The House Energy and Commerce Committee’s Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations is holding a hearing on the United States’ response to the Ebola outbreak on Thursday and committee chairman Fred Upton (R-Mich.) says “the stakes could not be any higher.”
“Ebola has been on the world’s radar screen since March and yet the United States and the international community are still scrambling to stay ahead of and stop this outbreak. We remain gravely concerned about this ongoing threat and the committee will continue diligently investigating the response efforts and preparedness plans,” Upton said. “The stakes could not be any higher, and as I have said before, we cannot afford to look back at this point in history and say we could have done more.”
Subcommittee chairman Tim Murphy (R-Pa.) said concerns about response and preparedness efforts have heightened as the outbreak has continued.
“Just a few weeks ago there was an urgent need to quickly stop the spread of Ebola in Africa, but now we also need to assure Americans that we are able to stop the spread here at home,” he said. “There is no room for error when it comes to Ebola.”
Among the witnesses scheduled to testify at the hearing are Dr. Thomas R. Frieden, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases at the National Institutes of Health; and Dr. Luciana Borio, assistant commissioner of counterterrorism policy at the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.