members may have five legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on the consideration of h.r. 5243 and that i may include tabular material on the same. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, so ordered. mr. rogers: mr. speaker, i yield myself such time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized for as much time as he may consume. mr. rogers: mr. speaker, i rise to present h.r. 5243, the zika response appropriations act. the zika virus clearly poses a great threat to public health, not only in the united states, but around the globe. it's become increasingly important that we, the congress, act to protect our most vulnerable, particularly infants and pregnant women, from the risks of this disease. our response must be urgent, direct and strategic. targeted at preventing the further spread of this disease. the bill before you today

provides $622.1 million to fight this dangerous virus. it prioritizes critical activities that must begin immediately, such as vaccine development and mosquito control. i was glad to see that the administration took our committee's advice and redirected $589 million from less urgent needs to fund immediate actions to respond to zika. this was and is the most immediate source of funding in the fight against zika. but given the severity of the crisis, it's clear we must do more. the funds within this legislation will continue the department of health and human services' and the department of state's critical efforts to fight the spread of this harmful disease for the rest of the fiscal year of 2016 and beyond. means in total

$2.1ess will have provided billion to respond to zika in fiscal year 2016. i'm proud we provided this funding in a responsible way. the funding in this bill is entirely offset through scissions of unobligated infectious disease fund or whatever leftover balances that exist within h.h.s. importantly, mr. speaker, this bill takes a thoughtful approach to address the fight against zika. directing funds where they are needed most urgently and do the most good. this legislation provides $170 million for the centers for disease control and prevention

international response and public education. these funds can also be used for emergency preparedness grants to state, local and territorial health departments that macon front reductions to their existing budgets. with this total, up to $50 million is available for health programs targeted at prenatal care, delivery and newborn health assessments and care for infants with special needs related to zika. these funds are focused on states and territories currently experiencing zika outbreaks. the national institutes of health received $230 million to help expedite the research and development of zika vaccines, making sure these treatments can be made available to the public

quickly and safely. for the biomedical research and development authority, $103 million will be directed to development and production activities for zika, including for new rapid rap i had diagnose gnostic tests and vaccines. our response to zika must also include cutting off the virus at its source since mosquitos know no boundries. for the state department and u.s. agency for international development, the bill provides a . tal of $119.1 million, includes funding for public education efforts aimed at reducing mosquito exposure. the remaining 19.1 million is to

manage and oversee these programs. as i noted earlier, we've taken the fiscally responsible step of offsetting every dollar spent in this bill. to go even further and to ensure accountability, transparency and effective use of tax dollars, we have included strong oversight requirements. for instance, the department of health and human services, the state department and usaid are required to submit spending plans to congress and we have directed $2 million for g.a.o. and inspector general oversight. the bill reit rates current strong protections against the use of any funds for abortions. the white house request earlier on made none of these oversight

efforts, allowing broad transfer authorities across the entire federal government and creating slush funds with virtually no limits. this bill guarantees that every cent goes to address the problem at hand fighting the zika virus. this funding is critical to stop the spread of zika and protect our people both at home and abroad. every child deserves the chance at a full and healthy life and every mother deserves to see her child survive. this measure will make this happen in ar responsible way. mr. speaker, with this bill and its passage, the congress will have seen $1.2 billion over the next 4.5 months, the balance of this fiscal year.

the administration request of $1.9 billion was for several years. we, in this bill and the earlier transfer of funds from the ebola nfectious disease fund, we put money on the problem now. and i urge my colleagues to i reserve.. 5243 and the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves the balance of his time. the gentlelady from new york is recognized. mrs. lowey: i yield myself such time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady is recognized. mrs. lowey: mr. speaker, in february, the world health organization declared zika a public health emergency of international concerns and the president called for $1.9 billion to respond to the impending crisis and prevent the spread in our very own

communities. according to the national governors association, the nation is on the threshold of a public health emergency. in a separate letter the u.s. conference of mayors, national leagues of cities, national association of county officials wrote to congress to provide emergency supplemental money for zika rather than repurpose money from other high priority programs. i ask unanimous consent to submit letters to the record. as summer approaches, c.d.c. confirmed 1,204 cases including more than 100 pregnant women in the continental united states, puerto rico and other u.s. territories as of may 11. so far all of the continental u.s. cases are associated with

travel, but experts expect the first locally transmitted cases in a matter of weeks. the scientific community has concluded after careful review kl result in cause fetal brain defects and adult neurological disorders. when the house republican leadership failed to act, the administration was forced to redirect $589 million, mostly from emergency ebola balances to fund immediate efforts to respond to zika. according to the national institutes of health, the redirected funds allowed the united states to start work, but we cannot finish what we need to do. the republican bill does not allow us to finish the job either. provides $622 million, less

than a third of what is needed. the administration requested, $743 million for state and local efforts to reduce mosquito populations as well as conduct public health studies of the zika virus. the house bill provides $120 million plus an additional $50 million for block grants by providing such a small fraction of the requested amount, we would be drastically underfunding state and local health departments hampering efforts to expand mosquito control and mitigation and placing millions of pregnant women at risk. in addition, the administration requested $246 million indirect assistance for puerto rico, an epicenter in the zika outbreak.

the house republican bill does not provide this direct funding, again placing tens and thousands of pregnant women at risk. in the past, congress has come together in a bipartisan manner to address and respond to h 1-nncies from ebola and 1 viruses and natural disasters and agree these emergencies should not be offset. when a tornado strikes, we don't steal money from the unfinished relief efforts from the last hurricane, yet house republicans would take more ebola funding risking that it could re-emerge and give less than is needed to stop the spread of zika throughout communities in the united states. without full funding to

replenish accounts, we won't fortify public health systems or health contingency funds in place to respond to outbreaks of either disease or unanticipated public health crisis. that is why i introduced h.r. 5044 which would provide the full emergency supplemental to combat zika and combat the virus from spreading. mr. speaker, that's the bill we should be debating today, not the house republican zika, which is a > their affairs of the hill joins us> now to talk about

where things may go from here. first, if you would, and the differences between the house and senate versions of the funding approved this week? the house will only go through .his september there are major differences on how would be paid for. the house does set aside pacific ways that it would he paid for, ebola using leftover funding which senate democrats

are not in favor of. there is a lot they have to resolve still. host: you said there are big differences. what do you think the chances are that we see a compromise funding bill before the memorial day recess? >> it will be hard for them to do that if that is indeed the timeline. thath experts are warning seen in early june. the next week is certainly a goal for lawmakers. they will have to agree to get to a bill that can then go to a conference committee. are two steps that need to be taken. they will both be very difficult. president obama has issued a veto threat against the house will which is a much smaller number compared to the senate package. they cannot go with the house bill unless they want to face the veto threat from the

present. if they go with the senate version, there's no way to house republicans will go with that. they have to find something in the middle. there's a lot of urgency and not a lot of time. host: mentioned the president. when he veto anything less than his request? he has been careful not to draw the line as have house and senate democratic leaders theythey are not saying would not accept less, but there is a lot of pressure from the democrats like nancy pelosi who say they do want the full amount. it is not want to have to come or tosked for more money have public health and his family, as they are now. it is not that the white house would project the $1.4 billion, but it is not what the president

wants now. assuming they are able to pass the bill, what kinds of programs with the bill cover? guest: it would be very expensive. it is a really far-reaching funding pools that would help develop vaccines. officials at the national institute of health have said that vaccine could be ready by next september. there's a lot of money in there to go for that. it is also a lot of money , tryingmosquito control to help state and local governments for their teams out there and try to make the likelihood of people getting infected from this disease lower by actually getting rid of the number of skittles in those areas. if the very couple get a for and requires a lot of of money. there is also funding and therefore outreach. this is a disease right now that not a lot of people know about. the federal government does not know a lot about this already. the average and research

component to this are also very important. sarah their affairs -- faris, thank you for joining us. >>.org is a video rich off of it too your viewing. programs like the house, the senate, and congressional hearings stream lies on her website. your computer,n cell phone, or tablet. anyou miss an episode of program, you can find online and watch it at your convenience. in fact, the c-span video array contains more than 200,000 hours of programming. it is a powerful search engines that allows you to nine programs going back many years. since then publishes the on air

schedule, just click on the on.edule butt c-span.org is a public service of your cable or satellite provider. watcher,e the c-span check out the website, c-span.org. gives david jolly and for all and have introduced legislation. the two spoke about the proposal and what it would for constituents at the national press club.