Reps. Al Green and Gene Green Urge Increased Federal Funding to Address the Zika Epidemic

(Houston, TX)—On Friday, May 20, 2016, Reps. Al Green (TX-09) and Gene Green (TX-29) held a press conference to urge increased federal funding to address the Zika epidemic.

“The issue of adequate funding to address the growing threat of the Zika virus is one that should be of great importance to all Houstonians. It is transmitted by mosquitos who as many of us know thrive in still water," Congressman Al Green said. “As recent events have once again shown us, our great city is prone to flooding, so I am gravely concerned about the spread of the Zika virus. We must do all that we can to address this possible crisis now, including allocating all the necessary funding and equipment, before it leads to a multitude of tragic circumstances in our city and nation.”

On Thursday, May 19, 2016, the House of Representatives passed H.R. 5243, the Zika Response Appropriations Act. This legislation would allocate only $622 million—about a third of the $1.9 billion requested by the Administration— and drain the Ebola response fund. The bill would only fund the Department of Health and Human Services response through September 30, 2016. Reps. Al Green (TX-09) and Gene Green (TX-29) voted against the legislation and cosponsored H.R. 5044, the Emergency Supplemental on the Zika Virus Act. H.R. 5044 would appropriate the requested $1.9 billion in emergency response funds.

“Zika has the potential to affect vulnerable communities like Houston. Funding to fight the Zika virus must be treated as the emergency that it is, similar to past public health emergencies like Ebola and the H1N1 viruses. It should not be off-set or use previously appropriated funding for other public health priorities,” said Congressman Gene Green. “Crises of this magnitude demand robust, multi-year investments in our public health infrastructure, vaccine and diagnostic development, and transmission control.”