Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2016

Floor Speech

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Ms. HIRONO. Mr. President, our Nation is facing a serious threat to public health. The Zika virus has the potential to be a major public health crisis. According to the Centers for Disease Control, there are over 500 cases in the United States, including 9 in Hawaii. Currently, all of these cases are travel-related. There are 700 cases in U.S. territories, almost all of which were locally acquired. Summer, which is the peak travel season and peak mosquito season, is almost upon us. Every year, 40 million Americans travel to Zika-affected countries. It is just a matter of time before the threat of locally transmitted Zika becomes a reality in the United States.

Although the President sent his emergency funding request to fight Zika to Congress more than 3 months ago, I am glad to see Democrats and Republicans coming together now to prevent a major U.S. Zika outbreak. Public health experts at the Centers for Disease Control, Department of Health and Human Services, and elsewhere in the administration have said that $1.9 billion is needed to fight the Zika virus.

During the Senate's last State work period, I met with Hawaii researchers and health care providers, who agreed that we need this Federal funding to get ahead of Zika. This funding would go toward our vector-control programs, education, and vaccine development.

I visited a Hawaii company--Hawaii Biotech--that is working on a Zika vaccine. This company has a proven track record in developing vaccines. Hawaii Biotech has spent months working to develop a Zika vaccine using private funding. At this critical point of vaccine development, Dr. Elliott Parks and his team at Hawaii Biotech agree that a public infusion of funds will help them get over the finish line.

I also had the opportunity to visit with Governor David Ige, the Hawaii director of health, and health care providers. They all shared one message: that Federal funding is critical to getting ahead of a widespread Zika outbreak.

The funding we are voting on today could help companies like Hawaii Biotech develop a much needed Zika vaccine. It would help States like mine increase mosquito control and awareness on Zika.

Zika is not the benign virus we once thought it was, and funding only becomes more urgent as we learn about its harmful effects. Zika poses an imminent threat to pregnant women and, in reality, to all women of childbearing age. By now, we have all seen the harmful impacts Zika has on babies. The images and reports of babies born with microcephaly are heartbreaking. Zika can threaten our Nation's supply of donated blood. While blood banks across the country are working on methods to clean and test blood, they need funding to accelerate their research.

Congress can take steps to ensure the safety and well-being of all citizens. We can be proactive, not reactive, to impending threats such as Zika.

The Federal Government should play a leading role in coordinating and assisting local and State governments with mosquito control and supporting the latest research, much as we stepped up with Federal support when confronted with Ebola and avian flu.

While there are three Zika funding measures before us today, I strongly urge my colleagues to join me in voting yes on Senator Nelson's amendment to fully fund the President's request at $1.9 billion.

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