Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren is surely becoming the conscience of the Senate. Too bad Republicans have no desire for one. She blasted them in a floor statement ahead of votes they finally agreed to take on funding Zika research and prevention. Warren called GOP senators out for dragging their feet on even having votes, and for coming up with some completely inadequate proposals for dealing with Zika—namely by taking money from other prevention programs—in the name of their "anti-spending ideology."
Today, months after president Obama first requested nearly $2 billion to fight the Zika virus in the United States, the Republicans who control the Senate will finally, finally let us vote on options for funding the Zika response. Today the Senate will consider three proposals. The first proposal would completely fund the president's response plan. It offers our best hope to fully protect Americans, and I will vote for that proposal. I plead with every senator to do the same because that's what our nation's experts have said it will cost to limit the sickness, death, and deformity caused by the Zika virus. […]
I hope it passes the Senate. If it doesn't, it will be because the majority of Senate Republicans vote against it. And if that happens, we will be forced to consider another proposal. The second proposal would give the president half of what is needed to fight the outbreak. […] Cutting the Zika funding requests in half might give Republicans a chance to tell people how tough they are on spending, and that may be how Republican politics works. But, boy, it's sure not how science works. It is not possible to delay a response to a health emergency for month after month without consequences. It is not possible to nickel and dime a response to a health emergency without consequences. […]
Now the final Republican proposal is even dumber.
It would not only give the president about half of what is needed, but it would cover the cost by gutting the prevention and public health fund which provides significant support to local public health departments all across the country. You heard that right. Some Senate Republicans think the best way to fund America's emergency response to the Zika virus is to rob from America's front line responders who help identify and track infectious diseases like the Zika virus. On the other side of congress, House Republicans are kicking around an even more bizarre idea, funding only about a third of the president's plan to fight Zika and doing it by cutting hundreds of millions of dollars out of our Ebola response. Gee, with the Ebola epidemic just passed and still no FDA-approved vaccine or treatment for Ebola, what could possibly go wrong with that plan? I simply do not understand the Republicans.
She went on to blast Republicans for putting the country in "greater and greater danger" as "[these Republicans govern by simply lurching from crisis to crisis." "We're in this mess with Zika," she said, "a mess that's about to get a lot worse because of stupid decisions made right here in Congress." Thank you, Elizabeth Warren, for calling Republican plans what they are: dumb, stupid, and bizarre. (You can watch her full statement below). She also had a reminder of the results of underfunding the Zika response, and who will bear the responsibility for it:
The less money congress gives them, the more people will be hurt by the Zika virus. More babies with heartbreaking deformities, more adults with devastating illnesses. The Zika virus does not care what politicians in Washington decide is politically expedient. The virus is coming. And if Republicans block congress from protecting the people of this country, then Republicans must accept responsibility for the devastating consequences.
Thankfully, a bipartisan compromise that doesn't include any cuts from other programs did pass. But that’s the half-funding proposal she reluctantly voted for, and that is almost certain not going to get through the Republican House. And the consequences will be on Republicans’ heads.