1. United States
2. Ga.
3. Letter

I am writing as your constituent to urge you to strengthen the FY2027 Labor-HHS appropriations bill and protect the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the federal public health workforce and our nation’s research enterprise. I appreciate that the House Appropriations Committee did not fully adopt the administration’s proposed reductions to HHS and CDC. However, significant concerns remain, and I respectfully ask that Congress strengthen this legislation before it becomes law. Our nation is facing emerging infectious diseases, chronic disease, maternal and infant health challenges, environmental threats and increasing demands on state and local public health systems. This is not the time to weaken the public health infrastructure. CDC has already experienced substantial workforce reductions. Thousands of employees have left through reductions in force, retirements and voluntary separations. The employees who remain continue to carry out Congress’s statutory mission with fewer resources and increasing workloads. They are not asking for special treatment or extraordinary pay increases. They simply want the opportunity to continue serving the American people. I urge Congress to: Reject any further reductions in force or workforce reductions across CDC and HHS. Maintain FY2026 funding levels for CDC programs wherever possible. Preserve all FY2026 funding lines supporting birth defects prevention, infant health and folic acid activities. Protect the scientific, surveillance, laboratory, communications and emergency preparedness functions that Americans rely upon every day. Conduct strong congressional oversight of any future HHS or CDC reorganizations to ensure they do not diminish congressionally authorized programs or statutory responsibilities. I am concerned that while the House recommendation maintains overall Birth Defects funding, it removes specific funding references for activities that have supported folic acid and infant health work. These prevention activities should remain clearly supported and protected. Birth defects prevention has saved lives and prevented devastating conditions such as neural tube defects, including anencephaly, in which major portions of a baby’s brain and skull fail to develop. Prevention through folic acid education and fortification remains one of the most successful public health interventions in our nation’s history. We should be strengthening this work. I am also concerned about proposed federal personnel policies that would expand the use of administrative leave during workforce realignments. While agencies need flexibility to manage their workforce, administrative leave should not become a substitute for transparent workforce planning or established civil service protections. Congress should ensure that any workforce restructuring preserves mission capability and workforce, protects scientific expertise and maintains accountability. Finally, I urge you to carefully oversee any changes affecting the administration of federally funded research grants. Stable, transparent and evidence-based research funding is essential to scientific discovery, public health preparedness and maintaining the United States’ global leadership in biomedical and public health research. Unnecessary disruption to research funding or grant administration can delay lifesaving discoveries, interrupt ongoing studies and weaken our ability to respond to future health threats. Public health infrastructure cannot be rebuilt overnight once expertise, partnerships and institutional knowledge are lost. Investments in prevention, surveillance and research save lives, reduce health care costs and strengthen our preparedness for emergencies. Protect CDC, protect the federal workforce that remains, maintain program funding and continue exercising strong oversight to ensure that public health programs and scientific research remain strong for the American people. As your constituent, I will be following these decisions closely and hope you will stand with the public servants, scientists, health professionals and researchers who work every day to keep our communities healthy and safe. Thank you for your service and your consideration.