The White House blasted Congress for not approving $1.9 billion to fight the Zika virus, saying that lawmakers are putting Americans in an unenviable position.
“What Congress is doing is to ask the American people to choose what disease they want the most protection from,” said Amy Pope, White House deputy homeland security adviser.
Pope spoke during a press conference held by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which is holding a summit on the Zika virus Friday at its Atlanta headquarters.
In February, President Obama requested $1.8 billion in emergency funding on Zika. A majority of the funds would go to states and the U.S. territory of Puerto Rico to kill mosquitoes.
Republicans, however, want to know if the administration can just use funds left over from fighting the Ebola outbreak. Federal agencies have pushed back against that request, saying the funds are already either spent or committed to other countries to boost their healthcare systems to prevent a future outbreak.
Congress is forcing the administration to “make difficult choices,” Pope said. “We cannot erode the gains we made in our fight against Ebola.”
She said the White House doesn’t want to come to Congress each time an outbreak occurs, hence the remaining funds committed to countries to boost their health systems.
“We have been working with countries around the world to prevent and detect and respond to emerging disease,” Pope said.
CDC officials have said the agency has been forced to shift around funding to fight Zika. For instance, it allocated about $2 million in grants for states to Puerto Rico instead.
The territory has about 300 residents with the Zika virus, and it is spreading via mosquitoes.
In the mainland U.S., almost all of the 312 cases are from someone who recently traveled to a country where the virus is spreading, with a tiny amount due to sexual transmission. So far, there are no cases where the virus has spread through mosquito bite, but the administration is concerned as summer approaches.
Not much action has been made in Congress on the request. The House Appropriations Committee has said it won’t take it up until it gets answers on the remaining Ebola funds. Leaders with the House Energy and Commerce Committee recently asked the administration for more information on the request.
