{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://web.archive.org/web/20141026184745/http://walberg.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=398484", "Washintgon Post: Congress expresses doubt about U.S. Ebola precautions", "2014-10-24", "2014", "2014-10", "Republican", "House", "MI", "Tim Walberg", "W000798", "web.archive.org", null, null, "legacy", "Lawmakers voiced skepticism on Friday about Obama administration assurances that government measures are likely to succeed in protecting the United States, and U.S. soldiers overseas, from further spread of the Ebola virus.\nRep. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.), who chairs the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, characterized the administration\u2019s response to the disease so far as \u201cbumbling.\u201d\n\u201cI think we all know that the system is not yet refined to where we could say it is working properly,\u201d he said during a hearing on government management of the disease.\nIssa and other members of Congress questioned measures the administration had taken to prepare for a possible pandemic before Ebola appeared in U.S. hospitals, and their recommendations to\u00a0health-care workers\u00a0and the public since then.\nThe hearing came the morning after\u00a0a New York doctor\u00a0who recently returned from West Africa was confirmed to have Ebola. He was the fourth person to be diagnosed with the disease in the United States.\nOfficials from the Department of Health and Human Services and the Defense Department detailed plans for preventing the spread of Ebola at home and among U.S. troops being sent to\u00a0the disease\u2019s epicenter\u00a0in West Africa.\nEarlier this year, President Obama ordered up to 4,000 U.S. soldiers be sent to West Africa to train local health workers, build treatment facilities and help coordinate the international response to the disease.\nBut lawmakers pointed out that the government\u2019s own guidelines for quarantine, travel safety and the protection of medical workers appeared to have evolved in the weeks since Ebola was first diagnosed in a U.S. hospital.\n\u201cLately, when a government agency comes before this committee, especially, and tells me, \u2018There\u2019s nothing to worry about. We got this,\u2019 that\u2019s when I start to worry,\u201d said Rep. Stephen F. Lynch (D-Mass.).\nNicole Laurie, a senior official at the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), said the risk of a significant Ebola outbreak in the United States is \u201cremote.\u201d\n\u201cBased on the first U.S. cases, HHS has already made adjustments to minimize the spread of Ebola,\u201d she said. \u201cThese include tightened guidance for the use of personal protective equipment, an expanded aggressive national education campaign for health-care workers, and screening and active monitoring of passengers entering the United States, now funneled through five airports.\u201d\nShe said it was natural that procedures had changed after the disease appeared in the United States.\nBut Deborah Burger, co-president of National Nurses United, told lawmakers that American health-care workers remained at risk. She said nurses had gotten inconsistent instructions, were often left to make decisions about proper precautions for themselves and at times had been forced to improvise their own protective gear.\nShe said only new, legally required guidelines would ensure medical facilities will provide workers the protection they need.\n\u201cThe response to Ebola from U.S. hospitals and governmental agencies has been dangerously inconsistent and inadequate,\u201d she said.\nJohn Roth, the Department of Homeland Security\u2019s inspector general, told lawmakers that the administration had mishandled a nearly $50\u00a0million program to prepare for pandemics.\nThe Department purchased coveralls and surgical masks, for example, that may have been unneeded, while other gear, such as respirators, had expired, Roth said. Officials are now working to address those problems, he said.\n\u201cI think it\u2019s evident by the hearing today and hearings that will go on that you\u2019re not bringing us a sense of security,\u201d said Tim Walberg (R-Mich.).\nLawmakers also probed officials about plans for protecting troops sent to West Africa.\n\u201cThe safety of our service members\u00a0. . .\u00a0is absolutely paramount, and while you can never mitigate risk to zero, I think we\u2019ve taken all the steps to mitigate the risk,\u201d said Michael Lumpkin, assistant secretary of defense for special operations and low-intensity conflict.\nOfficials acknowledged the U.S. government would currently only be able to bring less than 10\u00a0symptomatic soldiers home per week. The military is working to develop isolation pods that could move up to 15 sick patients by air at a time.\nDefense officials explained some guidelines for keeping soldiers safe in West Africa. For example: asking soldiers to stand three feet from local nationals and washing their hands with chlorine. Soldiers\u2019 temperatures will be taken twice a day.\nTo read the original article at Washington Post, click here.", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://web.archive.org/web/20141026184745/http://walberg.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=398484"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 1.7812869045883417, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}