[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 162 (2016), Part 5] [Senate] [Pages 6802-6803] [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]ZIKA VIRUS Mr. REID. Madam President, last Friday, as he should, President Obama gave the Nation an update on the fight against Zika, this virus that has become such a difficult issue to face. Here are the facts, as outlined by President Obama and reported by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention: As we speak, there are more than 500 confirmed cases of Zika in the continental United States. There are at least 800 confirmed cases of infection in Puerto Rico, and most experts believe the actual number is significantly higher. There are 279 pregnant women in the continental United States and territories who are being monitored for possible Zika infection. We have yet to confirm any local transmission from Zika-carrying mosquitoes in the continental United States. Remember, we have had an unseasonably cold spring. That means that a mosquito with Zika has not yet infected anyone on the mainland. But the public health experts tell us that is going to change as soon as it warms up, and it is nearing the warmup time now. It is only when the warm weather hits that the mosquitoes become active, and they really become active. These pests are capable of transmitting Zika and are in 39 States. Residents of our Nation's most populated cities--such as New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, and Houston--could be at risk of infection. This map says it all. There are some places where there is only one type of mosquito, and, of course, the worst is the blue, as shown on the map. But there are places where there is a mixture of mosquitoes. There are two kinds of mosquitoes that cause a problem. It is spread to people primarily through the body of an infected mosquito. But look where it goes--from Maine to Texas, even reaching into Northern California, Las Vegas, and we see red up there, in Boulder, CO. So it is a concern, a real concern. For pregnant women, contracting Zika could mean devastating birth defects for their children, as we know, with these tiny little heads and underdeveloped brains and collapsed skulls. For others, the dangers of Zika range from possible nervous system disorders and potential paralysis to minor symptoms such as rashes and fever like the flu. This is the threat that Republicans in Congress have been ignoring for many months now. Back in February--we are fast approaching June. In February, President Obama sent an emergency appropriations request to Congress for almost $2 billion--$1.9 billion is the exact figure--to fight Zika. It wasn't some number that he picked out of a hat. This is a figure that researchers, public health experts, and doctors explicitly requested, and $1.9 billion is what our country needs. That is the number that I support and Democrats support. Anything less than that is simply not enough. Republicans did nothing in response to the President's request, letting weeks and weeks go by as the number of infected Americans grew. Because of Republicans' refusal to allocate Zika funding, President Obama had to act. He did the only thing he could do: He used $510 million in Ebola money to fight the spread of Zika. It was 18 months ago that we were first hit with the Ebola scare. It was a scare--and rightfully so. We were panicked about Ebola. Americans had been infected with this awful disease. But the only thing we could do was to do more to find out how we could stop it with a vaccine and with other treatments. It takes money to do that. But to take more than half a billion dollars of Ebola money and fight the spread of Zika is taking from Peter to pay Paul. What choice did President Obama have? They were ignoring his pleas for help. Now that they can no longer ignore Zika, Republicans in Congress are reluctantly going through the motions of providing funding. As my friend the Republican leader said, we have taken care of Zika here on the floor--how wrong, how misleading. The Senate agreed to provide $1.1 billion--about half of what President Obama requested. But everyone knows that is not going to do the trick because that money is not going to be coming until sometime this fall. To make matters worse, the Senate-passed $1.1 billion package would do nothing to pay back the Ebola money. It would pay back a tiny fraction of the $510 million in Ebola funds that are so necessary to continue the work on Ebola. The Senate's $1.1 billion is also wrapped up in the appropriations process. Appropriations bills take months to get done. By the time it gets to the President's desk, it will be fall. We will know by then how much damage has [[Page 6803]] been done because of the Republicans' inability and refusal to help us with that money. The American people should not have to wait that long. That is why Senate Democrats have repeatedly come to the floor and asked that we move to a Zika funding package as a stand-alone bill, separating from the very slow and tedious appropriations process. But each time, Republican leadership has objected. Senate Republicans don't want to expedite the issue. They would prefer that our response to Zika be wrapped up in a drawn-out appropriations process. Our Nation cannot afford the unnecessary delay. House Republicans could not even pass a budget. Now we are depending on them to pass an appropriations bill before we do anything on Zika. They don't have a budget. These are the same House Republicans who last week passed legislation to give President Obama a third--$622 million-- of what the President asked. In fact, it is a little less than a third. Guess what. Guess where they are going to get that money. They are going to take it by raiding more Ebola money. Our Nation has spent the last 2 years fighting Ebola. But although we have been successful in responding to Ebola, it remains a threat. We do not have the ability to handle that disease. Last week, the White House reported that CDC officials in West Africa are processing 10,000 new Ebola samples a month. We can't afford to drop our guard on Ebola. That is what the Republicans are telling us to do. If we take these funds away from our Nation's response to the Ebola virus and we use them instead to underfund our response to Zika, we are ensuring that our defenses against both are inadequate. That is irresponsible and terribly dangerous. I don't understand the Republicans' refusal to take Zika seriously. Why do they refuse to listen to the experts who tell us they need the full $1.9 billion to be able to fight this devastating virus? It is as if the Republicans are betting that Zika will not be a disaster--like the horse race we had in Baltimore on Saturday. This is not a bet. It is as if they are betting against all the experts at the CDC and NIH who say the Zika virus is a real threat to Americans. They are saying it is a real threat to Americans because it is. Instead of gambling with the health and safety of millions of Americans, Republicans should give our Nation the money it needs to fight Zika, and they should do it now--not next month, not in the fall but now. As the President said on Friday, we in Congress should not leave for the Memorial Day break without having taken care of this issue. He is so right. We have been on record for weeks saying the same thing. We don't need more time off. We already hold the record for working less time. This Senate is working less time than any Congress in the last six or seven decades. We don't need more time off. So next week, rather than taking some time off, let's get the legislation to the White House appropriating that money. We have time to get out ahead of Zika, but we need to do it now. That window is rapidly closing by the day. Let's work together and do it now--Democrats and Republicans--to give our Nation the tools it needs to keep the American people safe from the virus. Right now, we are not safe. ____________________