Legislative Branch Appropriations Act, 2017
Floor Speech
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Ms. DeLAURO. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of this continuing resolution, though I prefer full-year funding for all of the government rather than just through December 9. It is good that this bill funds veterans and military construction programs through next year.
While I am pleased that the bill includes $1.1 billion for the Zika public health emergency, I am very disappointed that this funding comes 7 months after the President's emergency request and is $800 million short. Zika is a public health crisis that has waited too long to be funded.
Congress should have provided this funding before local transmission began in Florida and in Puerto Rico. Zika is long from over, and we will need to provide additional resources to combat the Zika virus in the future.
In the interim, this supplemental does address some critical Zika- related needs in the U.S. and its territories. It includes $126 million for healthcare services, including, yes, contraceptive services for Puerto Rico and the territories to help nearly 20,000 people infected with Zika, including more than 1,300 pregnant women. Another $400 million in the Zika supplemental is for advanced research and development at NIH and BARDA, which will support clinical trials of vaccine candidates and advanced diagnostics.
I am pleased that State and local health departments, which are under severe financial strain, will be reimbursed for $44 million that was taken from their budgets earlier this year.
I am disappointed that we are not providing the people of Flint, Michigan, with immediate relief after failing to provide emergency resources for over a year. While I support quickly providing emergency assistance to Louisiana, we should do the same to assist the people of Flint--9,000 children, lead poisoning. I hope that the chairman will have that same commitment to Flint, Michigan, as he does to Louisiana.
I am also disappointed that this bill contains almost half a percent across-the-board funding cuts. We can and must do better going forward.
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