Relating to Consideration of the Senate Amendment to H.R. Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2016

Floor Speech

(Mr. McGOVERN asked and was given permission to revise and extend his remarks.)

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Mr. McGOVERN. Mr. Speaker, let me start by saying how disappointed I am by the inadequate and long overdue response by this Republican majority to the Zika crisis.

With nearly 1,400 Americans, including more than 275 pregnant women who are currently infected with the virus and well over a million cases expected before the end of the year, it is absolutely shameful that this House has failed to act on legislation to adequately fund a response to this potentially devastating crisis.

Mr. Speaker, Zika is not coming to the United States. It is here. As summer arrives, along with mosquito season, the mosquito that carries the Zika virus will be active and knocking on the doors of our southern States and territories.

This is an emergency, and it should be treated as such. But my friends on the other side of the aisle have spent months in delaying action and in making excuse after excuse after excuse about why we don't need to provide the full funding that our Nation's public health experts say we need.

I appreciate the fact that my friends on the other side of the aisle consider themselves public health experts, but there are people who are trained to be public health experts who tell us that what we are doing here today is underfunding an adequate response to this crisis.

I suppose I shouldn't be surprised by this, as my friends in the majority have made it a habit of ignoring the advice of scientists and of experts in favor of appeasing a small group in their Conference on the extreme right.

In February, President Obama requested $1.9 billion to address the public health threat that is posed by the Zika virus. Instead of taking the swift action that was needed to confront this crisis, the House delayed and delayed and delayed as the Zika crisis continued to spread.

We should have sent a bill to President Obama's desk months ago, but, instead, this leadership allowed months to go by without there being any action on this issue until last week, when they brought to the floor a completely inadequate $622 million package that provides only one-third of the funds that have been requested by the administration.

House Democrats, under the leadership of Leader Pelosi and Appropriations Committee Ranking Member Lowey, have tried to bring to the floor meaningful emergency funding to address Zika, only to be blocked by House Republicans five times.

While the administration has taken significant steps to help keep Americans safe from the Zika virus, significant additional appropriations are needed. In a letter to Speaker Ryan, OMB Director Shaun Donovan and National Security Advisor Susan Rice said, without emergency supplemental funding, mosquito control and surveillance may need to be suspended.

State and local governments that manage mosquito control may not be able to hire personnel for mosquito mitigation efforts, and vaccine developments, which require multiyear funding commitments, may be jeopardized.

To make matters worse, Mr. Speaker, House Republicans sent to the floor last week and again this week a bill to undermine the Clean Water Act and protections for our waterways under the guise of helping to contain the Zika virus.

But the truth of the matter is that the legislation is nothing more than a carve-out for pesticide special interests and it would have absolutely no effect on spraying pesticides to combat the spread of the Zika virus.

It is a bill my friends have brought to the floor in the past, but they just couldn't help themselves in using this crisis as an excuse to further undermine environmental protections.

Instead of working with Democrats to address this public health emergency in a serious bipartisan way that puts the health and safety of the American people first, the Republican leadership has once again brought to the floor partisan legislation that will not adequately meet the needs of the CDC, of the NIH, of the USAID, and of other governmental agencies that are on the front lines in responding to this crisis.

Let me close, Mr. Speaker, by saying that I have great respect for the gentleman from Oklahoma. When he says that he intends to support every effort to make sure that adequate funding is available, if I thought this whole decision were up to him alone, I don't think I would be as nervous as I am at this particular point, but his party that is in control has shut this government down.

We have seen them lurch from one crisis to another crisis and underfund one priority after another priority. Quite frankly, I don't trust the people who are running this House to do the right thing, to be able to get a majority of their majority to go along with providing the appropriate funding.

Yes, we all want to be fiscally responsible, but let me tell you this: if all you are worried about is the bottom line--and that is the cost--by not adequately funding what is needed to combat this crisis, the costs that will result if this crisis gets out of control will be prohibitive. You ain't seen nothing yet.

So we can nickel-and-dime this all we want, but we do so at our own peril. We ought to be concerned primarily with the safety and well- being of the citizens of this country.

But if that is not enough to prompt my friends on the other side of the aisle to support the President's request, I would suggest that the cost of ignoring this problem of not adequately funding an appropriate response will be a cost like you have never seen before.

I urge my colleagues to defeat this rule and to bring up strong bipartisan legislation that will fully fund the administration's request. This is a public health emergency, and we must act now.

I think what we are concerned about on this side of the aisle--and I know some thoughtful Republicans are also concerned about this--is the fact that, without certainty, a lot of the research projects and a lot of initiatives that need to be done at the Federal and State levels will not happen because no one knows whether the money is going to follow for what is needed.

I think there is a lack of certainty because we are in a House of Representatives that has shut the government down before. If people don't get their way, people have a tantrum and they shut the government down. That is the history of this House of Representatives.

I quote here from Dr. Anthony Fauci, the Director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases at the National Institutes of Health, whom I actually have a great deal of trust in.

He says:

If we do not get the money that the President has asked for--the $1.9 billion--that is going to have a very serious, negative impact on our ability to get the job done.

That is Dr. Fauci. That is not I. That is a highly respected scientist, whom I think we all have a great deal of respect for in this House. We ought to listen to him more than to the Tea Party wing of the Republican Party.

Mr. Speaker, I ask my friends to defeat the previous question. If we do, I will offer an amendment to the rule that modifies the House amendment by replacing the Zika virus provisions with the text of H.R. 5044, which is the Democratic alternative that fully funds the administration's request.

The Republican majority's current plan is to pass creatively named bills that have nothing to do with Zika and to offer short-term spending commitments that will, unfortunately, fail to properly incentivize the private sector to help develop a vaccine.

Our alternative would give our scientists and our doctors the resources they need to mount a longer-term, robust response to the growing Zika crisis.

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Mr. McGOVERN. Mr. Speaker, to discuss our proposal, I yield 4 minutes to the gentlewoman from New York (Mrs. Lowey), the distinguished ranking member of the Committee on Appropriations.

I have great respect for the gentleman from Pennsylvania, and I agree with him that there are a lot of issues that he has championed here.

He used the words ``regular order.'' We have no allocations, no budget resolution. We know that many of the appropriations bills will never see the light of day on the House floor. There will be this mad rush after the election to put together some big omnibus package that most people will never be able to read. If that is regular order, we have a very strong difference of opinion of what regular is all about.

Mr. Speaker, I insert into the Record a letter that was sent to the House leadership signed by close to 70 health organizations--every major health organization in the country--calling for new funding rather than repurposing money from other high-priority programs to combat Zika, also supporting the President's request. It talks about how we have a brief window of opportunity to slow the spread of the Zika virus and avert a wave of preventable birth defects and urging Congress to act certainly in a much more aggressive way than what we are doing here today. April 5, 2016. Hon. Paul Ryan, Speaker, House of Representatives, Washington, DC. Hon. Fred Upton, Chairman, Committee on Energy and Commerce, Washington, DC. Hon. Hal Rogers, Chairman, Committee on Appropriations, Washington, DC. Hon. Nancy Pelosi, Minority Leader, House of Representatives, Washington, DC. Hon. Frank Pallone, Ranking Member, Committee on Energy and Commerce, Washington, DC. Hon. Nita Lowey, Ranking Member, Committee on Appropriations, Washington, DC.

Dear Speaker Ryan and Minority Leader Pelosi, Chairman Upton and Representative Upton, and Chairman Rogers and Representative Lowey: The undersigned organizations committed to the health and wellbeing of our nation's families and communities urge you in the strongest terms to immediately provide emergency supplemental funding to prepare for and respond to the Zika virus here in the United States. We also urge that Congress provide new funding rather than repurpose money from other high priority programs at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and other federal agencies that ensure our health security and public health preparedness.

As you know, the Zika virus has been linked to microcephaly, a serious birth defect of the brain, in babies of mothers who contracted the virus while pregnant. Thousands of devastating birth defects have been observed among infants born in South and Central America in recent months. Zika has already been diagnosed in travelers returning to the U.S. from these areas. As the summer months approach and we enter mosquito season, our nation can expect to be exposed to mosquitos that can spread this virus. Over four million babies are born in our nation each year, and many of their mothers could be at risk for contracting Zika during pregnancy.

With emergency supplemental funding to respond to the Zika virus, state and local public health professionals would have access to increased virus readiness and response capacity focused on areas with ongoing Zika transmission; enhanced laboratory, epidemiology and surveillance capacity in at-risk areas to reduce the opportunities for Zika transmission and surge capacity through rapid response teams to limit potential clusters of Zika virus in the United States. Moreover, supplemental funding will assist the CDC and USAID in efforts to contain the Zika virus in Zika-endemic countries and ensure that there are resources for surveillance, vector control and services for affected pregnant women and children.

If we take immediate action, we may be able to dramatically slow the spread of Zika, giving scientists time to develop and test a vaccine. Without action, however, we fear the number of newborns born with debilitating birth defects will only continue to rise. In addition to the human toll on children and families, the CDC estimates that the average lifetime cost of caring for each child born with microcephaly will likely be millions of dollars per child. For hard-hit communities, an epidemic of severe birth defects could quickly overwhelm health care and social services systems, and put extreme pressure on educational and other institutions.

The President has requested emergency funding to educate Americans about protecting themselves, reduce the mosquito population, and accelerate Zika vaccine research. Each of these steps is vital to reducing the likelihood that pregnant women will be exposed to the Zika virus.

Our nation has a brief window of opportunity to slow the spread of the Zika virus and avert a wave of preventable birth defects. We urge you to act immediately to provide the emergency resources necessary to protect pregnant women, infants and children from this devastating infection. Sincerely,

Academic Pediatric Association, American Academy of Family Physicians, American Academy of Pediatrics, American Association for Clinical Chemistry, American Association for Pediatric Ophthalmology and Strabismus, American College of Nurse-Midwives, American College of Preventive Medicine, American Congress of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, American Medical Association, American Nurses Association, American Pediatric Society, American Public Health Association, American Sexual Health Association, American Society for Clinical Pathology, American Society for Reproductive Medicine, Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology, Association of Maternal & Child Health Programs, Association of Medical School Pediatric Department Chairs, Association of Public Health Laboratories, Association of Reproductive Health Professionals, Association of Schools and Programs of Public Health, Association of State and Territorial Health Officials, Association of Women's Health, Obstetric and Neonatal Nurses.

Children's Environmental Health Network, Children's Hospital Association, Commissioned Officers Association of the U.S. Public Health Service, Inc., Cooley's Anemia Foundation, Council of State and Territorial Epidemiologists, Easter Seals, Every Child By Two, First Candle, GBS/CIDP Foundation International, Healthcare Ready, HIV Medicine Association, Infectious Diseases Society of America, Intrexon, Johnson & Johnson, March of Dimes, National Association of County and City Health Officials, National Birth Defects Prevention Network, National Association of Pediatric Nurse Practitioners, National Council of La Raza, National Environmental Health Association, National Foundation for Infectious Diseases, National Hispanic Medical Association, National Medical Association.

National Network of Public Health Institutes, National Organization for Rare Disorders, National Partnership for Women & Families, National Recreation and Park Association, Novavax, Inc., Nurse Practitioners in Women's Health, OraSure Technologies, Inc., Oregon Public Health Association, Pediatric Infectious Diseases Society, Pediatric Policy Council, Public Health Institute, Research!America, Resolve: The National Infertility Association, Save Babies Through Screening Foundation Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America, Society for Maternal-Fetal Medicine, Society for Pediatric Research, Society for Women's Health Research, The Arc, The Newborn Foundation, Trisomy 18 Foundation, Trust for America's Health.

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Mr. McGOVERN. Wasserman Schultz), the ranking member of the Appropriations Subcommittee on the Legislative Branch.

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Mr. McGOVERN. Lowey).

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Mr. McGOVERN. Mr. Speaker, let me just again make clear so that everybody understands this that this House Republican Zika bill provides less than one-third of the funds requested by the President to respond to the Zika threat. The House bill also cuts the request for research and development of vaccines, treatments, and diagnostics by $132 million, or 28.4 percent.

The House bill does not replace the more than $40 million taken from States and cities for public health and emergency preparedness that HHS was forced to move into the Zika response due to the inaction by Congress. The House bill also does not replace the more than $500 million taken from Ebola funds that HHS was forced to move into Zika response due to Congress' inaction.

Finally, to make matters worse, the House bill rescinds $622 million to pay for the Zika package, including taking an additional $352 million from Ebola. So the total being taken from Ebola efforts under the House Republican approach reaches nearly $900 million.

Now, I appreciate the fact that we don't want to keep on adding to our national credit card, but we have no problem adding tens of billions of dollars to the national credit card for war.

Well, this is also a war, a war for the health and welfare of the American people and for the health and welfare of many women and children in this country. This is a big deal. This is an emergency. Shame on us for not stepping up to the plate and doing what is right.

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Mr. McGOVERN. Pelosi), the Democratic leader.

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Mr. McGOVERN. DeLauro), the ranking member of the Appropriations Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies.
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Mr. McGOVERN.

Mr. Speaker, Dr. Thomas Frieden, the Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, just recently said in response to the way this House has handled funding for the Zika crisis:

``This is no way to fight an epidemic. Three months is an eternity for control of an outbreak. There is a narrow window of opportunity here and it's closing. Every day that passes makes it harder to stop Zika.''

So whether it is Dr. Frieden, or Dr. Fauci, or any of our Nation's leading scientists or medical experts who all say that what is going on here today is grossly inadequate, my friends on the other side of the aisle seem to think that they know more than our scientists and medical experts; at least they have convinced themselves that they know more.

Well, they haven't convinced me and they haven't convinced the majority of the American people who are watching this in disbelief.

This is an emergency. This is a crisis. Why aren't we acting more aggressively?

I include in the Congressional Record a letter to Congress from the Director of the Office of Management and Budget, and our National Security Adviser, in which they talk about the importance of multi-year funding, long-term funding because they have multiyear commitments that they need to make to the private sector in order to prioritize Zika, in order to develop vaccines and other prevention to protect the American people. The White House, Washington, DC, April 26, 2016. Hon. Paul D. Ryan, Speaker, House of Representatives, Washington, DC.

Dear Speaker Ryan: As you are aware, on February 22, the Administration transmitted to Congress its formal request for $1.9 billion in emergency supplemental funding to address the public health threat posed by the Zika virus. Sixty-four days have passed since this initial request; yet still Congress has not acted.

Since the time the Administration transmitted its request, the public health threat posed by the Zika virus has increased. After careful review of existing evidence, scientists at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) concluded that the Zika virus is a cause of microcephaly and other severe fetal brain defects. The Zika virus has spread in Puerto Rico, American Samoa, the U.S. Virgin Islands and abroad. As of April 20, there were 891 confirmed Zika cases in the continental United States and U.S. territories, including 81 pregnant women with confirmed cases of Zika. Based on similar experiences with other diseases transmitted by the Aedes aegypti mosquito--believed to be the primary carrier of the Zika virus--scientists at the CDC expect there could be local transmission within the continental U.S. in the summer months. Updated estimate range maps show that these mosquitoes have been found in cities as far north as San Francisco, Kansas City and New York City.

In the absence of action from Congress to address the Zika virus, the Administration has taken concrete and aggressive steps to help keep America safe from this growing public health threat. The Administration is working closely with State and local governments to prepare for outbreaks in the continental United States and to respond to the current outbreak in Puerto Rico and other U.S. territories. We are expanding mosquito control surveillance and laboratory capacity; developing improved diagnostics as well as vaccines; supporting affected expectant mothers, and supporting other Zika response efforts in Puerto Rico, the U.S. territories, the continental United States, and abroad. These efforts are crucial, but they are costly and they fall well outside of current agency appropriations. To meet these immediate needs, the Administration conducted a careful examination of existing Ebola balances and identified $510 million to redirect towards Zika response activities. We have also redirected an additional $79 million from other activities. This reprogramming, while necessary, is not without cost. It is particularly painful at a time when state and local public health departments are already strained.

While this immediate infusion of resources is necessary to enable the Administration to take critical first steps in our response to the public health threat posed by Zika, it is insufficient. Without significant additional appropriations this summer, the Nation's efforts to comprehensively respond to the disease will be severely undermined. In particular, the Administration may need to suspend crucial activities, such as mosquito control and surveillance in the absence of emergency supplemental funding. State and local governments that manage mosquito control and response operations will not be able to hire needed responders to engage in mosquito mitigation efforts. Additionally, the Administration's ability to move to the next phase of vaccine development, which requites multi-year commitments from the Government to encourage the private sector to prioritize Zika research and development, could be jeopardized. Without emergency supplemental funding, the development of faster and more accurate diagnostic tests also will be impeded. The Administration may not be able to conduct follow up of children born to pregnant women with Zika to better understand the range of Zika impacts, particularly those health effects that are not evident at birth. The supplemental request is also needed to replenish the amounts that we are now spending from our Ebola accounts to fund Zika-related activities. This will ensure we have sufficient contingency funds to address unanticipated needs related to both Zika and Ebola. As we have seen with both Ebola and Zika, there are still many unknowns about the science and scale of the outbreak and how it will impact mothers, babies, and health systems domestically and abroad.

The Administration is pleased to learn that there is bipartisan support for providing emergency funding to address the Zika crisis, but we remain concerned about the adequacy and speed of this response. To properly protect the American public, and in particular pregnant women and their newborns, Congress must fund the Administration's request of $1.9 billion and find a path forward to address this public health emergency immediately. The American people deserve action now. With the summer months fast approaching, we continue to believe that the Zika supplemental should not be considered as part of the regular appropriations process, as it relates to funding we must receive this year in order to most effectively prepare for and mitigate the impact of the virus.

We urge you to pass free-standing emergency supplemental funding legislation at the level requested by the Administration before Congress leaves town for the Memorial Day recess. We look forward to working with you to protect the safety and health of all Americans. Sincerely, Shaun Donovan,

Director, The Office of Management and Budget. Susan Rice,

National Security Advisor.

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Mr. McGOVERN. Mr. Speaker, what we are doing here today represents a failure, a miserable failure. This represents a failure of this Congress to do everything humanly possible to protect the people of this country. It is shameful. It is unbelievable.

A rigid, right-wing ideology is trumping common sense, is trumping doing what is right, what I think most of my colleagues on the other side of the aisle understand.

We need to aggressively fight this crisis. And here is the deal: if we don't get this right, all the talk about fiscal responsibility and controlling the debt goes out the window because the cost of this crisis getting out of control is astronomical.

Mr. Speaker, my friends on the other side of the aisle can explain away or rationalize or justify this inadequate response all they want, but it is reckless and irresponsible.

And for the life of me, I can't understand why on this issue, as we are confronted with this health crisis, we all can't come together and do what is right.

When it comes to wars halfway around the world, nobody cares about paying for it; but when it comes to a war to confront a healthcare epidemic, crisis, to confront an epidemic, my friends can't find the money.

Please vote ``no'' on the previous question so we can actually have an amendment to properly fund this. I urge my colleagues to vote ``no'' on the previous question and ``no'' on the rule.

I yield back the balance of my time.

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Mr. McGOVERN. Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.

The yeas and nays were ordered.

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