Washington, D.C. – In case you missed it, U.S. Senator Rob Portman (R-Ohio) wrote in Forbes today about the Ebola crisis and the need for a comprehensive plan to prevent its spread. Last week, Portman urged President Obama to appoint one Administration official to coordinate the U.S. strategy. Yesterday, he called on the CDC to enact active Ebola screenings for travelers demonstrating Ebola symptoms at U.S. ports of entry.

Excerpts of the op-ed are below and the full piece can be viewed here.

Containing Ebola Outbreak Requires American Leadership
Sen. Rob Portman
Forbes
September 16, 2014

While the American people are rightly focused on the threat posed by Islamic terrorists, there is another international crisis that deserves our attention. It is unfolding in Africa—the worsening Ebola epidemic. The President has belatedly outlined a strategy for addressing the threat of ISIS. It is past time he also developed a comprehensive plan to stop this deadly epidemic before it takes even more lives and threatens the United States.
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Faith-based organizations have been a bright spot in this crisis, stepping into the breach to combat the disease, but without international support they are seeing their resources stretched thin and their doctors and volunteers infected. Meanwhile, each new victim represents another chance for mutations that could make this horrible disease even more deadly.

And yet, the United States has remained largely on the sidelines as this Ebola outbreak has transformed from a dangerous, but manageable, problem to a world health emergency that threatens to turn into a pandemic. As with so many other instances where American leadership and foresight might have stopped an international crisis in its early stages, the Administration’s unwillingness to act boldly has contributed to the situation spiraling out of control. They say an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. In the case of the Ebola epidemic, that adage holds true.

Finally though, it seems that the President is ready to act. I look forward to learning more about his plan to gain control over the situation in West Africa. It won’t be easy, and it will require a joint effort from a broad range of Executive agencies, from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and National Institutes of Health, to the Department of Defense and Department of State. I recently called on the President to appoint a central coordinator who can facilitate cooperation between these and other agencies and be held accountable for results.
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In addition to calling for the appointment of a central coordinator, I have also called for the agencies that are tasked with stopping the spread of this epidemic to take appropriate steps to successfully achieve their objectives. A recent Inspector General report revealed that DHS has failed to adequately prepare for an outbreak of Ebola or other highly contagious disease in the United States. I recently requested that DHS lay out the steps it has taken to remediate this serious deficiency in our preparations. I have also requested that the CDC take a more active role in their oversight of Customs and Border Protection officers and transition from “passive” to “active” screening at points of entry to the U.S. Finally, I have asked that the Office of Management and Budget report to Congress on the overall picture of the funding and resources that the U.S. has committed to the Ebola crisis.
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The Ebola epidemic requires a response equal to the serious threat it poses. Only the United States has the capability to marshal that kind of response, engaging our civilian and military biohazard assets, in cooperation with our allies around the world. By acting boldly, we have the capacity to end this epidemic, save many thousands of lives in Africa, and stop Ebola before it reaches our shores.