Schatz, Senate Democrats Pen New Letter Seeking Passage of Zika Emergency Funding Request

Senator Brian Schatz at CDC Headquarters. Photo credit: CDC/Jim Gathany.

A new letter requesting the passing of President Obama’s emergency supplemental funding request of $1.9 billion for the prevention and treatment of the Zika virus outbreak was penned by Senator Brian Schatz, a member of the Senator Appropriation Subcommittee on Health and Human Services, along with other Senate Democrats on Monday.

The letter is addressed to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and Senate Appropriations Committee Chairman Thad Cochran.

Senator Schatz and Senate Democratic members ask that the Senate Appropriations committee mark-up the president’s emergency funding request as soon as possible to ensure swift passage by the full Senate and House.

In February, Senator Schatz, alongside 45 Senate Democrats, wrote a letter to President Barack Obama urging a coordinated inter-agency response plan to address the spread of the Zika virus in the county, as well as abroad. The president responded days later with a $1.8 billion request to congress, seeking emergency funding to aid in the combat against the zika virus.

President Obama’s request has not been answered.

In a release Monday, the Office of Senator Schatz outlines that 800 Americans in 40 states, the District of Columbia, and three U.S. Territories, 89 percent of which identified as pregnant women, have been infected by Zika.

“This renewed push by Senate Democrats comes on the heels of the CDC’s confirmation of the link between Zika infection during pregnancy and severe birth defects like microcephaly,” according to the release.

Senate Democrats signing the letter include: Senators Brian Schatz (D-Hawai‘i), Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.), Patty Murray (D-Wash.), Barbara Mikulski (D-Md.), Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.), Jack Reed (D-R.I.), Michael Bennet (D-Colo.), Tom Udall (D-N.M.), Mazie K. Hirono (D-Hawai‘i), Tammy Baldwin (D-Wisc.), Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.), Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.), Gary Peters (D-Mich.), Debbie Stabenow (D-Mich.), Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.), Bob Casey (D-Penn.), Tom Carper (D-Del.), Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) , Al Franken (D-Minn.), Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.), Bernard Sanders (I-Vt.), Bill Nelson (D-Fla.), Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), Cory Booker (D-N.J.), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.), Tim Kaine (D-Va.), Chris Coons (D-Del.), Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio), Ben Cardin (D-Md.), Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), Robert Menendez (D-N.J.), Chris Murphy (D-Conn.), Mark Warner (D-Va.), Jon Tester (D-Mont.), Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.), Angus King (I-Maine), Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.), and Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.).

The letter in its entirety can be reviewed below:

“Dear Leader McConnell and Chairman Cochran:

Today, we write to urge that you immediately begin work to act on the public health crisis posed by the Zika virus.  The Administration has requested $1.9 billion in emergency supplemental funding to address the Zika virus epidemic and we urge you to mark-up this request in the Appropriations Committee as soon as possible.”

As you know, the Administration announced last Wednesday that it would transfer $510 million from the remaining Ebola funds to support the response to the Zika outbreak. Although this was necessary in the face of Congressional inaction and the growing and rapidly changing public health threat posed by Zika, it would be shortsighted and dangerous for Congress not to act quickly to give the Administration the resources it needs to fully fight the Zika virus and protect Americans. The Zika threat requires a much broader, more comprehensive response and we should not force our public health officials to choose between funding Ebola or Zika efforts, especially at a time when there have been 13 new Ebola cases in West Africa in the past month.”

Beyond addressing the Ebola outbreak in West Africa, the supplemental funding was also meant to strengthen the overall public health preparedness and response systems in the U.S. and abroad, including through increased Public Health Emergency Preparedness (PHEP) funding to states.  But now, public health departments in our home states are losing up to 9% of their PHEP funds as part of the Administration’s decision to reprogram Ebola response funds. In other words, Congressional inaction on the Zika request has forced the Administration to shift resources intended to fight future emergencies away from states. We gain nothing by being so shortsighted.”

In the past week, the agencies leading the Zika response have continued to sound the alarm about this virus. Researchers have confirmed the link between Zika infection in pregnancy and severe birth defects like microcephaly, and is continuing to investigate the link with autoimmune disorders, including Guillain-Barre Syndrome andacute disseminated encephalomyelitis, which causes swelling of the brain and spinal cord. The virus is a particular threat for women in impacted regions where there is little or no access to contraception, family planning and reproductive health care, and women at home and abroad lack information about the disease.”

While we do not yet know how far north the mosquitoes that transmit this virus can travel, nor the extent of the health complications that people infected with this virus face, we do know how to prevent its spread. As we have stated before, we must work to improve vector control, improve women’s access to contraceptives and family planning, and accelerate the development of treatments – including a vaccine. We must protect pregnant women and children from this devastating disease.‎”

For more than two months, Congress has failed to respond to the Administration’s Zika request. But more importantly, Congress has failed to address a disease that has infected more than 800 Americans in 40 states, Washington, D.C., and 3 U.S. territories, including 89 pregnant women. We cannot delay approving critical resources to assist in the Zika response. We must act now to pass the President’s request for supplemental funding.”