Zika Response Appropriations Act, 2016

Floor Speech

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Ms. CASTOR of Florida. Mr. Speaker, I have a motion to recommit at the desk.

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Ms. CASTOR of Florida. I am opposed to the bill.

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Ms. CASTOR of Florida. Mr. Speaker and Members, this is the final amendment to the bill. It will not kill the bill or send it back to committee. We don't have time for that. If it is adopted, the bill will immediately proceed to final passage, as amended.

Mr. Speaker, America has a public health emergency at its doorstep, and it requires a robust and urgent response. Yet the Republican bill utterly fails to deal with the emergency posed by the rapidly spreading Zika virus, and it leaves our neighbors and our communities at risk.

So the amendment I am offering today provides the resources requested by our public health experts and researchers to combat Zika, the $1.9 billion to help prevent, detect, and respond to Zika in contrast to the paltry $622 million in the Republican bill.

I would like to thank Mrs. Lowey, Ms. DeLauro, Ms. Wasserman Schultz, Ms. Graham, Mr. Ruiz, and everyone. I would like to thank the March of Dimes, which is advocating for full funding, the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, and the American Academy of Pediatrics. Why? Microcephaly. Microcephaly is a severe brain abnormality that is now linked to the Zika virus, as are other anomalies where brain and skull development are affected.

We are talking about a lifetime of seizures and developmental delays, such as problems sitting, standing, walking, seeing, hearing, and feeding problems. Currently, there is no vaccine or treatment for the Zika infection.

Brazil has reported the highest incidence of microcephaly, with over 4,000 suspected cases tied to Zika.

Microcephaly has also been detected among women who contracted Zika in Colombia, Panama, and U.S. territories. In fact, in the U.S. and U.S. territories alone, we have 1,200 cases. Thirty-two of these are pregnant women, two cases of microcephaly. The Florida Department of Health says we have 120 Floridians diagnosed with Zika, including pregnant women.

Because there is no cure for the Zika virus, Congress must act to do everything we can to prevent it. We need the diagnostic tests, we need the vaccines, we need research, and we need tools for our communities back home. We have got to educate our neighbors.

This Republican bill is woefully inadequate. It puts our neighbors back home at risk and could subject us to huge economic risks as well.

Let's get specific. The GOP's Zika bill provides less than one-third of the funds requested by public health experts. I heard the Republican appropriators say they intend to do more next year. The mosquitos don't know that, do they? The mosquitos are not going to wait until next year.

That is unconscionable. It is unconscionable that such underfunding does not allow the development of vaccines, the diagnostics, and the research in birth defects. The most immediate needs are woefully underfunded in the Republican bill.

The CDC requested $740 million for public health activities like mosquito control. The House bill provides $120 million, 84 percent below the request. That means the CDC is not going to have adequate funding to assist our local communities. The House bill cuts the request by the National Institutes of Health for research and development of vaccines, treatments, and diagnostics by $132 million, or 28 percent.

The House bill completely neglects immediate needs of American citizens in Puerto Rico. The administration asked for $256 million. What does the Republican bill provide? Zero. Furthermore, the State Department and USAID will only get $119 million.

Now, if we learned anything from Ebola, it is that addressing the health threat overseas can be extremely effective, but you give it short shrift here.

Colleagues, this is a public health emergency, but it is not the only one. It is not the first one, and it will not be the last. It requires a serious, thoughtful response, one with adequate funding, not a feeble attempt to demonstrate you are trying to do something.

Now, not only will the GOP obstruction likely prove dire to the health of our neighbors, but there is going to be a huge economic impact as well. Currently, pregnant women and men who hope to have a baby are advised by CDC to avoid traveling to Brazil and other areas. What if there is a similar traveling advisory for the State of Florida, the Texas coast, New Orleans, Charleston, and Mobile, Alabama, all communities that rely on the tourism dollar, from small businesses to large? So you are asking not only for a public health emergency, but for an economic emergency as well.

Members, this call to action requires actual action. This call to action was made months ago. Your answer needs to be equal to our challenge. Please pass my amendment so that we can fully fund the Zika response. Don't give the short shrift Republican bill a hearing. Vote ``no'' on the bill vote and ``yes'' on the MTR.

I yield back the balance of my time. Point of Order

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Ms. CASTOR of Florida. Mr. Speaker, I appeal the ruling of the Chair.

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Ms. CASTOR of Florida. Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.

The yeas and nays were ordered.

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