{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["http://adriansmith.house.gov/stopping-spread-ebola", "Stopping the Spread of Ebola", "2014-10-23", "2014", "2014-10", "Republican", "House", "NE", "Adrian Smith", "S001172", "adriansmith.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "The Ebola epidemic is an ongoing tragedy with serious worldwide consequences.\u00a0 With the virus now in the United States, Americans naturally are concerned about what steps are being taken to prevent the further spread of this disease and to prepare for more cases.\u00a0 Unfortunately, our government\u2019s response has not always inspired confidence this threat is being handled appropriately.\nThe rate at which the Ebola virus has spread throughout West Africa is alarming. So far the administration's response has been to deploy troops to the region, but leave our borders unprotected from the disease except for minimal airport screening. \u00a0For this reason I joined 25 of my colleagues on October 8th in sending a bipartisan letter to President Obama urging him to institute travel restrictions, enhance airport screening, and to consider quarantining individuals who have recently traveled to or from the West African countries most affected by this epidemic.\u00a0\nMany Nebraskans have reached out to me to express their support for a travel ban.\u00a0 I agree for the time being it is not appropriate for our government to issue tourist visas to individuals from nations being ravaged by Ebola.\u00a0 Even several African countries have successfully implemented travel bans.\u00a0 This is a commonsense measure to reduce the risk of more individuals bringing the virus into our country.\nHowever, the Obama Administration continues to issue approximately 100 tourist visas per day to individuals from affected nations to visit the United States, saying to do otherwise would hurt efforts to fight the virus at the source.\u00a0 However, I have yet to hear a compelling argument as to why allowing foreign nationals from these nations to visit the United States would have any effect on our ability to fight Ebola in Africa.\u00a0\nAmerican hospitals, doctors, and medical personnel have proven highly effective in treating the disease at specialized containment facilities including at the Nebraska Medical Center in Omaha.\u00a0 The Centers for Disease Control assured a Congressional panel earlier this year all American hospitals were equipped and ready to handle Ebola cases.\u00a0 However, the contraction of Ebola by two nurses treating a patient in Dallas raises serious questions about the preparedness of other hospitals to contain and treat the disease.\u00a0\nThese questions become even more concerning since the Administration announced it would be sending American troops over to the effected region to combat the disease\u2019s spread.\u00a0 It is critical all hospitals, treatment facilities, and our armed forces have access to the protocols and practices being used effectively at the containment sites so other medical workers, patients, and the general public, are not further exposed.\u00a0\nEbola is a public health crisis, not a political crisis.\u00a0 While there have only been a handful of cases in the United States and there is no reason for panic, it is critical our government get this right and we stop the spread of this devastating disease.\u00a0 Greater safeguards on our immigration system, and better preparedness at our hospitals will help keep us safe.", 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": ["http://adriansmith.house.gov/stopping-spread-ebola"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 0.9016208350658417, "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"}