To: President Donald Trump, The United States House of Representatives, and The United States Senate
Fighting the Zika Epidemic Coming to the U.S.
President Obama should use his constitutional power under Article II, Section 3 to bring both houses of Congress back from their Summer Break into a Special Session until they enact emergency public health funding necessary to respond to the Zika virus epidemic coming to the U.S.
On February 22, 2016, President Obama submitted a request to Congress for $1.9 Billion in emergency funding but a politically partisan Republican majority sabotaged a proposed $1.1 Billion federal spending bill with additional "poison pill" provisions, including cuts to funding to organizations such as Planned Parenthood.
It is irresponsible for the Republican majority to play obstructionist politics with essential public health matters such as Zika virus infection. Both the U.N. World Health Organization and the U.S. Centers of Disease Control have said Zika virus can cause serious birth defects such as microcephaly.
On February 22, 2016, President Obama submitted a request to Congress for $1.9 Billion in emergency funding but a politically partisan Republican majority sabotaged a proposed $1.1 Billion federal spending bill with additional "poison pill" provisions, including cuts to funding to organizations such as Planned Parenthood.
It is irresponsible for the Republican majority to play obstructionist politics with essential public health matters such as Zika virus infection. Both the U.N. World Health Organization and the U.S. Centers of Disease Control have said Zika virus can cause serious birth defects such as microcephaly.
Why is this important?
There are circumstances when it is absolutely essential for members of Congress to set aside their partisan politics. The need for enacting reasonable measures to protect the public health is one of them. It is irresponsible for Congress to not be in session while this emergency funding measure has not been resolved. We can't wait months until Congress reconvenes in the Fall. A mosquito borne viral epidemic does not wait or care, it only spreads farther. Even a single case of microcephaly or other birth defect in a child caused by the Zika virus that could have been prevented would be too many.