Lawmakers call for official Ebola response coordinator

Rep. Frank Wolf (R-Va.) and Sen. Jerry Moran (R-Kan.) urged President Obama to appoint a senior advisor to coordinate U.S. agencies’ response to the Ebola outbreak.

Wolf and Moran, who serve on their respective chambers’ Appropriations Committees, argued that creating a single point of contact for Ebola would ensure resources are properly distributed.

{mosads}”We believe it is imperative that you designate a single, senior advisor who will be responsible for coordinating all U.S. agencies and policies involving the international and domestic response to Ebola,” they wrote in a letter to President Obama. “As members of the Senate and House Appropriations Committees, we want to make sure resources are allocated most efficiently across the agencies responsible for the Ebola response in West Africa and disease control activities at home.”

In the letter, Wolf and Moran also requested details on the Obama administration’s chain of command to respond to the Ebola outbreak, as well as whether it has established a national strategy to combat the virus, by Oct. 17. They further asked for information about the responsibilities of the more than 3,000 U.S. military personnel who have been sent to West Africa to respond to the Ebola outbreak.

“It is critical we work together to stop the Ebola outbreak in West Africa and prevent it from spreading to other parts of the world,” they wrote.