{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["http://degette.house.gov/media-center/in-the-news/degette-congress-must-act-to-protect-us-from-zika-virus", "DeGette: Congress Must Act to Protect U.S. from Zika Virus", "2016-09-07", "2016", "2016-09", "Democrat", "House", "CO", "Diana DeGette", "D000197", "degette.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "The Colorado Statesman\nBy Congresswoman Diana DeGette\nCongress has returned to Washington, having failed throughout the spring and summer to take meaningful action on some of the nation\u2019s most pressing problems. Thanks to Republican legislators\u2019 intransigence, we are now confronted by an issue that grew substantially worse while we were away: the spread of the Zika virus on American soil.\nFortunately, Colorado faces little threat of an outbreak, as researchers at Colorado State University recently proved. The mosquito that spreads the disease doesn\u2019t thrive in our climate. There could be isolated cases involving travel to Zika-affected areas or intimate contact with people who have traveled there, but no mass spread is expected.\nHowever, in meetings and at events throughout August, constituents raised justifiable concerns with me about Zika. They\u2019re rightly concerned that the country is grappling with an ailment that only recently emerged on the world\u2019s consciousness and is directly affecting Americans now.\nThroughout the year, I\u2019ve vocally supported President Obama\u2019s request for nearly $2 billion for Zika research, prevention and treatment. Democrats throughout Congress have done the same. But the majority refused to fully fund that effort. In fact, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) says current Zika funding will run out when the fiscal year ends on September 30.\nAnd that\u2019s a critical point in our fight against this persistent and pernicious disease.\nClinical trials on a possible vaccine, which have just gotten under way on a limited scale through the National Institutes for Health, can\u2019t be carried out with no funding. In fact, NIH says it\u2019s irresponsible to start any larger trials unless we can see them through.\nThere are infants in Zika-affected area who show no signs of the virus now, but may do so as they develop. Longitudinal studies tracking their progress will be impossible without sufficient support.\nAnd even though infection rates will drop with the arrival of cooler temperatures, they won\u2019t go to zero. The Aedes aegypti mosquito that carries the illness has been shown to effectively survive the winter and come back in the next year.\nEarlier this summer, President Obama addressed the nation about the Zika threat once it began to spread in parts of the continental United States. He reassured us that public health experts don\u2019t expect to see the kind of widespread outbreaks that had occurred in Brazil, Puerto Rico and elsewhere. However, he noted that \u201cwe cannot be complacent because we do expect to see more Zika cases.\u201d\u00a0\nThat\u2019s why Congress needs to knuckle down now and complete the funding process with streamlined legislation that doesn\u2019t include high hurdles that will trip it up. Congress must provide sufficient Zika funding immediately to state and local authorities along with federal agencies such as the CDC so they can do what\u2019s necessary to combat Zika. And the funds shouldn\u2019t come from other important health efforts, such as developing a vaccine for Ebola, nor be weighed down by provisions that are likely to cause needless controversy.\nWith the right support, we can speed the development of a vaccine, allow more people to get tested and get a prompt result, and ensure that states and communities have the resources they need to fight the mosquito that carries the virus.\n\u00a0\u00a0Congress needs to act now to ensure that we have the resources we need to take every step necessary to protect the American people from the Zika virus.\u00a0\nDiana DeGette represents the people of Colorado\u2019s First District in the United States Congress.", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["http://degette.house.gov/media-center/in-the-news/degette-congress-must-act-to-protect-us-from-zika-virus"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 0.6516522262245417, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}