Today, Sen. Ossoff spoke in a Committee markup about bringing Republicans and Democrats together to protect the CDC
In June, Sen. Ossoff demanded answers from the Trump Admin’s Budget Director about their proposed plans to gut the CDC budget by over 50%
Washington, D.C. — U.S. Senator Jon Ossoff has defeated an effort to defund the CDC in the Senate.
Earlier this year, the Trump Administration proposed to Congress as part of their budget requesta 50% cut in funding for the CDC of approximately $4 billion. Sen. Ossoff has repeatedly been outspoken in defense of the CDC and against the Trump Administration’s continued war on the CDC, including pressing the Trump Administration’s Budget Director on their proposed cuts.
Today, Sen. Ossoff successfully defeated this effort to slash CDC funding in the U.S. Senate Appropriations Labor, Health and Human Services and Education funding bill. The bipartisan appropriations bill maintains normal levels of funding for the CDC, a significant win for the Georgia-based agency.
Sen. Ossoff spoke in the Committee markup about bringing Republicans and Democrats together to protect the CDC (watch his remarks here).
“I want to express my gratitude to the Chair and Ranking Member for joining me in rejecting the unacceptable effort to defund most of the CDC,” Sen. Ossoff said. “The budget request from the White House included a cut to the world’s preeminent epidemiological agency, this after the administration has attempted to fire approximately a quarter of the CDC’s workforce in recent months, systematic destruction of morale at the CDC, the disbandment of entire agencies focused on maternal health and neonatal health and disease prevention at the CDC, and I made very clear, that I would not accept the destruction of the CDC, and I am grateful that Republicans and Democrats on this committee are coming together to defend this vital institution based in the state of Georgia.”
In addition to maintaining CDC funding, Sen. Ossoff also brought Republicans and Democrats together to add several other key CDC provisions into the bipartisan appropriations bill, including a new requirement that the Department of Health and Human Services submit detailed plans before transferring any functions away from the CDC and sustaining critical CDC programs for chronic diseases and to combat maternal mortality.
The bipartisan appropriations bill passed Committee and is now ready to move to the full U.S. Senate for a vote.
Sen. Ossoff worked across the aisle to include protections for the following programs:
- Safe Motherhood and Infant Health: This provision restores staffing for Safe Motherhood and Infant Health programs, which support maternal and infant health while improving the lives of women, children, and families through data surveillance, science, and partnerships.
- Maternal Health Funding: This provision increases funding for implementation of the Kira Johnson Act, which provides funding for community-based organizations working to advance maternal health.
- Oversight of CDC Reorganization: This provision ensures there is transparency for any plans to reorganize CDC. This amendment would require the administration to produce a reorganization plan and have an independent organization, like the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, review it before any transition could occur.
- Restoration of NIH’s Safe to Sleep Campaign: This provision restores NIH’s participation in the Safe to Sleep campaign, a 30-year campaign to prevent infants from dying in their sleep, which the Trump Administration canceled earlier this year.
Sen. Ossoff continues working to protect public health, the CDC, and its workforce.
Earlier this month, Sen. Ossoff demanded answers following an NPR report that the CDC Program to prevent fentanyl overdoses had been frozen.
In June, Sen. Ossoff demanded answers in a U.S. Senate Appropriations Committee hearing from the Trump Administration’s Budget Director, Russell Vought, about the administration’s plan to gut the CDC budget by over 50%.
In March, Sen. Ossoff and other members of Congress demanded that the Trump Administration provide answers on the reported shutdown of a critical Maternal Health data system at the CDC.
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