Washington, D.C. — U.S. Senator Chris Coons has recounted his personal experience in Liberia during the height of the deadly Ebola outbreak, slamming proposed cuts to humanitarian aid as "a most despicable act."

Speaking on the Senate floor, Senator Coons recalled his 2014 visit to Liberia--then the epicenter of the West African Ebola crisis--at the request of President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, a Nobel Peace Prize laureate.

"When Ebola raged in West Africa, I was the only member of Congress who traveled to Liberia at the time," Coons said. "I met a noble, brave, and proud leader of a nation facing devastating losses. Early projections feared that up to a fifth of the population might die within weeks."

The Delaware senator described the critical role the United States played in responding to the crisis. "It was Americans who came to help--Catholic Relief Services, World Vision--and I'll never forget meeting Alvin," Coons said. "He had dropped out of college to become a physician assistant. While caring for patients, he contracted Ebola."

Alvin, Coons recounted, was evacuated by American responders to an Ebola Treatment Unit built, equipped, and staffed by the U.S. government. "Whether it was Alvin or President Sirleaf herself, everyone I met praised the American people for their compassion--for showing up in their darkest hour."

But Coons expressed outrage at his Republican colleagues who were pushing for a US$9 billion cut--just one-tenth of one percent of the national budget--that would slash funding for global food aid and humanitarian programs. "This proposal isn't just cruel--it's a betrayal of the values that define us," he said. "To cut back on money we've already appropriated, aid that saves lives, is truly a most despicable act."