Fighting for the Health of Women and Children

Statement

Summer here in Iowa continues to heat up, and as I travel around the 16 counties of Iowa's Third District I continue to hear concerns about the potential dangers of the Zika virus. Zika poses very real threats to women and children around the nation, as we've seen in other countries and now in Florida. I take these threats seriously and have worked to deliver the commonsense, bipartisan solutions needed to protect our communities and combat this virus.

As Iowa's only member of the Appropriations Committee, I joined my colleagues on the Committee and urged the administration to use available, unused Ebola funds to address Zika. The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) eventually agreed to use $589 million, however, much of this money remains unspent to this day. Regardless of disputes of total funding levels on either side, we can all agree that available funding shouldn't be set on the backburner for the sake of partisan bickering.

On August 2, the CDC announced they were releasing $16 million to 40 states to help detect and address the effects of the Zika Virus. I was pleased Iowa received an infusion of $200,000 of this funding but more must be done to protect the health of women and children. Iowans and all Americans deserve a robust and effective response. Releasing only 2 percent of available funding does not reflect such a response and I continue to urge the CDC to use these remaining funds.

I also supported Democratic legislation, the Adding Zika Virus to the FDA Priority Review Voucher Program Act, when it passed the House on April 12, 2016. This bill adds Zika to the Food and Drug Administration's incentive program to further the development of drugs and other treatments for this virus, and I was pleased the President signed the bill into law.

Most recently, in June, I voted for a bipartisan, compromised bill to provide an additional $1.1 billion to combat the Zika virus and prevent it from spreading. Republicans and Democrats worked together on this bill which provides funding for vaccine research, diagnostic tests, mosquito control, and healthcare and education for mothers and their children.

Sadly, after the House voted in a bipartisan manner to advance the compromised bill, Senate Democrats have blocked the bill from advancing. Twice.

Serving the people of Iowa's Third District remains an honor and a privilege, yet one unfortunate observation I've noticed in Washington is political games too often seem an insurmountable obstacle to delivering solutions for those we represent. But, the health of women and children should not be used as a chip in a political game. And, this is not an obstacle I will stop trying to overcome. As I continue to serve you in Congress, I remain committed to working with my colleagues to craft real solutions to address real problems. The health and wellbeing of women and children across the country demand it, and the people of Iowa deserve it.

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