[Congressional Record Volume 162, Number 101 (Thursday, June 23, 2016)]
[Senate]
[Pages S4517-S4518]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                           ZIKA VIRUS FUNDING

  Mr. REID. Mr. President, I am glad to see the Presiding Officer is my 
colleague from Nevada.
  Yesterday I said Republicans should not play loose with Zika funding. 
What is Zika? For the first time in recorded history, we have 
mosquitoes that are causing birth defects. Mosquitoes have plagued this 
world for centuries--perhaps forever--but they have never ever caused 
birth defects. They have caused death and a lot of terrible sickness 
but never birth defects. Now they are moving forward. We need to do 
something to stop this dreaded spread of this virus.
  I said yesterday the Republicans shouldn't play loose with Zika 
funding, but that is exactly what they have done. We had an 
appropriations bill on the floor, and in that there were a number of 
things that were very important. We had money to do something about 
Zika. There was money in there for lots of different issues--a very 
broad bill, having a lot of things in it--one of our appropriations 
bills.
  The Republican agreement on the MILCON-VA is a disgrace. It is a 
mockery of how Congress should treat an emergency. The conference 
report was jammed through the House with no debate, with a rule that 
was questionable. They are supposed to give a certain number of days' 
notice on anything they do on the House floor. Of course, they did this 
within a few hours. We don't know the exact time, but it happened 
around 3 o'clock in the morning--something like that--when they jammed 
through this bill. That bill provides $1.1 billion in Zika funding, 
which is $800 million short of the President's request.
  Remember, the President's request was more than 4 months ago, and we 
have learned since then how awful the spread of this virus is. We knew 
quite a bit 4 months ago, but we know more now. There is a report also, 
in addition to being short in that respect--remember, this is an 
emergency bill as it relates to Zika. All emergencies--flood, fire, 
earthquake, all of the many things we face every year, we take care of 
as emergencies. It is part of the responsibilities of the American 
people that they pay for that, and they have always been happy to do 
it. When there was a situation with a devastating windstorm, a deluge 
of water with Katrina in Louisiana and all that part of the country--it 
doesn't matter what the emergency is, we have taken care of it in the 
past, but not this Republican Congress, no, no.
  They also, in this so-called conference report, stripped $120 million 
from Ebola funding. Remember, 2 years ago, Ebola was the thing that 
frightened Americans. All over America people were afraid of Ebola, 
this terrible disease originating in Africa. Well, 2 years have gone 
by, Ebola has been contained but not eliminated, and there is still, 
according to the National Institutes of Health and the Centers for 
Disease Control, lots and lots of work that needs to be done, but the 
Republicans keep taking away from the funding. It is really 
unfortunate, but that is not the half of it.
  They cut a half a billion dollars from the Affordable Care Act--
ObamaCare. The Republicans have tried 67 times to defund ObamaCare--67 
times--and that has failed, but the stripping of Ebola money and 
ObamaCare money--it gets worse than that.
  The conference report would completely undermine access to birth 
control for women in Zika-affected areas by restricting money for 
Planned Parenthood. This is all some women have. It is the only care 
they have, the only place they can go. So women are disproportionately 
affected by Zika. At a time when it is more important than ever for 
women to plan their families, we are appalled at this partisan attack 
on health centers women rely on to get the care they need.
  Instead of responding to this emergency that is threatening American 
women, Republicans are using this awful virus as an excuse for another 
attack on women's health. Republicans have voted repeatedly in this 
Congress to defund Planned Parenthood. The Republican Zika bill is just 
more of the same anti-women--something I am

[[Page S4518]]

sorry to say is part of the McConnell-Trump tactics we have found 
lately, but it gets worse even than what I have already outlined.
  Republicans slashed funding for veterans by one-half billion 
dollars--not million, $500 million--for veterans. It allows more 
pesticides into our environment. Republicans even used this conference 
report--listen to this one--to block the prohibition of Confederate 
flags at Federal facilities.
  We should be working together to fight Zika. We should be providing 
public health experts the tools they need to fight this virus.
  As we speak, we really don't know for sure because it changes daily, 
but there are almost 3,000 women who are now affected with the virus 
here in America, and 400 of them are pregnant. We have already had half 
a dozen born with birth defects.
  Rather than doing something to help the public health experts with 
the tools they need, Republicans turned an emergency spending request 
into a wish list for all the anti-women, anti-veterans, anti-
minorities, anti-environment, and anti-ObamaCare radicals in Congress.
  Last night, the Republicans took this monstrosity of a conference 
report, rammed it through the House in the dead of night with no 
debate, and then immediately went on vacation but only until July 5. Is 
this how we should treat an emergency? Of course not. Is this how we 
should respond to a health crisis? Of course not. Shame on Republicans 
for turning a public health emergency into a partisan, political show.

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