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Pallone: House Republicans Fail to Protect American Families with Inadequate Response to Zika Crisis

May 19, 2016

WASHINGTON, D.C.Congressman Frank Pallone, Jr. (NJ-6), the top Democrat on the House Energy and Commerce Committee, voted no on H.R. 5243, the Zika Response Appropriations Act, which passed the House of Representatives by a vote of 241-184. Pallone criticized House Republicans for providing less than one-third of the funds requested by President Obama to respond to the Zika threat and playing politics with an urgent public health issue. While the Administration requested $1.9 billion, the House bill reallocates only $622 million from existing sources to mitigate the imminent threat.

“I am deeply disappointed that the House of Republicans have failed to recognize the urgency of this growing public health crisis and protect American families,” said Pallone. “Zika represents a serious threat to global health and security, and we must address that threat decisively, not play politics. There is still much we do not know about the virus and its impacts on human health, so we need to give agencies including the CDC and NIH the resources they need to fully monitor the ongoing spread of this virus and find effective ways to combat it. Especially given the recent events in Puerto Rico we cannot afford for House Republicans to abdicate their responsibility to the American people and continue underfunding efforts to combat the Zika virus”

The World Health Organization has declared that the Zika virus, which has spread to the Americas and has been identified in 20 states, infecting more than 1,200 Americans, is a public health emergency. The virus is transmitted by mosquitos, and while only one-in-five people infected show symptoms, the health risks are severe. When Zika infects pregnant women, mother-to-child transmission can lead to miscarriage or certain birth defects, including microcephaly, in which a child is born with an abnormally small head and brain.

In March, Pallone questioned the nation’s top public health officials about the current efforts to combat the Zika virus, and the possible consequences if Congress does not approve the Obama administration’s emergency funding request to mitigate the risk by controlling mosquito populations and study and counteract the effects of the virus. Earlier this year he toured the Child Health Institute of New Jersey and held a discussion with public health and disease transmission experts from Rutgers University to hear from those studying conditions related to Zika. During the roundtable discussion, Pallone heard repeated calls to upgrade the nation’s health infrastructure so that researchers can more adequately respond to outbreaks of viruses that were once isolated, but are now spreading to more temperate climates due to increased travel and global warming.