Hensarling Demands Accountability for HHS Ebola Response

From U.S. Congressman Jeb Hensarling

WASHINGTON – U.S. Congressman Jeb Hensarling (R-TX), chairman of the House

Financial Services Committee and a leading conservative, joined with 23 other Texas House

Republicans and Senators Ted Cruz and John Cornyn in sending a letter to the Department of

Health and Human Services (HHS) expressing concern about the Department’s use of resources

in response to the Ebola outbreak in the United States. Text of the letter is as follows:

Dear Secretary Burwell—
In the past month, the American people have watched the Ebola virus spread from an outbreak in
West Africa to a contagion in our state of Texas.  Further unchecked transmission of Ebola is simply
unacceptable, and the government’s response has raised concerns given how it has made use of existing
resources.
Just last year, Congress passed and President Obama signed the Pandemic and All-Hazards Preparedness
Reauthorization Act of 2013 (PAHPRA), building on the original Act of 2006, which added to existing public
health infrastructure within the eight U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) agencies that
comprise the Public Health Service (PHS).  Yet despite these measures, which granted targeted, enhanced
authorities to HHS and authorized billions of dollars for HHS to plan for and respond to public health crises
like this one, mistakes have still been made that resulted in new Ebola diagnoses on U.S. soil.
In fact, of the $10.8 billion the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimates it spent in
FY 2014, almost $1.4 billion went to “Public Health Preparedness and Response” activities. Among these
activities is a Cities Readiness Initiative to “support local medical countermeasure distribution and dispensing
planning in the nation’s 72 largest metropolitan statistical areas (MSA).” Since Dallas is one of the cities in
this initiative, and ground zero for the first U.S. Ebola case, it is especially troubling to witness the federal
government’s communication missteps and confusion about protocols knowing that a wide range of federal
resources have already been in place for years.
We know from the CDC that since 2002, a Public Health Emergency Preparedness (PHEP) cooperative
agreement “has provided nearly $9 billion to public health departments across the nation to upgrade their
ability to effectively respond to a range of public health threats, including infectious diseases.”  Yet a
March 2013 Government Accountability Office report on the effectiveness of this arrangement noted that it
lacked consistent performance measures and associated targets, undermining CDC’s ability to assess how
and whether recipients of these funds were making any progress toward the PHEP’s goal.
As the brave health professionals directly involved with the treatment of this virus do their part, we must
understand how years spent developing strategic plans and applying these significant resources failed to
adequately prepare for dealing with Ebola after it was first discovered here. Before contemplating any
additional course of action, we need a better understanding of how your Department has utilized the
tools it’s already been given.
We therefore request detailed answers to the following inquiries:
  1. Please identify all strategic plans, policies, and protocols developed under the authorities of the 
  2. Pandemic and All-Hazards Preparedness Acts involved in the treatment and containment of the 
  3. current Ebola crisis, along with a description of how these procedures are being implemented.
  4. Please provide an accounting of the role and steps taken by the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness 
  5. and Response, a position created by the Pandemic and All-Hazards Preparedness Act of 2006, involved 
  6. in the treatment and containment of the current Ebola crisis.
  7. Please provide an accounting of how all your Department’s Public Health Preparedness and Response 
  8. activities, such as the State and Local Preparedness and Response Capability and the CDC Preparedness 
  9. and Response Capability, were utilized in preparation for and in response to Ebola cases in the United States.
  10. Please provide any distinction between the role and responsibilities of the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness 
  11. and Response and those of the recently appointed "Ebola Czar," Ron Klain, involved in the response to the current
  12.  Ebola crisis, including containment efforts .
  13. Please identify any additional authorities and programs being used by the Department involved in the treatment and containment of the current Ebola crisis.
We look forward to your prompt responses on this critical matter.
Sincerely,
Sen. John Cornyn
Sen. Ted Cruz
Rep. Joe Barton
Rep. Kevin Brady
Rep. Michael Burgess
Rep. John Carter
Rep. K. Michael Conaway
Rep. John Culberson
Rep. Blake Farenthold
Rep. Bill Flores
Rep. Louie Gohmert
Rep. Kay Granger
Rep. Ralph M. Hall
Rep. Jeb Hensarling
Rep. Sam Johnson
Rep. Kenny Marchant
Rep. Michael T. McCaul
Rep. Randy Neugebauer
Rep. Pete Olson
Rep. Ted Poe
Rep. Pete Sessions
Rep. Lamar Smith
Rep. Steve Stockman
Rep. Mac Thornberry
Rep. Randy Weber
Rep. Roger Williams