By Jason Doyle Oden
Senator James Lankford and Congressman Tom Cole landed on opposite sides of the Zika funding issue as the bill fails to pass the Senate. H.R. 2577, referred to as the Military Construction/Veterans Affairs Appropriations bill, provides funding for the nation’s Zika Response.
Lankford did not support the measure because it would have added hundreds of millions to the national debt when there was another debt free option.
“Last month, I introduced a plan that would have provided the necessary funding to address the Zika virus without growing our national debt. Today’s vote on the negotiated bill between the House and the Senate still agrees to $350 million in new federal debt spending and exceeds the previously agreed upon budget caps. I’m disappointed that between the two chambers, we are still unable to fund our nation’s response to Zika responsibly. The Military Construction/Veterans Affairs Appropriations bill attached to this Zika proposal is good policy, but I cannot support the total bill because it ignores one of America’s greatest problems—irresponsible deficit spending. We must do better than this,” Lankford said.
Cole worked on the Conference Report which melded the House and Senate proposals. He blames the Democrats in the Senate for the bill’s failure.
“I am extremely disappointed that my Democratic colleagues in the Senate have put their own political interests ahead of what is important and urgent now – continuing our fundamental promise to support our military and veterans, and fighting the growing battle of the Zika virus,” said Cole. “As a member of the bipartisan conference committee, I was pleased that the conference report included more funding for veterans and military construction than the President requested. We were diligent in our efforts to make sure that the money included for Zika was well accounted for, and equaled the requested amount by the Senate Democrats.”
He calls the Democrats move a political ploy.
“Democrats simply want to avoid the payment for the Zika effort, and are exploiting a public health crisis merely for political purposes. And by doing so, they are endangering our global health and putting pregnant women at a higher risk of catching the virus. Furthermore, Democrats are failing on their commitment to our military and disregarding the needs of our veterans and active duty personnel. This is one of the most cynical political ploys I have seen, and it is shameful to push our military and our nation’s health aside just for cheap political points.”
