[Congressional Record Volume 171, Number 73 (Thursday, May 1, 2025)]
[House]
[Page H1789]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                      BLOOD TRANSFUSION OVERSIGHT

  (Mr. FOSTER asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. FOSTER. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to bring attention to yet 
another decision by the Trump administration that puts Americans' lives 
at risk.
  On April 1, 2025, almost the entire Division of Blood Disorders and 
Public Health Genomics, a department of the CDC established to combat 
blood infections in the wake of the AIDS epidemic, was placed on 
administrative leave.
  This decision to eliminate this division was, of course, made by the 
Elon Musk Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE.
  Now, people with blood disorders across the United States will have 
to worry about contaminated blood transfusions. They will also be left 
wondering whether critical research to prevent and treat their 
conditions will be abandoned, and they will have to reckon with the 
fact that the same government that swore to help them turned its back 
on them, all so Republicans can find more money to give billionaires 
new tax breaks.
  Vital programs like the Division of Blood Disorders should not be 
subject to political games, and those suffering from blood disorders 
should not have to fear that a blood transfusion will kill them.
  Defunding the CDC puts lives at risk, and staff put on administrative 
leave should be reinstated immediately.

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