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“TRIBUTE TO DR. BETH BELL” mentioning the U.S. Dept of State was published in the Senate section on pages S109 on Jan. 5, 2017.
The State Department is responsibly for international relations with a budget of more than $50 billion. Tenure at the State Dept. is increasingly tenuous and it's seen as an extension of the President's will, ambitions and flaws.
The publication is reproduced in full below:
TRIBUTE TO DR. BETH BELL
Mrs. MURRAY. Mr. President, today I wish to recognize an exceptional public servant, Dr. Beth Bell, who is retiring from the directorship of the National Center for Emerging and Zoonotic Infectious Diseases, NCEZID, at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, CDC.
Dr. Bell began her career with the CDC in 1992, in my home State, as an epidemic intelligence service, EIS, officer assigned to the Washington State Department of Health, where she led a seminal investigation into E. coli infections. After completing her EIS training, she moved to CDC Atlanta to join the hepatitis branch in the division of viral and rickettsial diseases, later serving as chief of the epidemiology branch in the division of viral hepatitis. During her 13 years working on viral hepatitis, she led important efforts to better understand the epidemiology of hepatitis A in the United States, applying this knowledge to the development and implementation of hepatitis A vaccination policy. These extraordinary efforts contributed to reductions in national hepatitis A incidence of more than 95 percent. She also worked on implementation of global infant hepatitis A and B vaccination programs during the early days of the Global Alliance for Vaccines Initiative. She later served as the acting deputy director of the National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases during the H1N1 influenza pandemic before being appointed director of the newly formed Center for Emerging and Zoonotic Infectious Diseases, NCEZID, in 2010.
In that role, Dr. Bell has been at the forefront of the agency's critical and complex emergency response efforts. In 2014-2015, Dr. Bell was called upon to lead the center through the largest Ebola epidemic in history. After reaching a near breaking point where, according to CDC Director Dr. Tom Frieden, it was ``spiraling out of control'' in late 2014, the epidemic was contained through the aggressive use of proven outbreak-control measures such as patient isolation and contact tracing.
In 2016, Dr. Bell found herself leading the response to yet another pandemic as Zika exploded in South and Central America, Puerto Rico and the Caribbean, and Florida. The impact of Zika on women and children through microcephaly, a life-threatening condition in which children are born with unusually small heads, was heartbreaking and historically significant--never before has a mosquito-borne infection caused such devastating birth defects. CDC's early alert--under Dr. Bell's leadership--to people traveling to countries with Zika likely prevented an untold number of infections among women of child-bearing age; and, continuing through her very last day of Federal service, Dr. Bell was critical in CDC's support for U.S. territories, cities, and States--as well as other impacted countries.
In addition, Dr. Bell oversaw the Center's response to chikungunya spreading throughout the Americas in 2013-14, the second-largest outbreak of West Nile virus disease in the United States in 2012, and hundreds of outbreaks of foodborne disease. Her leadership of the Center during each of these outbreaks has been remarkable, and all Americans have benefited from her steady hand and commitment to service. Dr. Bell also held leadership roles during CDC responses to the 2001 anthrax attacks and Hurricane Katrina in 2005. Her outstanding leadership, scientific judgment, and expertise have been critical to the success of the Center in these endeavors.
In 2012, she was called upon to lead the Center's response to the fungal meningitis outbreak associated with contaminated steroid products--America's largest healthcare related outbreak ever. The New York Times called it ``one of the most shocking outbreaks in the annals of American medicine.'' Following her testimony before the Senate HELP committee, Dr. Bell was lauded for CDC's prompt and decisive role in the response, which likely prevented many hundreds of infections and deaths among patients who would otherwise have received injections of fungus-contaminated medication.
She also directed two new cross-cutting infectious disease initiatives that have already shown benefits to the field of public health: the Advanced Molecular Detection, AMD, and the Antibiotic Resistance Solutions Initiatives, Together, these initiatives are helping scientists better understand how infections spread and transforming our national capacity to detect, respond, contain, and prevent drug-resistant infections. Because of Dr. Bell's leadership, our Nation will be better equipped to address the growing threat of antibiotic resistance, as well as a myriad of other public health threats.
Dr. Bell exemplifies steadfastness and courage in protecting the Nation's health. She has demonstrated an unwavering level of dedication and passion for public health at all levels, recognizing the important roles of State, local, county, tribal, and Federal partners.
Dr. Bell has been a true public servant. I ask that we honor Dr. Bell today for her invaluable leadership to the CDC and America's public health efforts.
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