{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://web.archive.org/web/20141117214054/http://westmoreland.house.gov/index.cfm?sectionid=25&itemid=1385", "Westmoreland Statement on Ebola Outbreak", "2014-10-16", "2014", "2014-10", "Republican", "House", "GA", "Lynn Westmoreland", "W000796", "web.archive.org", null, null, "legacy", "NEWNAN, GA \u2013Congressman Lynn Westmoreland has issued the following statement on the new cases of Ebola in the United States and the flaws in the Center for Disease Control\u2019s (CDC) procedure:  \u00a0  \u201cLike many Americans, my concerns over the CDC\u2019s handling of the Ebola outbreak in America are growing daily,\u201d stated Westmoreland. \u201cTo this point, the response has been one step behind containing and eliminating the virus. When President Obama and Director Frieden made the decision to send troops to West Africa to risk their lives abroad, they should have shown equal force in combating the disease at home. The Ebola \u201cswat team\u201d the president called for last night should have been deployed weeks ago when the first patient came back to America.  \u00a0  \u201cThe breach of protocol and lack of guidance provided for health care workers in Texas has caused the American people to lose faith in the government\u2019s ability to contain the disease. While the CDC has many dedicated workers, they do not have a perfect record when it comes to keeping protocol and focusing on their underlying mission. The CDC has made multiple mistakes in the last year, such as the handling of Bird Flu (H5N1 influenza virus) and Anthrax and this situation has been no different. Their protocol needs to be seriously reexamined for any possible weaknesses, and they need to tighten up their training procedures so that not a single American healthcare worker or person is at risk.  \u00a0  \u201cI join many of my colleagues in requesting a travel ban that includes screening of visas from countries where the outbreak is occurring, specifically West Africa. What we are doing now is not enough and we need stronger leadership from CDC Director Frieden and President Obama to protect our citizens. Due to our nation\u2019s advanced medicine and expertise to handle this appropriately, the threat of widespread outbreak in the US still remains low; however we must act quickly and carefully to destroy that threat completely.\u201d", 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/20141117214054/http://westmoreland.house.gov/index.cfm?sectionid=25&itemid=1385"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 0.6406540051102638, "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"}