Forbes calls on Congress to reconvene, address Ebola outbreak

Congressman J. Randy Forbes (VA-04) issued a statement on Friday calling on Congress to reconvene to address the Ebola outbreak.

“The continued spread of Ebola infections in the United States, coupled with lax travel oversight of persons in contact with the lethal virus, have frayed the confidence of many in this Administration’s ability to further contain this deadly disease.  Given calls from world health leaders for an urgent international response within the next 60 days to prevent an unprecedented situation, I believe both houses of Congress should immediately suspend district work and return to Washington to develop a thoughtful, coordinated, all-of-government containment strategy to prevent the spread of this disease. Delaying this critical work until after the election would be foolish and dangerous.”

Earlier this week, the World Health Organization warned that, at current rates, nearly 10,000 West Africans a week will contract the Ebola virus by the end of December. Yesterday, Forbes issued a statement calling for the U.S. government to immediately implement temporary travel restrictions to and from the West African countries experiencing Ebola outbreaks. That statement is available here.