Editorial Boards: Speaker Ryan & House GOP Response to Threat of Zika Virus ‘Disappointing'
But here are the actual facts: the House GOP Conference has responded inadequately; they have deceitfully renamed legislation to give Republican rank and file cover for failing to act; and, they have repeatedly voted to block meaningful emergency funding that would address the frightening threat of Zika.
It's no wonder Republican Senator Marco Rubio is "really concerned" about the House's work – so disturbed that he is urging Americans to confront their Representatives and demand from them meaningful action. It's also no surprise these editorials boards are telling Speaker Ryan and the House GOP: #DoYourJob and stop playing games with this crisis:
- Washington Post Editorial Board: Congressional Republicans are playing games with a public-health emergency
When Members of Congress visit their districts over the Memorial Day recess, we hope they keep in mind a warning from Tom Frieden, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The Zika virus, for which there is no effective vaccine or therapy, can infect a person in a flash, he said during a visit to The Post on Thursday. "You can get a mosquito bite and your life changes," he said. The virus is mild for most people but in pregnant women can lead to fetal neural defects, and the prospect that local transmission will soon begin in the United States is very real.
…President Obama asked for nearly $1.9 billion in emergency funding in February. When Congress failed to act quickly, the administration redirected existing funds in order to scale up an initial response…House Republicans wasted weeks and weeks quibbling over whether Mr. Obama's request was detailed enough, then approved a $622 million bill that would raid accounts for Ebola and other important work, such as emergency preparedness, and would last only through September. The House bill is woefully inadequate. Even more irresponsible was the GOP diversionary tactic to push through a bill to weaken the Clean Water Act under the guise of a Zika response. Congressional Republicans are playing games with a public-health emergency.
The enemy here is a formidable one. As Mr. Frieden told the National Press Club on May 26, the Aedes egypti mosquito that carries Zika is "the cockroach of mosquitoes. It lives indoors and outdoors. It bites through the daytime and in the nighttime. Its eggs can last more than a year. They can hatch in a drop of water. .?.?. When they take a blood meal, they will often bite four or five people at once. So they're capable of rapidly spreading the infection. There is no example of effective control of this mosquito in the modern era."
To fight an outbreak requires resources and time. Congress is undermining the effort on both counts. Vaccine development, now underway, is a long-term project; surveillance is a multi-year endeavor; creating rapid diagnostics is a major undertaking; mosquito control is fragmented in local governments, often uneven and urgent. Those on the front lines need to know — now — that programs to fight Zika will not start and stop…Scientists and public-health experts know what to do. Why are Republicans in Congress impeding their necessary work?
- New York Daily News Editorial Board: Letting Zika run wild while Congress slumbers
Let the record show that Congress languishes on a week-plus holiday while the Zika virus swarms relentlessly closer to a U.S. outbreak, with funding nowhere in sight for the $1.9 billion mosquito-eradication program or vaccine development that the U.S. Centers for Disease Control deems urgent to keep infections and related birth defects in check. Wake them up when the plague comes.
- StarTribune Editorial Board(Minnesota): There are hidden costs to delaying Zika funding
Congressional dithering on combating the Zika virus not only leaves Americans at risk, it's also undermining emergency preparedness across the nation. Lawmakers shouldn't need another reason to adequately fund the fight against this mosquito-borne disease, but it certainly heightens the urgency for them to act swiftly.
The federal government provides much of the funding relied on by state and local public health agencies to prepare for epidemics and other disasters. But the monthslong fight in Congress over the amount of Zika funding has left federal health officials scrambling to come up with the dollars needed to understand Zika's unnerving spread and why it can cause a potentially devastating birth defect.
With funding still not forthcoming from Congress, money intended for efforts such as state and local emergency preparedness are now being redirected to the Zika response, according to Minnesota Health Commissioner Dr. Ed Ehlinger. So far, roughly $744,000 intended for emergency preparedness in Minnesota has gone to the Zika fight. That has affected the state's ability to replenish an expiring stockpile of medications, update equipment and hold training exercises. Reprioritizing these funds is certainly understandable, especially when infants are at risk and warmer weather's arrival elevates the risk of mosquito transmission in the U.S., generally in southern areas. Nevertheless, it is ridiculous that funds for one important public health mission are being siphoned off for another. This is a wealthy nation fully capable of funding both needs.
- The Mercury Editorials (Pennsylvania): Take precautions to avoid Zika virus exposure
The Zika virus has been quickly spreading in Puerto Rico and throughout Latin America…
…The effects the virus can have on pregnant women and infants are much more concerning.
Health officials say Zika can cause miscarriage and microcephaly, a serious birth defect that causes a baby's head to be much smaller than expected. This could lead to seizures and problems with speech, eyesight, hearing, movement and swallowing.
On the national level, President Barack Obama for months has been urging Congress to pass legislation to fund the fight against Zika. Obama proposed $1.[9] billion in funding in February. Last week, House Republicans, including U.S. Rep. Joe Pitts, R-16th District, passed a bill with $622 million to combat Zika. That is disappointing.
- State Journal Editorial Board (Wisconsin): Don't play games with Zika funding
Congress should quickly grant the Centers for Disease Control's request for funding to fight the Zika virus.
…
Congress needs to act, not play political games with public health.
It's been three long months since President Barack Obama requested the money. All the while, the CDC has issued increasingly urgent warnings about the need to act quickly to prevent an outbreak in the United States.
…
This isn't — or shouldn't be — a partisan issue.
The longer Congress waits to steer money to the CDC, the more likely the virus will spread — costing more money to contain than it would now to prevent…
The CDC just warned it's having to borrow from funds intended for flu, hurricane relief and other emergencies to stay after Zika. The CDC also worries it may have to delay testing for a vaccine if Congress can't negotiate adequate funding soon.
America shouldn't panic. At the same time, America shouldn't put off prudent effort and expense to ensure the public is safe.
More than 1,500 Americans – over 300 of them pregnant women – have confirmed Zika cases. Yet Republicans in Congress have left for recess. If anything, what Speaker Ryan and the House GOP has shown to the American people is that they're not at all serious about addressing the lethal and perilous threat of Zika.