Last month, Senator Reverend Warnock demanded answers from Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy about the indiscriminate firings at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and how the centers’ life-saving functions will be impacted
Following the latest round of firings of largely Georgia-based CDC employees, Senator Reverend Warnock joined current and former employees at an Atlanta rally to demonstrate his support for their critical work
Senator Reverend Warnock has been a fierce ally of public health workers and their life saving work at the CDC
Senator Reverend Warnock: “This is an organization that literally saves lives all over the country — and all over the world. Disease knows no boundaries, when you save lives abroad, you save them here”
ICYMI from the Atlanta Journal-Constitution: Sen. Raphael Warnock at CDC: ‘Now is not the time to be silent’
ICYMI from 11 Alive: Sen. Warnock offers words of encouragement to protesters outside CDC offices
Watch Senator Reverend Warnock’s rally remarks HRE
Atlanta, GA – This week, U.S. Senator Reverend Raphael Warnock (D-GA) rallied behind current and former employees of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to show support for the Georgians who have been callously fired from their life-saving work at the public health institution. The Atlanta rally was organized by current and former CDC employees and the American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE).
Above: Senator Reverend Warnock at an Atlanta rally outside the CDC to show support for workers impacted by recent firings
Above: Senator Reverend Warnock meets one of his younger constituents
The rally follows the April 1 news of the Trump Administration firing more than 2,000 employees from the Atlanta-based CDC, many of whom are based in the metro Atlanta area and call Georgia home.
Above: Senator Reverend Warnock greets current and former CDC employees in Atlanta
The latest round of firings gutted 18% of the CDC’s workforce, impacting scientists focused on environmental health and asthma, lead poisoning, smoking and climate change, as well as researchers studying blood disorders, violence prevention and access to vaccines.The agency’s center on HIV and sexually transmitted diseases was among the hardest hit, losing about 27 percent of its staff.Most of the CDC’s Division of Reproductive Health, which studies maternal health and Black maternal health, was shuttered.
Above: Senator Reverend Warnock speaks at a rally in support of CDC workers
Last month, Senator Warnock demanded answers from Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy about the indiscriminate firings at the CDC and how the centers’ life-saving functions will be impacted by these firings. Last year, Senator Warnock visited the CDC in Atlanta, Georgia for the first time as Senator to learn about the agency’s efforts to protect public health, including work to combat the maternal mortality crisis and how federal funding plays a role in keeping Georgia and the country safe from infectious diseases. During Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy’s nomination hearing in committee, Senator Warnock spoke at length defending the importance of the CDC, which at its peak, employed over 10,000 hardworking Georgians. Shortly after, the Senator spoke for nearly an hour on the Senate floor, in large part in defense of the CDC’s critical work to defend public health and national security. The Senator continued to pressure HHS Secretary Kennedy to reverse the CDC firings.
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