Every worker deserves to come home alive. That’s the simple truth. But right now, over 90% of the staff at the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) are facing termination. If Congress allows this to happen, more Americans will die needlessly on the job.

NIOSH isn’t just another agency. It protects coal miners from black lung, monitors 9/11 survivors for chronic disease, and sets the scientific standards that keep our workplaces safe. It exists to prevent tragedy—not to respond after it’s too late.

The scientists warning us now are experts with decades of experience. They’re sounding the alarm because they know what will happen if NIOSH is dismantled: preventable injuries, lifelong illnesses, and deaths that could have been stopped. Gutting this agency isn’t streamlining government—it’s sacrificing lives for the sake of politics.

We urge Congress to act immediately: fully fund NIOSH, keep it within the CDC, and reject any budget that would erase its life-saving mission.

Workers built this country. Let’s not abandon them.