Rep. Yoho Proposes Ebola Quarantine Bill
Gainesville, FL – Congressman Ted S. Yoho (R-FL) has been calling for a quarantine of people traveling from Ebola infected countries since October 8th, 2014. This is well before state governors asked for quarantines, and this week’s decision by Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel to quarantine all U.S. troops before they will be allowed to return to the United States.
Congressman Yoho is introducing his bill that requires “the President to take action to protect against the transmission of Ebola virus from individuals traveling to the United States from abroad, and for other purposes.” The bill instructs the President, acting through the Secretary of Homeland Security and the Secretary of Health and Human Services, to prohibit any individual from entering the United States for a period of 30 days, following the individual’s presence in a country experiencing an Ebola epidemic.
Congressman Yoho gave the following statement.
“Until the current Ebola epidemic is stopped, a quarantine needs to be applied to any and all individuals traveling from those countries fighting this disease. The quarantine will consist of diagnostic and temperature testing of individuals in addition to a 21-day monitoring period. This is in line with our military’s protocol. If the military has deemed it necessary to quarantine our soldiers who were in-country and not dealing directly with infected patients, then it is only right to apply this approach to civilian travel from those countries as well.
“If the President would have taken action early on and followed the lead of our military, I wouldn’t have had to draft this bill to address the issue and his inaction. There is talk of this disease being hard to spread outside direct contact with bodily fluid, but it seems to be infecting people that are following ‘proper’ protocols pretty easily. I owe it to my constituents - and all Americans - to do all I can to protect their health and safety.”
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Congressman Ted Yoho serves on the Foreign Affairs and Agriculture Committees. He represents North Florida’s 3rd Congressional District