Obama: Progress on Ebola Proves the Need to Invest in the Federal Workforce

President Obama on Wednesday celebrated the progress the international community has made in combatting the spread of Ebola, highlighting in particular the work of the U.S. government and federal employees.

All told, 3,500 civilian federal workers from the Defense Department, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, U.S. Public Health Service Commissioned Corps, U.S. Agency for International Development and National Institutes of Health have been deployed to West Africa to join the fight. The efforts of those individuals, as well as agencies working domestically, have dramatically cut the number of new Ebola cases from a peak of 1,000 per week in October to 150 today.

That progress, Obama said, means government agencies will now begin consolidating their efforts for “the next phase” of the response. The White House added, however, the government’s “tasks are far from complete.” The transition comes as Ron Klain, tapped by Obama in October as Ebola Response Coordinator -- or “czar” -- prepares for his scheduled March departure.

President Obama, flanked by military personnel and civil servants who worked to curb the disease, spoke from the White House Wednesday to thank federal employees and others for their dedication and sacrifice. Obama said he takes “great pride that our government led this effort.”

He added that while some resorted to sensationalism and fanning fears, federal workers -- along with non-governmental volunteers -- were “steady, and focused and got the job done. And we’re lucky to have them. And we have to invest in them.”

Members of the military constructed 10 Ebola treatment units, provided logistics support and helped train and support health workers on the ground. Nearly 3,000 troops deployed to the affected region to provide support to the effort; about half have since returned home. Obama announced in his address that all but 100 will return by April 30.

Obama said they will return home “not because of the job is done, but because they were so effective in setting up the infrastructure that we are now equipped to deal with the job that needs to be done in West Africa.”

Obama specifically recognized USAID Disaster Assistance Response Teams, CDC detectives and “incredible scientists” at NIH. The White House separately mentioned the work of Health and Human Services domestic efforts, the Food and Drug Administration’s efforts in approving an Ebola vaccine and the Homeland Security Department’s passenger screening programs. While most of the troops in West Africa will soon return to U.S. soil, Obama said, the work for those civil servants is just getting started.

“America’s work is not done,” Obama said. “Today we move into the next phase of the fight: Winding down our military response while expanding our civilian response.”

In December, Congress backed the White House’s effort to appropriate $5.4 billion to support the government’s Ebola response. CDC has already sent nearly 1,000 civil servants on international deployments to West Africa, who have trained health care workers, created on-site laboratories, conducted screenings and prepared hospitals and local partners domestically to treat Ebola patients. Moving forward, CDC will have $1.7 billion to provide medical worker training, create more Ebola treatment centers domestically and continue to work with the hardest hit nations in Africa.

State and USAID will have $2.5 billion to spend primarily on West African regional issues like humanitarian needs, supplies, safe burial teams, food and education efforts, while Defense will have $112 million to conduct research and provide other services. NIH was appropriated $238 million to conduct further clinical trials and FDA received $25 million to continue regulating new vaccines and treatments.

Their work, Obama said, demonstrates what is best in America. Quoting a conversation he had with a State Department employee that helped transport Americans out of West Africa, Obama said, “We do the work we do to impact something bigger than ourselves.” He added: “That’s the test of American leadership.”

Obama added federal workers’ accomplishments in leading the charge against Ebola illustrate the need to ensure federal agencies and their workforces are properly funded.

“The investments we make at NIH are not a nice-to-do, they are a must do,” Obama said. “We do not appreciate basic science and all these nice folks in lab coats until there’s a real problem and we say, ‘Well, do we have a cure for that?’ Or ‘Can we fix it?’ And if we haven’t made those investments, or neglected them, then they won’t be there when we need them.”