Whitfield Wants Travel Ban to Ebola-Affected Areas

Western Kentucky's U.S. Rep. Ed Whitfield wants the President to ban travel to west African countries affected by the Ebola outbreak.

Whitfield sent a letter Monday to President Barack Obama, after speaking with military leaders about the deployment of U.S. troops from Fort Campbell Army Base to West Africa to help contain the current outbreak of the Ebola virus. In the letter, Whitfield called for an immediate travel ban from those countries.  

Whitfield conceded that our national and international transportation networks are vital to the function of our economy and way of life, but pointed out that recent events have demonstrated those same networks can also serve as conduits for dangerous pathogens such as the Ebola virus.  

Whitfield is opposed to unnecessarily endangering U.S Troops from the first district of Kentucky by sending them to West Africa, and called on the President to ensure that any service member who falls ill to Ebola and loses their life will receive hazard duty pay, and full combat fatality compensation and benefits for their families. Whitfield said he believes this level of commitment to military service members is the very least that our government should do for sending them into harms way, on a mission that would better served by world humanitarian health organizations.
 
“Ebola appears to be spreading even within the hospital setting, we should not delay in taking action to prevent individuals carrying the virus from traveling to our country,” said Whitfield. “A concise and immediate travel ban for such individuals who live in or have traveled from certain West African countries is necessary to ensure the safety of the American people. This President has already placed our troops at unnecessary risk that has the potential to not only endanger their lives, but the lives of their families, and their communities upon their return. Our priorities should be to protect our homeland first, secure our borders, and work aggressively to develop a vaccine to eradicate Ebola.”