WILMINGTON, Del. – U.S. Senator Chris Coons (D-Del.), chair of the Senate Foreign Relations Subcommittee on African Affairs, welcomed the President’s appointment of Ron Klain as the coordinator of the U.S. government’s response to the spread of Ebola. Senator Coons had urged the President to appoint an Ebola coordinator in a speech on the Senate floor on September 11, 2014.
“The sheer enormity of the challenge of protecting Americans from the spread of Ebola in the United States and stopping the outbreak in West Africa requires a clearly defined coordinator tasked with managing our response. Coordinating the government’s massive international response to this situation needs to be someone’s full-time job, not a task competing for attention with other global crises.
“Ron Klain is a qualified and capable leader respected throughout the government. He is a brilliant strategist and is known for his ability to manage large, complex operations. Ron also understands the importance of clear communications to the containment of a crisis like this. Ron has my trust and confidence, and I’m glad the President has selected him for this critical responsibility.”