Affordable Quote by Sylvia Mathews Burwell
![“Certainly there was the Affordable Care Act part, then unaccompanied children [there has been a surge of children entering the country illegally and without parents, particularly in Texas], and things like, we find smallpox in an NIH lab, after 50 years? Why didn't you find it, like, five weeks…” quote by Sylvia Mathews Burwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/cf4/sylvia-mathews-burwell-15780_affordable_certainly-there-was-the-affordable-care_1069584.jpg)
“Certainly there was the Affordable Care Act part, then unaccompanied children [there has been a surge of children entering the country illegally and without parents, particularly in Texas], and things like, we find smallpox in an NIH lab, after 50 years? Why didn't you find it, like, five weeks ago or three years ago? There was thing after thing. But the big ones were [dealing with] the Ebola [outbreak], the unaccompanied children. [It was] perhaps a bigger challenge than I had calculated on my yellow pad as I was thinking about this role.”
About This Quote
Source Speech: Congressional testimony, 2014
The speaker describes multiple crises—healthcare, immigration, disease outbreaks—highlighting the complexity and unpredictability of public health challenges.
In simple terms: Multiple crises strain public health systems.
Key Takeaway
Prepare for varied, unexpected health emergencies.
Themes
public health
crisis management
policy
immigration
disease control
Mood
analytical
concerned
Type
policy
inspirational
When to use this quote
- government planning
- hospital preparedness
- immigration policy
- outbreak response
Key Concepts
systems thinking
risk assessment
leadership
Questions to Reflect On
- How can health systems improve rapid response?
- What policies balance immigration and public health?
A Different Perspective
Resources are limited; not all crises can be anticipated.
![“[AIDS ] is not a short-term emergency but it is something that, just like smallpox was many decades ago, we should aim for complete eradication.” quote by Bill Gates](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/2f7/bill-gates-137_aids_aids-is-not-a-short-term-emergency-but-i_1025884.jpg)
![“I had to sign the paper to shut down the government. It's terrible… [But] what the shutdown showed many, many people is the importance of the role of government. And as frustrated [as people get with] Washington, there are so many things [the government does] that are so important to people's…” quote by Sylvia Mathews Burwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/3d5/sylvia-mathews-burwell-15780_all-things_i-had-to-sign-the-paper-to-shut-down-the_323276.jpg)
![“I have been fortunate to work in places where people have a passion for their work. At HHS the passion sort of exceeds passion - it's a vocation… I obviously knew that there were certainly some challenges that I would be taking on both with the work and the politics. [But] I probably did not have…” quote by Sylvia Mathews Burwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/6f4/sylvia-mathews-burwell-15780_career_i-have-been-fortunate-to-work-in-places_1359107.jpg)
![“Senator [Tom] Cotton has campaigned on wanting to kill Obamacare. He voted to repeal the Affordable Care Act back in January, but he now says, despite these marathon all-night sessions going on in the House, Republicans need to do better, they need to start over, they need to come up with…” quote by Rachel Maddow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/ba0/rachel-maddow-1240_affordable_senator-tom-cotton-has-campaigned-on-wan_18158.jpg)
![“[Tom Cotton] has been an absolute champion of the idea of getting rid of Obamacare, scrapping the Affordable Care Act.” quote by Rachel Maddow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/a13/rachel-maddow-1240_absolutes_tom-cotton-has-been-an-absolute-champion_30724.jpg)
