Energy and Water Development and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2016

Floor Speech

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Mr. BARRASSO. Mr. President, I come to the floor today to talk about the threat that the Zika virus poses--a threat to the health of Americans and to people around the world.

Every day we learn more about this virus. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has confirmed a link between Zika and microcephaly. That is a condition where babies are born with smaller heads and with brain defects. It is a devastating problem that we are all facing.

Studies have linked Zika to something called Guillain-Barre syndrome--a condition I studied in medical school and have seen patients with. It can lead to paralysis, which is another very serious condition.

Last week the Centers for Disease Control also confirmed the first Zika-related death in Puerto Rico.

Because this virus is mostly spread by mosquitoes, the potential risk is only going to become more urgent as the weather turns warmer. So we must do what we can now--today--before this turns into a true epidemic rather than the threat it is today. America's drug companies and researchers need to continue working on treatments, tests, and vaccines. Our cities and towns need to start taking aggressive measures to control mosquitoes. Doctors can help to educate people who are at risk of contracting the disease--this virus--but we really do need all hands on deck.

Washington has an important part to play, and Republicans in the Senate are ready to address this issue. Congress has already passed legislation that adds Zika to what is called the priority review voucher program. This program awards financial incentives to the sponsor of a new drug that is approved to prevent or treat a tropical disease. That is a good way Congress can help speed up the research process in dealing with Zika. Congress has also approved the transfer of nearly $600 million in existing, unobligated funds for an immediate Zika response, so the money has already been moved to help.

We can also make a big difference by cutting through redtape, and there is significant redtape in this city that actually makes it harder to kill mosquitoes that carry this virus. We would think we would want to make it easier to kill mosquitoes, but there is redtape in Washington, DC--bureaucrats making it harder to kill the mosquitoes that carry the virus.

Today it is hard to believe that there are requirements for permits that I think are absolutely unnecessary and that make it more difficult and more expensive to spray for mosquitoes in the United States. So if a farmer or a rancher, a city or a community wants to spray for mosquitoes, they have to use a pesticide that has been approved by the Environmental Protection Agency; that is No. 1. In a lot of cases, people who want to spray for mosquitoes also have to get a separate permit under the Clean Water Act. That is No. 2. There are two steps-- one, to get the permit to spray, and two, to get the EPA approval of what they are going to spray with. This doesn't add any benefit to the environment, and it certainly doesn't help protect anybody from the Zika virus. It is Washington getting in the way. It adds another hoop for people to jump through before they can get rid of the mosquitoes that carry the Zika virus.

Senator Mike Crapo from Idaho has written legislation that would eliminate this second unnecessary requirement. It is not saying that anyone can go out and spray whatever they want. The pesticide would still have to be approved so that we know they are safe. But the legislation says that we don't need this second permitting process that Washington demands. It is a commonsense change. It is the kind of thing we could do to help local officials on the ground make the best decisions about how they can fight these mosquitoes and this virus in their communities, in the places they know the best, and do it quickly.

The Crapo bill has 18 cosponsors, and I am proud to be one of them. It is a bipartisan bill with bipartisan support, and it has already passed the Environment and Public Works Committee. We should take up this bill and pass it and get these tools into people's hands as quickly as possible.

I know that some of what America can do to help fight Zika--and people understand this--is going to require us to spend money, and I support that. That is why the Appropriations Committee is looking at the need for additional funding, additional spending to address this threat. Regular appropriations bills are the best way for us to carefully look at where the priorities are for spending the taxpayers' dollars. That is how we should be paying for things around here, not just another continuing resolution or some emergency measure.

When something new comes up, we can look at it, figure out how to balance the costs, and if we have to do an emergency bill to get some money out the door more quickly, we can take a look at that as well, but we can't do that without at least having a plan from the administration on where and how this money they are requesting is going to be spent.

The Obama administration has not yet given us the level of information we need to make an informed decision. It appears that the administration is trying to take advantage of this Zika emergency to give itself an additional $2 billion to use however it wants--maybe to fight Zika but maybe to do other things. What the administration is saying is that they want the money to be used for ``assistance or research to prevent, treat, or otherwise respond to Zika virus . . . or other infectious diseases.'' The wording is much too vague. It would allow the administration to use these emergency funds on other priorities well beyond a Zika response.

The President's request for emergency funding goes on to say that most of the money, they say, could be transferred to other parts of the government, like the Environmental Protection Agency and even the Department of Defense. It includes a lot of expenses that don't necessarily qualify as emergency spending outside the regular appropriations process.

Both sides of the aisle know the Zika situation is serious, and both sides want to do what we can to help. But Congress also has an obligation to make sure that our taxpayer dollars are being spent responsibly, that there is accountability. We shouldn't be writing a big check for the Obama administration to cash without adequate explanation and adequate accountability. We deserve that. The American people deserve it. They will expect it, and they deserve it.

I want to be clear. Zika is a very real public health threat, and it deserves serious discussion. It deserves urgent action. This fight against the Zika virus should not be turned into a political game. So I think it is a terrible sign that some Democrats in the Senate have begun to treat this devastating health issue like just another political talking point. That is what they have done here on the floor of the Senate. A couple of weeks ago, Democrats actually held a press conference calling on Congress to approve emergency funds for Zika. Then these same Democrats turned around and blocked passage of the Energy and Water appropriations bill for a number of days.

The appropriations process is the best way for us to fund the Zika response, and the Senate Democrats are holding up this process for political purposes. We need to get moving beyond this appropriations bill to the next one that is going to address the issue of Zika. Then we hear that the minority leader might want to wait until next week to get on this bill. We need to get on this bill now.

So the Democrats have made it clear that they don't even want to talk about offsetting any of the Zika funding. The Obama administration continues to stonewall our reasonable requests for adequate information about how it wants to spend these taxpayer dollars.

Senate Republicans are going to keep asking for this information. We are going to keep pushing to use the appropriations process the way it is intended, and we are committed as Republicans to addressing the public health threat posed by the Zika virus. We will continue working across the aisle to respond to the threat and to do it in a way that is reasonable, responsible, and accountable.

Thank you.

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Source