IV 

113TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. RES. 701 

Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives that the current outbreak of Ebola in Guinea, Sierra Leone, and Liberia is an international 

health crisis and is the largest and most widespread outbreak of the 

disease ever recorded. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JULY 31, 2014 

Ms. BASS (for herself, Mrs. DAVIS of California, Mr. CICILLINE, Mr. CROWLEY, Mr. HASTINGS of Florida, Mr. HONDA, Ms. JACKSON LEE, Ms. LEE

of California, Mr. LEVIN, Ms. MCCOLLUM, Mr. MCGOVERN, Mr. RUSH, 

Mr. WOLF, Mr. LEWIS, Mr. PRICE of North Carolina, Mr. MEEKS, Mr. 

CONYERS, Mr. CARSON of Indiana, Mr. CLYBURN, Mr. ELLISON, Ms. 

NORTON, Ms. BROWN of Florida, Mr. DANNY K. DAVIS of Illinois, Mr. 

FATTAH, Mr. AL GREEN of Texas, Ms. EDDIE BERNICE JOHNSON of 

Texas, Ms. MOORE, Mr. PAYNE, Mr. RANGEL, Mr. RICHMOND, Mr. 

DAVID SCOTT of Georgia, Ms. SEWELL of Alabama, Ms. WILSON of Florida, Ms. KELLY of Illinois, Ms. CLARKE of New York, Mrs. 

CHRISTENSEN, Mr. THOMPSON of Mississippi, Mr. SIRES, Mr. CONNOLLY, Mr. DEUTCH, Mr. ENGEL, Ms. GABBARD, Mr. KEATING, Mr. 

LOWENTHAL, Mr. SCHNEIDER, Mr. VARGAS, Ms. FRANKEL of Florida, 

Mr. MARINO, Ms. ROS-LEHTINEN, Mr. CHABOT, Mr. POE of Texas, Mr. 

ROHRABACHER, Mr. SALMON, Ms. ROYBAL-ALLARD, Ms. KUSTER, Ms. 

BROWNLEY of California, Mrs. NEGRETE MCLEOD, and Mr. 

MCDERMOTT) submitted the following resolution; which was referred to 

the Committee on Foreign Affairs 

RESOLUTION 

Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives that 

the current outbreak of Ebola in Guinea, Sierra Leone, 

and Liberia is an international health crisis and is the 


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•HRES 701 IH 

largest and most widespread outbreak of the disease 

ever recorded. 

Whereas Guinea, Sierra Leone, and Liberia are currently facing the largest and most geographically widespread Ebola 

outbreak ever recorded; 

Whereas as of July 23, 2014, according to the World Health 

Organization (WHO) there are 1,201 suspect and confirmed cases of Ebola in Guinea, Sierra Leone, and Liberia resulting in 672 deaths; 

Whereas on average, Ebola kills up to 90 percent of the people who contract the disease and currently there is no 

specific approved treatment or vaccine available to prevent the disease; 

Whereas the current outbreak is the first major Ebola outbreak in West Africa and is present in both urban and 

rural areas, many of the region’s health workers did not 

have experience or training to care for patients with the 

disease or protect themselves from contraction; 

Whereas the current Ebola outbreak has already crossed 

international borders, such as the Liberian passenger 

who arrived in Lagos, Nigeria, with the disease in late 

July and died there; 

Whereas without containment of the disease and additional 

support from the international community, the outbreak 

could become a greater regional and global health threat; 

Whereas Ebola is contagious and transmitted to humans 

through close contact with bodily tissue, blood, secretions, 

organs, or other bodily fluids of infected persons or animals; 


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•HRES 701 IH 

Whereas treatment of Ebola requires immediate and prolonged isolation of patients and vigilant observation of infection control protocols to prevent further spread and 

contraction of the disease; 

Whereas the Ministry of Health of Guinea, the Ministry of 

Health and Sanitation of Sierra Leone, and the Ministry 

of Health and Social Welfare of Liberia are working with 

national and international partners to investigate and respond to the outbreak but need additional support to 

properly care for patients and control the outbreak; 

Whereas Doctors Without Borders is currently the main 

international aid organization treating people affected by 

the virus, and currently does not have the capacity to 

treat all patients requiring their care; 

Whereas United States support to foreign nations to prepare 

and respond to disease outbreaks through coordination of 

several United States Government agencies, including the 

U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), 

the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), 

the Department of State, and the Department of Defense; 

Whereas since March 2014, the CDC has deployed over 40 

experts at a cost of $600,000 and currently has a 7-person team in Guinea, one staff person in Sierra Leone, 

and a team of 9 in Liberia assisting the respective Ministries of Health and the World Health Organization 

(WHO) led international response to this Ebola outbreak, 

and recently activated CDC’s Emergency Operations 

Center to support the response; 

Whereas since the emergence of the current Ebola outbreak, 

USAID has provided $750,000 to the WHO Global OutVerDate Mar 15 2010 03:19 Aug 01, 2014 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6300 E:\BILLS\HR701.IH HR701

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•HRES 701 IH 

break and Response Network (GOARN) for deployment 

of technical experts and $500,000 to WHO’s Africa Regional Office (AFRO) for operational and personnel support; 

Whereas despite the significant work from the Ministry of 

Health of Guinea, the Ministry of Health and Sanitation 

of Sierra Leone, and the Ministry of Health and Social 

Welfare of Liberia and international support from the 

United States Government, the WHO, Doctors Without 

Borders, and other international partners more must be 

done to increase capacity, knowledge, and experience to 

deal with the outbreak of Ebola in West Africa which has 

severely hampered the ability of affected countries to 

quickly detect and respond to the outbreak; and 

Whereas there is a drastic need for additional resources, including knowledgeable medical professionals and equipment to strengthen quality of care and surveillance for 

case finding and contact tracing: Now, therefore, be it 

1 Resolved, That the House of Representatives— 

2 (1) asserts that the current outbreak of Ebola 

3 in Guinea, Sierra Leone, and Liberia is an inter4 national health crisis and is the largest and most 

5 widespread outbreak of the disease ever recorded; 

6 (2) acknowledges the lifesaving work already 

7 done by the Ministry of Health of Guinea, the Min8 istry of Health and Sanitation of Sierra Leone, and 

9 the Ministry of Health and Social Welfare of Libe10 ria, the United States Government, the World 


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•HRES 701 IH 

1 Health Organization, Doctors Without Borders, and 

2 other international partners; 

3 (3) calls on the international community and all 

4 nations to immediately provide additional resources 

5 and services to develop the capacity of affected na6 tions to address current and future public health cri7 ses; 

8 (4) requests that the United States work in a 

9 coordinated capacity to develop a unified global 

10 health security plan to adequately respond to disease 

11 outbreaks globally and prioritize global health secu12 rity; 

13 (5) calls upon the United States to work with 

14 international health authorities to assist endemic na15 tions in the development and fielding of medical 

16 countermeasures (diagnostics, vaccines, and thera17 peutics) to treat victims and those at risk of Ebola; 

18 and 

19 (6) urges the United States Government to 

20 prioritize the elimination of Ebola as a public health 

21 threat. 

Æ 


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