1. United States
2. Ohio
3. Letter

I am deeply concerned about the harmful impact of the widespread dismissals targeting scientists, doctors and public health professionals at agencies like the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Cutting over 1,200 employees at the NIH, including promising young researchers, as well as gutting prestigious training programs at the CDC that cultivate the next generation of public health leaders, puts our nation at serious risk. These dismissals threaten to leave the United States dangerously understaffed and ill-prepared to address potential future public health crises and disease outbreaks. We have already witnessed the devastating consequences of being underprepared during the COVID-19 pandemic. Maintaining a strong workforce of skilled experts at the NIH, CDC and other health agencies is critical to protecting the American people from emerging infectious diseases, monitoring threats like the recent lethal bird flu strain, and advancing biomedical research. I urge you to reconsider these reckless personnel cuts that undermine our country's public health infrastructure and scientific capabilities. We must invest in our federal health institutions, not dismantle them, to safeguard the health and safety of all Americans. Retaining highly trained scientists and public health specialists should be a top priority.