U.S. Rep. Carlos Curbelo (R-FL) continued his efforts on Tuesday to fight the spread of Zika virus by calling on the Senate to approve adequate emergency funding.
Curbelo said that he has been calling on Congress to approve adequate funding to respond to Zika virus for months, and that the 14 cases of locally transmitted Zika virus in Florida are “cause for alarm.”
“The House has acted by adopting the conference report to the Military Construction and Veterans Affairs and Related Agencies Appropriations Act which includes $1.1 billion to be used for Zika eradication efforts,” Curbelo said. “However, the Senate has refused to consider this legislation. It’s time for the Senate to put politics aside and do what’s best for American families by adopting the conference report.”
The Obama administration, meanwhile, has access to $385 million that can be directed to the Zika emergency, but has not yet released the funds, Curbelo said.
“Like the Senate, the administration should keep politics out of this issue and employ these funds to support efforts in our community to contain and eliminate the threat this represents to public health and the economy,” Curbelo added. “Zika is a dangerous disease, and as legislators, we must do everything in our power to protect Americans.”
Curbelo and U.S. Rep. Ander Crenshaw (R-FL) joined the entire Florida delegation in signing a letter that urges the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to reconsider its current allocation formula for distribution of Zika-specific funds.
Under the current funding formula, Florida will receive $720,000 in new funding for detecting and monitoring microcephaly and other adverse effects of Zika infection from a pot of $16 million that will be divvied up between 40 states and territories.
The CDC has provided emergency Zika virus antibody test kits, as well as more than $8 million in Zika-specific funding that has already been distributed in Florida.
“With the public’s health at risk, there is no time to waste on political gamesmanship,” Crenshaw said. “Rather than advance the $1.1 billion in the Military Construction and Veterans Affairs and Zika Response Appropriations Act, Senate Democrats have blocked the bill’s movement. Moreoever, I also joined my colleagues in demanding that the White House apply $600 million in unused Ebola funding to the Zika fight to no avail. That course must be corrected. And, while I share in the support for $8 million in Zika-specific CDC funding for Florida, our state needs and deserves more.”
U.S. Rep. Richard Hanna (R-NY) said that Congress should not recess while the Zika outbreak is unfolding in south Florida, threatening to spread elsewhere in the country.
“We are talking about real people and a real crisis,” Hanna said. “Congress needs to hash out its differences expediently and move forward. We cannot afford to delay this any further. It most certainly cannot wait until September.”