[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 159 (2013), Part 7]
[Senate]
[Pages 9227-9229]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                    THE CENTERS FOR DISEASE CONTROL

  Mr. ISAKSON. Madam President, I am proud to stand here today as a 
resident of Georgia and its capital city Atlanta, which is the home of 
the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in America, a great 
institution with which Senator Brown and I are familiar. We want to 
talk about some of its great achievements today.
  CDC is the Nation's health protection agency, but it is really the 
world's health protection agency. What CDC has done is build a strong 
national public health and disease detection network for working with 
State and local agencies, private partners, universities, and 
communities to stop disease and stop outbreaks.
  By way of example, CDC led a multi-State response to last year's 
fungal meningitis outbreak that resulted in 745 infections and 58 
deaths in 20 States. CDC identified and contained dangerous foodborne 
pathogen outbreaks, such as hepatitis A found in frozen berry blend; 
salmonella found in the poultry industry; and E. coli found in frozen 
food products.
  CDC puts science into action every day to protect the American 
people, using breakthroughs such as microbial genomics to find 
outbreaks sooner, stop them earlier, and prevent them better in 
environmental hazards, biosecurity threats, and national disaster.

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CDC provided direct support within hours of Superstorm Sandy to the 
devastated northeast last year. We need to be able to be ready for this 
year's hurricane system as it deals with other public threats.
  The CDC provides crucial information on the status of health risks to 
the American people. With data it helps determine the best options for 
preventing illness and reducing medical costs. At a time when the U.S. 
Government is not looked upon with a lot of favor by the American 
people, I think it is very interesting to note that a recent Gallup 
poll identified the CDC as the most trusted Federal Government agency 
with the American people. I think that is something to which we owe a 
tip of the hat.
  Mr. BROWN. I thank Senator Isakson. I am so appreciative of the work 
the Senator has done with the Centers for Disease Control in his home 
State of Georgia. There is no Federal agency that is quite like the CDC 
in this country or across the world.
  Our Nation's fiscal health cannot be strengthened at the expense of 
our Nation's public health. In the 21st century it is easy to overlook 
this country's public health safety net. Too often we take for granted 
that our children are not being crippled by polio or dying from 
whooping cough because we have immunizations. We take for granted that 
we have stronger teeth and less tooth decay because of water 
fluoridation in many of our communities. We take for granted that few 
people in this country now die of infectious diseases such as cholera 
and tuberculosis because we have made the kind of remarkable progress 
we have in sanitation, in hygiene, antibiotics, and disease 
surveillance. We take these advancements for granted because for over 
six decades the CDC has been doing an extraordinary job of ensuring 
Americans have basic health protections.
  The CDC's work, along with that of other public health advocates and 
researchers, is credited with increasing the average American's life 
expectancy over the last many decades, increasing the average 
American's life expectancy by 25 years--25 years, a quarter of a 
century longer because of our investment in public health.
  The CDC's reach and responsibility, as intimated by Senator Isakson, 
is not limited by our country's borders. Due to globalization it 
matters a great deal how other countries respond to health threats. The 
CDC plays an essential role in helping its international partners react 
to these threats.
  The CDC is the gold standard, the global leader in disease prevention 
and public health preparedness. Other nations follow our lead. Yet the 
CDC's leadership is not guaranteed. Even with its topnotch facilities 
and world-class staff, the CDC faces challenges to this continued 
leadership. The CDC's base budget authority is at its lowest level in a 
decade.
  The fiscal year 2013 budget is about $600 million below its fiscal 
year 2012 level. This reduction undercuts the health security of all 
Americans, even those who never once think of the existence of the 
Centers for Disease Control. The reduction in the CDC budget has 
harmful, immediate, and long-term consequences across the United States 
and around the world. This reduction affects the ability of our State 
and local health departments to provide on-the-ground services.
  As my friend from Georgia explained during his discussion of the 
deadly fungal meningitis outbreak, funding the CDC is critical to the 
foundation of our public health. When we invest in CDC, we invest in 
the health of families in Lorain, OH, and Cuyahoga Falls, OH. When we 
invest in CDC, we support programs such as the Epidemiology Laboratory 
Capacity Program which addresses infectious disease threats.
  When we invest in the CDC, we ensure that our State and local health 
departments on the frontlines are able to detect the first signs of 
outbreak. Without this critical funding, we leave ourselves vulnerable 
to the initial spread of health threats, such as fungal meningitis and 
emerging new diseases such as the MERS coronavirus and the novel H7N9 
avian flu virus, which we read about. Unfortunately, public health 
departments across the Nation have already lost thousands of jobs and 
will lose more if our support of CDC continues to dwindle.
  Before turning it back over to Senator Isakson, I would like to 
emphasize a point he made. The CDC responds to long-term health threats 
as well as to urgent immediate health dangers. These threats don't make 
the headlines. So much of CDC's work you never hear about, you never 
read about because of its name, Centers for Disease Control and 
Prevention. Prevention is such an important part of this. CDC continues 
a longstanding tradition of working in partnership with many 
international organizations and global partners to ensure that our 
country takes the lead in stopping these threats.
  I have had the pleasure of seeing CDC's dedicated, expert staff 
working in Africa, in Atlanta, in communities such as Medina County, 
OH, and all over the world, working to keep these countries and our 
communities healthier, safer, and helping to keep all Americans safe as 
well.
  Mr. ISAKSON. Would the Senator from Ohio yield for a moment?
  Mr. BROWN. I yield to the Senator.
  Mr. ISAKSON. I ran a company for 20 years, and a healthy workforce 
that was ready, willing, and able to go to work every single day made a 
big difference.
  A lot of times when we think of CDC, we think of outbreaks in Africa, 
we think of ebola, and we think of salmonella. In fact, it is also an 
advocate for wellness, better health habits, and health care for 
Americans. Does the Senator think that is important for the 
productivity of the American people and the American worker?
  Mr. BROWN. I thank the Senator from Georgia. I think that is exactly 
the point. While perhaps those who know CDC--obviously in the State of 
Georgia people know it more intimately than in my State. They more 
likely think of CDC doing something in Africa or Asia, not so much what 
it means locally. We know that our hospitals, for instance, are 
sometimes havens for high health care costs and unnecessary illnesses 
due to infections acquired in the hospital and antibiotic-resistant 
superbugs such as CRE--a family of germs with high levels of resistance 
to antibiotics. I wonder if my friend is familiar with CDC's work in 
these areas and if he would expand on that.
  Mr. ISAKSON. I appreciate the focus on that. My friend from Ohio is 
exactly correct. Antimicrobial resistance is a serious threat to our 
Nation's health. Many bacteria become resistant to multiple classes of 
antibiotics.
  I might add a personal note at this point. Three years ago I 
developed a MRSA infection in a hospital in Atlanta and almost lost my 
life to an antibiotic-resistant disease and infection. I know how 
important it is to have a research facility such as the CDC that can 
constantly stay one step ahead of the evolution of defenses these 
microbes bring up themselves.
  As a recent example, a recent outbreak of drug-resistant CRE where 
one in two patients affected with bacteria unfortunately passed away--
CDC must have resources to quickly track and stop outbreaks and give 
health care providers timely information. Without that, there is the 
risk of contagion.
  Mr. BROWN. That is certainly right. It seems there are new emerging 
and potentially dangerous health threats. We obviously know of the 
disease--the acquired infection you just mentioned. We know now of the 
H7N9 bird flu and MERS. How does the Senator see CDC's unique role in 
tracking and attempting to prevent the spread of these threats before 
they reach our shores, before we in American hospitals such as Grady 
Memorial or at MedCentral of Ohio might be victims of that?
  Mr. ISAKSON. Well, the Senator makes a great point because CDC is 
kind of the crucible where all the partners in health care in the 
country come together. You might remember when we were here on 9/11/01, 
shortly after the attack on the Trade Center in New York. Then the 
anthrax letters started to be mailed to Capitol Hill. It was CDC that 
within days tracked down the

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anthrax and helped us develop the defenses so we didn't have a problem 
with the anthrax infection. We got the Cipro distributed to those who 
were exposed to keep them from succumbing to that disease. That is the 
kind of timely effort we need for an agency like the CDC to be able to 
quickly respond.
  Public health security is a component of our national security, as is 
evidenced by the anthrax case. With the potential threat of engineered 
biological weapons, CDC remains vigilant and ready to act with experts 
and countermeasures to protect the American people. With emerging 
diseases such as MERS and H7N9, CDC has sent CDC teams around the globe 
to investigate their origin, develop and ship laboratory diagnostic 
kits to the affected areas, and save lives day in and day out around 
the world.
  Mr. BROWN. If the Senator would yield for a moment, MERS was 
identified recently, and CDC scientists developed and shipped a 
diagnostic kit to be used in the field. To talk about one--when I talk 
to people about public health and certainly the importance of NIH but 
especially the focus on public health by CDC, we talk about polio and 
what CDC did to address and not quite yet wipe out but in our country 
certainly wipe out--and in most of the rest of the world--the polio 
virus. Give us a little bit of history on how important that was and 
what we learned from that, if you would, Senator Isakson.
  Mr. ISAKSON. When I grew up in the fifties, I remember taking the 
sugar cube, the anti-polio vaccine, the Jonas Salk vaccine, for the 
first time ever. Polio has been a dread disease that has affected the 
American people and people around the world for many years, but now it 
is almost totally eradicated. Why? Because of a worldwide effort by 
many organizations--not the least of which is the CDC--to see to it 
that the inoculations are made available. In fact, polio now only 
resides in three countries: Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Nigeria. We are 
close to closing the door and having a polio-free world, just as we are 
getting closer and closer to eradicating measles, which now primarily 
still has an outbreak in Nigeria.
  CDC's readiness and ability to deploy at a moment's notice makes all 
the difference in the world. I don't wish to sell here, but I have to 
make one note. One of the reasons CDC is in Atlanta and that is such a 
good location is they can be anywhere in the world in a matter of a day 
by the Hartsfield International Airport.
  Not a day goes by but somewhere around the world a country or a 
community calls and says: We need help. We have a problem. We don't 
know what it is, but it has to be identified.
  CDC scientists and doctors are put on the planes to fly around the 
world to diagnose, identify, and provide the cure so the disease does 
not become an outbreak that takes thousands of lives.
  Mr. BROWN. I wish to close with a personal story about polio. My 
brother, born in 1947--there are three of us, three boys. My brother is 
the oldest, my brother Bob. When he was in about the first, second, or 
maybe the third grade, my father, who was a local family physician in 
Mansfield, was asked by--if not the CDC, some national health 
organization to give polio vaccines in Mansfield, OH. There were 
doctors in other communities who were asked to do that. They chose my 
father in part because he was a good doctor. They also chose him 
because he had son, he had a child who was in second or third or fourth 
grade at the time.
  People were afraid. They weren't sure about injecting that vaccine 
into their arm because a lot of families thought that actually could 
cause polio. There was always that fear. Scientists didn't believe 
that, but an awful lot of people did.
  There was a picture on the front page of the Mansfield News Journal 
in the 1950s of my brother getting a polio vaccine. I believe his was 
Salk. Sabin came later with the cube. He got the Salk vaccine, 
administered by my dad. CDC or one of the other public health groups--I 
apologize, I don't know which--made sure that happened all over the 
country so people could be more reassured. That was really the 
beginning, with Salk and then Sabin, of the eradication of polio in 
this country.
  It is hard to think back--the Presiding Officer is not old enough--
Senator Isakson and I can remember with our parents the fear, until the 
end of the 1950s, of parents that their child would go swimming and 
might come back, as Franklin Roosevelt did, with a case of polio. 
Whatever the causes, that virus spreading scared so many people.
  In these days of hyper-partisanship consuming Washington, I 
appreciate the work of Senator Isakson, working together with CDC 
because this is far and above, far and away more important than any 
kinds of political differences that we might have.
  I will let Senator Isakson close.
  Mr. ISAKSON. I appreciate very much the Senator's focus on CDC. I 
think it is ironic that we close talking about Franklin Delano 
Roosevelt because in the 1940s, as our President, he suffered from 
polio. He would take the train to Georgia to go down to Warm Springs to 
get the therapy of those warm springs, which then was the only 
mechanism of treating polio.
  Today in Georgia, because of the CDC, we have a mechanism of 
eradicating polio. That is the type of evolution we want to see in 
health care not just for our country but for the world.
  CDC is the best investment of American tax dollars we could possibly 
make. I support it wholeheartedly, and I thank Senator Brown for his 
participation in the colloquy today.
  I yield back the remainder of my time and suggest the absence of a 
quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
  The legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. UDALL of New Mexico. I ask unanimous consent that the order for 
the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  Mr. UDALL of New Mexico. I ask to speak as in morning business.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.

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