[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 160 (2014), Part 10]
[Senate]
[Pages 14559-14560]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                            THE EBOLA CRISIS

  Mr. LEAHY. Madam President, over the past several months the world's 
attention has been focused on the Russian invasion of Crimea and 
fighting in the eastern Ukraine, the explosion of violence in Gaza, the 
flood of migrant children from Central America, and the horrific death 
and destruction in Iraq and Syria.
  In each of these places vast numbers of innocent people have suffered 
terribly, and our own policies and capability to respond have been 
severely tested.
  Yet one of the most urgent, difficult, and frightening challenges 
facing the world today is not the result of armed conflict or ethnic or 
religious extremism. It is the world's first Ebola epidemic, and it 
poses a potentially devastating threat to Africa and people everywhere.
  Before the August recess we were preparing to receive dozens of 
African heads of state to Washington. At that time, Doctors Without 
Borders and other nongovernmental organizations had been ringing alarm 
bells for weeks about the worsening Ebola outbreak in West Africa.
  But the World Health Organization and governments, including our own, 
were slow to respond to what was viewed as a manageable, localized 
public health problem, rather than a crisis that could spin out of 
control.
  No longer. Infections and deaths in Liberia and Sierra Leone are 
increasing rapidly, with exponential acceleration in these countries 
and potentially in neighboring Guinea. Official reports may be only a 
piece of the picture. The ability of these countries to locate, 
diagnose, isolate and treat patients, trace and monitor contacts, and 
safely bury the dead cannot possibly keep pace.

[[Page 14560]]

  Unfortunately, the lack of urgency exhibited by much of the 
international community was exacerbated by budget cuts at the World 
Health Organization, for which there is ample blame to go around. After 
the 2009 global financial crisis, WHO's budget dropped by roughly 1 
billion dollars, nearly 25 percent of their budget today.
  By the time of the current Ebola outbreak, staff levels at WHO had 
been cut by 35 percent, and their ability to prepare for and respond to 
health emergencies suffered accordingly.
  Today, the Ebola crisis has the full attention of the World Health 
Organization, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, USAID, 
President Sirleaf of Liberia, and other governments. They recognize 
that unless aggressive, coordinated actions are taken immediately, 
there will soon be tens of thousands of cases, the disease will spread 
into much of Africa, and it will be an ongoing global threat for many 
years to come.
  The challenges are immense: weak government institutions; 
dysfunctional public health systems that cannot conduct reliable 
disease surveillance and response; lack of roads and other basic 
infrastructure; ethnic and political divisions in societies recovering 
from war; misconceptions about the disease and low levels of literacy; 
and inadequate and uncoordinated international aid.
  While the epidemic is finally beginning to receive the attention it 
deserves, it is spiraling out of control. Huge numbers of cases are 
overwhelming local capacity to isolate and treat patients, trace their 
contacts, and safely bury the dead. The cost of personal protection 
gear is exorbitant and there is an acute shortage of trained people.
  Also, the secondary effects of this crisis are increasingly apparent. 
Food insecurity is worsening and the economies of these countries, 
already fragile, are facing collapse as imports and exports are 
plummeting.
  We and others have the knowledge and tools to contain and control 
this disease if cases are quickly isolated and contacts identified, but 
actions to date have not been well coordinated and have not always 
addressed the most urgent needs.
  Just as for a raging wildfire, the focus should be on deploying all 
available resources to provide immediate support for urgent needs 
identified on the front lines to stop its spread, while there is time. 
It will require mobilization of the type and complexity as occurred 
after the Haiti earthquake.
  In West Africa, that means immediately scaling up staff, transport, 
isolation and treatment capacity, infection control including personal 
protective equipment for health workers, funding through rapid and 
flexible funding mechanisms, training and supervision, laboratory 
services, communications resources, and management and logistics 
support.
  There is nothing new about this approach. But it is required on a far 
larger scale than was used to control Ebola outbreaks in the past.
  The situation today is grave, but we can prevent many of these 
deaths. And as we do so we need to help build stronger public health 
systems that can contain future disease outbreaks.
  Past efforts to build capacity have clearly been woefully inadequate. 
As public health systems in these countries have been overwhelmed by 
Ebola, patients suffering from malaria, TB, pneumonia, and other 
illnesses are unable to get treatment.
  We should all pay tribute to the courageous public health workers who 
have risked their lives--and in many cases, lost their lives--trying to 
save others from this terrible disease. It is inspiring to read the 
stories of nurses and doctors, and those who dig the graves and bury 
the dead, who have labored on as their colleagues have died, who live 
with the daily reality that at any moment they could be next. They are 
as brave as any soldier on the front lines of battle.
  I also want to commend President Sirleaf, her Minister of Defense, 
and others who have tried their best to deal with this unprecedented 
emergency in the face of woefully inadequate resources.
  The United Nations says that $600 million is needed immediately to 
fight this disease. The United States has already provided tens of 
millions of dollars. USAID announced another $75 million last week. The 
White House has requested additional funding for CDC, which would bring 
the U.S. contribution to over $250 million.
  The Department of Defense announced that it will provide logistical, 
laboratory, and other support. The World Bank has pledged over $200 
million. Other governments are also coming forward, as are private 
donors. The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation recently pledged $50 
million to enhance response efforts and accelerate research on 
potential treatments and vaccines.
  The Congress has a role to play, and I am hopeful that as additional 
funds are needed we will act responsibly and provide them. I am a 
cosponsor of S. Res. 541, which recounts the history of this outbreak 
and the steps that are urgently needed to control it. I commend 
Senators Coons, Durbin, Menendez and others who introduced it. This is 
not a partisan or political issue. It is a public health issue, a moral 
issue, and one that should unite us all to do what is necessary to 
defeat this epidemic.

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