{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://www.carper.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/otherstatements?ContentRecord_id=1e9602a3-c56b-463b-a457-621e0833b01e", "Opening Statement of Chairman Tom Carper: Preparedness and Response to Public Health Threats: How Ready Are We?", "2014-11-21", "2014", "2014-11", "Democrat", "House", "DE", "Thomas Carper", "C000174", "www.carper.senate.gov", null, null, "legacy", "WASHINGTON \u2013 Today, Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee Chairman Tom Carper (D-Del.) convened the hearing, \u201cPreparedness and Response to Public Health Threats: How Ready Are We?\u201d For more information on the hearing or to watch a webcast of the hearing, please click here.\r\nChairman Carper\u2019s opening statement, as prepared for delivery, follows:\r\nToday, we will examine our nation\u2019s response to the ongoing Ebola epidemic and our overall preparedness for other public health threats.\u00a0 We are very fortunate to have a great panel of witnesses with us today and I would like to thank all of them for their public service.\r\nSince February, the public has watched an epidemic of the Ebola virus grip the countries of Sierra Leone, Liberia, Guinea and now Mali. To date, roughly 5,200 people in west Africa are believed to have died from the Ebola virus.\u00a0 The actual number of deaths may be significantly higher.\r\nThe severity and scale of this outbreak has challenged the world-wide public health community.\r\nWhen I think about the tragedy that is playing out in west Africa and what role we should play, I am reminded of the Parable of the Good Samaritan, where we learn that we should \u2018Love our neighbors as ourselves.\u2019\u00a0\r\nIf we don\u2019t take care of our neighbors in Africa, then we may see this deadly disease spread even faster across the world.\u00a0 That is why I believe it is vital that we \u2013 along with our international partners \u2013 continue to battle Ebola at its epicenter.\u00a0\r\nEbola, however \u2013 like all infectious diseases \u2013 knows no borders.\u00a0 It has even reached our shores. Over the weekend, the United States began treating its tenth patient for Ebola, who sadly passed away on Monday.\u00a0 His death marks the second Ebola-related death here at home.\u00a0\r\nIn light of the Ebola virus epidemic, many Americans have asked the important question:\u00a0 how prepared is our nation to handle a major public health threat? That\u2019s what we hope to answer at today\u2019s hearing.\u00a0\r\nOur goal for this hearing is not to create needless confusion.\u00a0 Doing that would be counterproductive, potentially putting more people at risk and exacerbating the public\u2019s understandable fear of the disease. Instead, I hope we are able to find lessons learned from our Ebola response, and use them to inform our future response to this disease and others that could threaten our country.\r\nWhile I know the disease is far from being defeated and has even, as I mentioned earlier, spread to Mali, it\u2019s my understanding the number of cases in Liberia has substantially declined.\u00a0 This is welcome news.\u00a0 However, I know we could see a spike in cases with little notice.\u00a0 As a result, we must continue to pay close attention to the changing dynamics in Africa. And we must continually reassess the scale of the response needed overseas and here in the United States to end this epidemic.\r\nWhether it\u2019s the Ebola virus, influenza, or a disease we have yet to hear about, the bottom line is the same:\u00a0 we need to be better prepared and ready to respond. To be most effective, we of course must have a well-coordinated response at the Federal, State and local levels.\u00a0\r\nWe must also have clear guidance and protocols from the Centers for Disease Control and other public health officials so that everyone knows exactly what to do and what not to do. We must also ensure that our state and local health and emergency response professionals have the training and tools they need to succeed. Finally, we must have a strong screening process in place at our ports of entry so we can better identify and monitor high-risk travelers.\r\nI also believe that a critical part of addressing any public health threat is the availability of antivirals, therapeutics and other medical countermeasures. In the case of Ebola, I have been encouraged by the significant progress we have made in the last few months on a vaccine for the virus, as well as therapeutics to treat the disease.\u00a0 I look forward to hearing about the status of these countermeasures and the plan for quickly getting them to people in need.\r\nTo help meet the immediate and long term needs of the Ebola epidemic, President Obama recently submitted an emergency funding request of nearly $6.2 billion dollars. I look forward to hearing more about the request, particularly in light of the changing situation on the ground in Africa.\u00a0\r\nAs we discuss the funding request, I believe we should keep in mind our moral obligation to help \u201cthe least of these\u201d in society, and doing so in an effective and fiscally responsible way.\u00a0 In closing, I would just like to acknowledge the work of our witnesses and the countless first responder and health professionals who have stepped up to fight this most recent challenge, and\u00a0 all public health threats. I also want to recognize and thank the non-governmental organizations who are so critical in this world-wide effort to stem the epidemic of Ebola.", 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://www.carper.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/otherstatements?ContentRecord_id=1e9602a3-c56b-463b-a457-621e0833b01e"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 1.7025070264935493, "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"}