Healthcare workers, and anyone else traveling to Ebola-infected West African nations, should be quarantined in that country for 21 days before being permitted to return, according to Betsy McCaughey, chairwoman of the Committee to Reduce Infection Death.
McCaughey joined former House Intelligence Committee Chairman Pete Hoekstra Friday on
Newsmax TV's “America’s Forum” to discuss the Ebola crisis.
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“Who wants to get on a commercial flight from Brussels to New York and sit next to a doctor or nurse who's been treating Ebola patients?” McCaughey asked.
Since President Barack Obama has chosen not to issue a travel ban, McCaughey called on Congress to take the lead.
“It's not just the president who has this authority. John Boehner can call the House back into session and start right now to enact a legislation that will protect us from
incoming cases of Ebola,” she urged. “Doctors Without Borders, a very good organization, should be taking the initiative to quarantine its volunteers before they get on those flights.
“President Obama seems to have a very close relationship with Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, the president of Liberia. She's got him on speed dial and those two Nobel laureates, who are so buddy-buddy, are unfortunately putting their commitment to Africa ahead of the safety of Americans. That's not the president's job. He should be looking out for us first.”
Hoekstra countered that even if House Speaker John Boehner could manage to get legislation passed, it would most certainly get derailed by Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and his fellow Democrats.
Not so, according to McCaughey.
“Any
Democrat running for re-election this year is not going to vote against that travel ban,” she said.
At greatest risk of contracting Ebola, she said, are healthcare workers treating others already infected.
“I hear (New York Gov.) Andrew Cuomo, the president and (CDC Director) Tom Frieden say we're getting these healthcare workers ready,” she said. “That's like saying you want to play piano at Carnegie Hall? We'll give you three days and get you ready. It's not possible to train people in such a short period of time for such a dangerous job.”
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