Republicans in the House and Senate have proposed new travel restrictions in response to the ongoing Ebola crisis, according to Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL), lead sponsor of a Senate bill that would create a temporary visa ban for nationals who are habitual residents of countries where there is "widespread transmission of Ebola."
Rubio's bill, which is cosponsored by Sens. Chuck Grassley (R-IA), Pat Roberts (R-KS), John Thune (R-SD), and Mark Kirk (R-IL), is called the "Keeping America Safe from Ebola Act of 2014." A companion bill has been introduced in the House of Representatives by Rep. Mike Kelly (R-PA).
"Imposing travel restrictions is a commonsense approach to protecting Americans from Ebola," Rubio said in a statement. "Over the past few months, we've seen Ebola's deadly reach, and air travel has proven to be its gateway to the United States. A temporary visa ban aims to limit the spread of Ebola by placing strict limitations on travel to the U.S. from Ebola-affected countries and protect Americans from any potential threats of an outbreak ... America will not be completely safe from Ebola until the virus is contained at its source."
The travel industry opposes Rubio's legislation and argues for a "science-based" approach to Ebola policy.
"The U.S. travel community continues to heed the overwhelming consensus of health and security experts, which is that a travel ban intended to halt the spread of Ebola would be ineffective at best and possibly harmful to efforts to contain the outbreak," said U.S. Travel Association President and CEO Roger Dow. "The public has made clear its level of concern about Ebola both here and abroad, and debating the proper policy response in the clear light of day is a proper and healthy thing. But as Congress considers this issue, we fervently hope that science and empirical data will hold sway over any new measures, as they have over the policy steps taken by the federal government so far."
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