21 May 2016 · 4 min
John Thibault hosts a debate on whether Zika virus warrants emergency funding. HR5044 would allocate $1.5 billion to HHS and $376 million in U.S. aid for monitoring and response, though opponents argue existing Ebola funds of $589 million should be redirected instead.
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Welcome to the podcast Change a Law. This is John Thibault, the founder and CEO of iLobby and the author of the book how to Change a Law, where we discuss politics, policy and, well, political persuasion because we want to empower voters to start thinking about changing laws. So join us. One of the things we do at iLobby is we have open online debates. Anyone can join, anyone can start a debate, and anyone can add an argument, a comment or share. So I took a look at some of the debates we have and we have one here titled do you think the Zika virus is a threat? And if so, support HR5044. Here is the scoop on this bill. The Zika virus is a virus transmitted by infected mosquitoes that can cause severe neurological birth defects, effects. Education and action to combat the disease is important because the virus itself is relatively mild. However, the disease is most harmful when a woman chooses to have a child. Specifically, this bill, HR5044, will fund monitoring of the disease in the United States and its territories, and it will fund emergency response teams to respond to the virus. The opposition to this bill, however, does not want to issue a blank check to the Obama administration to fund the bill. They instead want to use Ebola funds to respond to the crisis and have already given about $589 million in Ebola funds to the Zika virus. This funding is not enough because of the impending summer travel to the Olympics in Brazil and and the barely detectable yet dangerous effects of the disease. So what's the impact? Who wins if we pass this bill? The American population, young families, health care professionals, and who loses? Pregnant women, babies in poor countries, the population at large. This bill empowers health and human services organizations with $1.5 billion and U.S. aid with $376 million to stop the spread of the neurologically debilitating virus. This will benefit those who hope to see a change and contain this threat. The sponsors of this bill are Rep. Nita Lowy of New York, 17 Rosa DeLaura of Connecticut, 3 Debbie Wasserman Schultz, Florida 23 Patrick Murphy, Florida 18 Barbara Lee, California, 13 Anna Eshoo, California 18 and many others. The bill was referred to the House Appropriations Committee and the House budget committee on April 25, so please comment with your opinion or if you found other useful information to help shape the debate. Information about the Zika virus can also be found from the CDC at www.cdc.gov. there are other links that support and oppose this bill, and if you want to comment, just enter the Arguments section at ilobby Co. And you too can add your opinion to your thoughts about whether or not the Zika virus should be contained by passing this particular bill. And that's a quick debate summary from ilobby. This has been the podcast Change a Law by John Thibault. To learn more, just sign on to our website@www.ilobby.co. or you can also visit www.Change Allah. Com. Thanks for listening.