1. United States
2. Ga.
3. Letter

I am writing as a constituent to urge you to strengthen the FY2027 Labor-HHS appropriations bill and fully protect the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), its workforce and its public health mission. I appreciate that the House Committee did not simply adopt the administration’s proposed reductions and restructuring plans. The committee rejected many of the deepest cuts and preserved significant portions of CDC funding. However, the current proposal still falls short of what is needed at a time when our nation faces growing public health threats, emerging infectious diseases, chronic disease challenges, maternal health concerns and increasing demands on our public health infrastructure. The CDC has already endured significant workforce losses, reductions in force and years of uncertainty. Thousands of positions have been lost and only a fraction have been restored. Remaining federal employees continue to serve the American people under increasingly difficult circumstances. These public servants are not asking for special treatment. They are asking for the ability to continue carrying out the work Congress has entrusted them to perform. I urge you to oppose any further cuts, reductions in force, hiring freezes or elimination of CDC programs. The nation cannot afford to continue weakening the very systems that protect families, children, older adults and communities from preventable illness, disability and death. I am particularly concerned about the future of birth defects prevention and infant health activities. The committee report preserves the Birth Defects line at $19 million, but removes specific references to certain activities that have historically supported prevention efforts. Congress should maintain all current FY2026 funding lines and directives related to birth defects prevention, infant health and folic acid education and outreach. Birth defects prevention is not optional. Before folic acid fortification and widespread prevention efforts, thousands of babies were born each year with neural tube defects, including anencephaly, a devastating condition in which major portions of the brain and skull do not develop properly and the brain is outside the baby’s head with only hours to live. Many affected infants die before or shortly after birth. Prevention efforts have helped reduce these outcomes and remain one of the most successful public health interventions in modern history. There is no comparable national program ready to replace this work if it is weakened or eliminated. The expertise, partnerships, surveillance systems and prevention programs built over decades cannot simply be recreated once they are lost. Congress must fully fund CDC programs, preserve birth defects prevention and infant health activities, protect the federal workforce that remains and reject additional cuts that would leave our nation less prepared to address current and future health threats. The American people deserve a strong public health system. I urge you to strengthen this bill and protect the programs that save lives every day. Sincerely,