Rep. Veasey Demands Critical Dallas County Funding be Restored to Contain Measles Outbreak in Texas
WASHINGTON, DC — Congressman Marc Veasey (TX-33), along with Congresswoman Julie Johnson (TX-33) and Congresswoman Jasmine Crockett (TX-30), demanded that $7.7 million in public health grants for Dallas County Health and Human Services (DCHHS) abruptly terminated by the Trump Administration be restored to address the measles outbreak that has reached the Dallas-Fort Worth area.
“DCHHS relied on this critical funding to safeguard public health in one of the most populous and fastest-growing metroplexes in the nation,” the Members wrote. “Stripping these resources without warning, amid a serious and unprecedented outbreak, significantly undermines Dallas County’s ability to respond to measles and other communicable diseases, placing millions of residents at immediate risk. We demand answers regarding this decision and urge the CDC to take swift corrective action to mitigate the harm caused by the revocation of these life-saving funds.”
In the midst of a surging measles epidemic, the revoked funding included three major pandemic grants totaling $70 million, including a Vaccination Capacity Grant that was being used to coordinate measles vaccination clinics throughout Dallas County. Without this grant, DCHHS has had to cancel these vaccination clinics, just as the first case of measles was reported in the Dallas-Fort Worth area in a middle-school child on April 23rd.
The members are demanding answers from CDC on why this critical funding was revoked in the middle of an unprecedented measles outbreak, and how DCHHS can have the funding restored, immediately.
To read the full letter, click here.