by their governments and
medical professionals from Africa and around the world in
order to stem the outbreak;
(6) supports the work of the Centers for Disease Control
and Prevention, the United States Agency for International
Development, the Department of Defense, the Department of
Health and Human Services, the Department of State, the
Forest Service, and other United States Government agencies
providing technical, logistical, and material support to
address the Ebola crisis in West Africa;
(7) encourages deepened United States and international
commitments to the global Ebola response;
(8) welcomes the delivery of assistance and increased
engagement from donors such as the Economic Community of West
African States (ECOWAS) and the African Union, the World
Bank, the European Union, and the Government of Canada;
(9) expresses support for the promotion of investments in
global health in order to ensure that governments can better
prevent and detect, contain, and eventually eliminate
outbreaks of disease while also providing other essential
health services;
(10) supports the World Health Organization's Ebola
Response Roadmap and a common operational platform in
response to the crisis;
(11) encourages the Governments of Guinea, Liberia,
Nigeria, Senegal, and Sierra Leone to work together and with
other nations and regional and subregional organizations to
establish institutional emergency response systems to more
effectively respond to this and future outbreaks of Ebola and
other highly infectious diseases;
(12) welcomes proactive measures taken by governments in
West Africa to formulate national plans of action in response
to the crisis; and
(13) recognizes the work of thousands of African, United
States, and international officials and volunteers on the
ground in West Africa, particularly healthcare workers, who
are working diligently and at great risk to help address this
multidimensional crisis, and encourages other healthcare
workers and logisticians to volunteer.
____________________