U.S. Sen. Raphael Warnock told a group of protesters assembled in front of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that “now is not the time to be silent.”

Warnock made his comments at what has now become a weekly rally outside the Clifton Road facility in the face of massive cuts to the agency by President Donald Trump’s administration. Tuesday’s rally was the largest gathering yet, as retired scientists, recently fired staff and supporters stood on both sides of the CDC’s main entrance, and on both facing corners across the street

“Many diseases that we are talking about disproportionally effect people in red states, many of whom are Donald Trump’s voters,” Warnock told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution after the rally. “I think now is a testing moment. The people of our state count on us in the halls of power, and they are counting on us to stand up for their children, and I will work with Republicans and Democrats and with anyone else who will listen.”

Warnock was joined by U.S. Rep. Hank Johnson in spotlighting the massive cuts to the CDC and the impact it might have on health in the United States and abroad. Georgia’s other Democratic senator, Jon Ossoff, did not attend.

Johnson called the CDC and its employees “the gold standard for public health globally.”

“Thank you for your contributions in making the world a safer place,” he told the crowd.

About 10,000 people across the entire U.S. Department of Health and Human Services have been let go since the Trump administration took office, the AJC reported. The CDC — which has lost a reported 2,400 of 12,000 employees — is a part of HHS.

“We are so proud that we represent the CDC,” Warnock said. “This is an organization that literally saves lives all over the country — and all over the world. Disease knows no boundaries, when you save lives abroad, you save them here.”

It has been difficult for news organizations and union officials to arrive at an exact number of fired employees because the federal government has not released an official tally, said Dr. David Fleming, a public health professional in the state of Washington and chairman of the Advisory Committee to the director of the CDC.

“As more information becomes available from those who have been affected, the magnitude is becoming more apparent,” Fleming said. “Unless rescinded, CDC as we knew it is gone. And the eventual effects extend well beyond CDC.”

Rob Tauxe, a retired CDC division director of food- and water-borne disease, said the CDC helped states and counties in working together to understand “the emergence of threats.”

“It’s painful to see these networks damaged like this.”

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