Statement on President Obama's announcement of sending troops and resources to West Africa to fight Ebola

Statement

Congresswoman Karen Bass (D-Calif.), Ranking Member of the House Subcommittee on Africa, released the following statement on President Obama's announcement that he would be sending military medical personnel to Africa to combat the Ebola outbreak:

"I commend President Obama for his $763 million commitment over the next six months to fight the Ebola outbreak that has claimed nearly 2,500 lives in Africa with 5,000 others being infected with this awful virus. Only by putting significant and immediate resources and medical personnel on the ground in West Africa will we be able to keep this virus from spreading. This commitment from the United States will save lives and support the people of West Africa as they overcome this outbreak and become healthier and stronger countries.

"In addition to the health danger that Ebola poses, the outbreak has the possibility of destabilizing the governments in West Africa. Sierra Leone and Libera are still recovering from brutal civil wars. Although they have elected democracies right now, in many African countries a crisis like this could lead to the collapse of the countries' governments.

"Today I spoke with Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf about President Obama's proposal. She expressed concern that without help from the United States and other countries the Ebola outbreak threatens civil order in Liberia. Since the outbreak West Africa is seeing a recurrence of children dying of diseases like malaria because mothers could not find a hospital to admit them.

"President Obama's decision to send 3,000 American military personnel to Liberia is an important step to ensuring stability in the nation and the region. These personnel will train up to 500 health care providers per week, care for health care workers who become ill and construct 17 health care facilities to provide 1,700 more beds to treat patients.

"Ebola is neither a Democratic nor Republican illness; that is why I have worked with my colleagues in the House to push for complete support of the president's request of $88 million in supplemental funding to the Centers to Disease Control to aid in both helping those infected and preventing the virus from spreading further. Only by working across the aisle and with our partners around the world will we keep the death toll from rising even further.

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