STATEMENT OF ADMINISTRATION POLICY
H.R. 5243 – Zika Response Appropriations Act, 2016
(Rep. Rogers, R-KY)
The Administration
strongly opposes H.R. 5243, the Zika Response Appropriations Act of
2016. The Zika virus poses a serious public health threat. There is
active, mosquito-borne transmission of the Zika virus in approximately
50 countries, including U.S. Territories. The Zika virus is spreading
in Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, American Samoa and abroad, and
there will likely be mosquito-borne transmission within the continental
United States in the coming summer months. As of May 11, 2016, there
were more than 1,200 confirmed Zika cases in the continental United
States and U.S. Territories, including over 110 pregnant women with
confirmed cases of the Zika virus. Scientists
at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recently
concluded that the Zika virus is a cause of microcephaly and other
severe fetal brain defects. In addition, researchers are investigating
an association between the Zika virus and Guillain-Barré syndrome,
neurological disorders, and other adverse health outcomes.
The
Administration is committed to taking necessary steps, as quickly as
possible, to protect the American people from the Zika virus. In
February, the Administration submitted to the Congress a request
for $1.9 billion in emergency supplemental funding. In the absence of
timely action from the Congress, the Administration redirected existing
funds to scale up the urgent work necessary to address the Zika virus.
However, the redirected funds can only temporarily address what is
needed to support the full range of activities aimed at preventing,
detecting, and responding to further transmission of the Zika virus to
protect the American public.
While the Administration
appreciates that the Congress is finally taking action to address the
Zika virus, the funding provided in H.R. 5243 is woefully inadequate to
support the response our public health experts say is needed.
Specifically, the Administration's full request of $1.9 billion is
needed to: reduce the risk of the Zika virus, particularly in pregnant
women, by better controlling the mosquitoes that spread Zika; develop
new tools, including vaccines and better diagnostics to protect the
Nation from the Zika virus; and conduct crucial research projects needed
to better understand the impacts of the Zika virus on infants and
children.
In addition, the
Administration objects to the bill's use of previously-appropriated
funding as an offset. Funding to fight the Zika virus should be treated
as an emergency, the same as past public health emergencies such as the
Ebola and H1N1 viruses, and should not be offset. Furthermore,
rescinding additional funds previously designated for Ebola and other
important initiatives such as critical infrastructure funding would harm
the Nation's ability to address a range of urgent, emerging, and
ongoing health challenges. Ebola remains a global health threat, as
evidenced by recent cases in Guinea and Liberia, and Ebola funds must be
replenished to keep the disease from threatening our shores again. The
Administration also objects to the bill's limitation on funding only
through the end of fiscal year 2016. The CDC expects the health effects
of the Zika virus to last beyond September 30, 2016,
at which point the Department of Health and Human Services would no
longer have this funding for these activities and, given uncertainty
around the disease, funding could run out even sooner. Like prior
emergencies, the effort to protect the American people from the Zika
virus should not be funded incrementally.
The Administration urges the Congress to provide full emergency supplemental funding at the level requested by the President. If the President were presented with H.R. 5243, his senior advisors would recommend he veto the bill.
Source: Executive Office of the President, Office of Management and Budget
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