2017: Schweikert Voted For The American Health Care Act That Would Eliminated Prevention And Public Health Fund. In May 2017, Schweikert voted for the American Health Care Act which would have significantly repealed portions of the Affordable Care Act by cutting Medicaid, cutting taxes on the rich, removing safeguard for pre-existing conditions and defunding Planned Parenthood. According to CNN, "Public health advocates are warning lawmakers the GOP plan to repeal Obamacare will eliminate nearly $1 billion in Centers for Disease Control and Prevention funding used for programs like preventing disease outbreaks and childhood lead poisoning. But Republican critics say the Prevention and Public Health Fund, which amounts to 12% of CDC's budget, is a 'slush fund' that has been spent on Zumba classes and massage sessions. Their proposal includes a new fund that they say provides states 'broad flexibility' to address local health concerns. The Republican bill would eliminate the fund, created under the Affordable Care Act, which has grown from a small slice of the CDC budget to providing $931 million last year." The vote was on passage. The House passed the bill by a vote of 217 to 213. The bill, in modified forms, died in the Senate. [House Vote 256, 5/4/17; CNN, 3/9/17; Congressional Quarterly, 5/4/17; Congressional Actions, H.R. 1628]
CNN: "It Funds Heart Disease And Stroke Prevention, Immunization, Lead Poisoning Prevention And Diabetes Prevention, Mostly Through Grants To States And Local Programs, According To The CDC." According to CNN, "It funds heart disease and stroke prevention, immunization, lead poisoning prevention and diabetes prevention, mostly through grants to states and local programs, according to the CDC." [CNN, 3/9/17]
Director Of The Big Cities Health Coalition Chrissie Juliano: The Fund Funds Vaccines For The Flu, Measles, Mumps, Track Emergence Of Diseases Like Zika And Ebola, And Address Foodborne Illnesses Such As Salmonella. According to Chrissie Juliano, director of the Big Cities Health Coalition, "At the macro level, the Prevention and Public Health Fund supports and fights a multitude of health threats that do not respect state or national borders. Immunization programs supported by the fund ensure access to vaccines that protect the most vulnerable among us from routine diseases like the flu, and recently re-occurring ones like mumps or measles. The fund also supports the ability to track outbreaks of recently emerged diseases like Zika or Ebola, but also routine foodborne illnesses, like Salmonella. Without these dollars provided by the Affordable Care Act, CDC's ability to protect the health and safety of Americans will be dramatically reduced. And our collective ability to address the next big public health threat will put us at risk." [Chrissie Juliano -- Health Affairs, 3/7/17]
The CDC Said Losing The Fund Would Hamper Its Ability To Prevent And Respond To Diseases Like The Flu. According to CNN, "CDC's website says losing this funding would cripple officials' ability to detect, prevent and respond to health threats including pandemic flu." [CNN, 3/9/17]
2016: Schweikert Voted Against A Continuing Resolution Funding The Government Through December 9, 2016 That Also Provided $1.1 Billion In Anti-Zika Funding, But Did Not Include Aid For Flint, Michigan,. In September 2016, Schweikert voted against a ten week continuing resolution. According to Congressional Quarterly, the legislation was a "continuing resolution [...] that keeps the government running through Dec. 9." In addition, according to Congressional Quarterly, the legislation "provides $1.1 billion to combat the Zika virus, without an environmental exemption for pesticide spraying sought by Republicans" The vote was on a motion to concur in the Senate amendment. The House agreed to the motion, effectively passing the bill by a vote of 342 to 85. The Senate had already passed the legislation. The president then signed the bill into law. [House Vote 573, 9/28/16; Congressional Quarterly, 9/23/16; Congressional Quarterly, 9/26/16; Congressional Quarterly, 9/22/16; Congressional Actions, S. Amdt. 5082; Congressional Actions, H.R. 5325]
Democrats Objected To The CR Because It Did Not Include Aid For Flint, Michigan. According to Congressional Quarterly, "Democrats and Republicans appear to be locked in a staring contest over the lack of government assistance for Flint, Mich., in a stopgap spending bill, with aides on both sides suggesting they're waiting for the other side to blink. Democrats roundly criticized a GOP written continuing resolution filed Thursday by Senate Republicans, but the measure actually met many of the spending and policy demands Democrats had made throughout weeks of negotiations --- except for a Flint response. Their central objection to the stopgap is the inclusion of flood relief for Louisiana and likely other states without also providing aid for Flint to address major problems caused by lead contamination in the city water supply." [Congressional Quarterly, 9/26/16]
President Obama Requested $1.9 Billion To Combat Zika. According to the Washington Post, "President Obama on Monday asked Congress to set aside $1.9 billion to respond to the Zika virus abroad and to prepare for it in the United States, saying the funds are necessary to halt the spread of the disease and 'protect the health and safety of Americans.' The White House had detailed the outlines of the request earlier this month, arguing that new resources are needed to help ramp up surveillance efforts, control the mosquitoes spreading Zika, accelerate research into new vaccines and diagnostic tests, and help countries already battling the virus." [Washington Post, 2/22/16]
Legislation Was Originally Blocked, Primarily By Senate Democrats, Due To Flint Aid Omission; Deal With Minority Leader Pelosi And Speaker Ryan Over Flint Aid In A Water Bill Sealed The CR's Passage. According to the Washington Post, "The Senate cemented an agreement Wednesday to avoid an Oct. 1 government shutdown after House Republicans allowed a vote on federal aid to address the water crisis in Flint, Mich., removing a major obstacle in negotiations. [...] Democrats made clear earlier this week they would not support the spending bill unless Republicans moved to guarantee Flint aid, while GOP leaders countered the Senate had approved Flint aid earlier this month in a separate water projects bill. The impasse was broken late Tuesday after House Speaker Paul D. Ryan (R-Wis.) and Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) struck a deal allowing a vote to attach $170 million in Flint relief to the House version of the water bill. That bill is expected to pass late Wednesday; the stopgap spending measure is expected to pass shortly afterward." [Washington Post, 9/28/16]
2016: Schweikert Voted For An FY 2017 Military Construction And Veterans Affairs Appropriations Bill Which Also Provided $1.1 Billion In Zika Funding, $800 Million Less Than Requested While Also Stipulating That No Funding Could Be Used To Pay For Abortions. In June 2016, Schweikert voted for an FY 2017 military construction and veterans affairs conference report which would have, according to Congressional Quarterly, "provide[d] $82.5 billion in fiscal 2017 appropriations for the Veterans Affairs Department, military construction and military housing and would provide $1.1 billion in funding to combat the Zika virus with about $750 million in offsets." The vote was on the conference report. The House agreed to the legislation by a vote of 239 to 171. The Senate later failed to invoke cloture on the conference report. [House Vote 342, 6/23/16; Congressional Quarterly, 6/28/16; Congressional Actions, H.R. 2577]
Legislation Required That No Zika Funding Could Be Used To Pay For Abortions. According to Congressional Quarterly, "The measure requires that the Zika funding provided be subject to restrictions on appropriations included in the FY 2016 omnibus appropriations act (PL 114-113), which included a prohibition on the use of funds to pay for abortions. (Under federal law, U.S. foreign aid funding may not be used by other nations or organizations to pay for abortions. Some women's health groups have urged the Obama administration to use its executive authority to reinterpret the prohibition so that federal funds could be used to fund the abortions of women who contracted Zika and fear giving birth to babies with microcephaly.)" [Congressional Quarterly, 6/23/16]
Legislation Included $95 Million For The Social Services Block Grant Which Would Have Excluded Family Planning Services Such As The Puerto Rico Affiliate Of Planned Parenthood. According to ABC News, "The bill wouldn't have directly provided funds for private family planning organizations, but Republican Senate aides noted that it would have contained $95 million for public health departments, hospitals and public health plan reimbursement through the Social Services Block Grant (SSBG) program. Republicans said funding through the SSBG would have allowed each state or territory the maximum flexibility to direct money wherever it is most needed. In the U.S., the virus is expected to have the biggest impact in Puerto Rico, and $40 million of the funding would have gone to 20 community health centers there. [...] A Senate Democratic aide said the initial Senate version of the bill, which had bipartisan support, contained a more workable proposal: funding health care services through the Department of Health and Human Services' Maternal and Child Health Services Block Grant program, which the aide said more directly assists women and babies, the most critical populations to reach in the Zika crisis. [...] According to the aide, the bill would have made access to contraceptives more difficult for women, especially in Puerto Rico, because the Senate bill would have structured its SSBG funds to exclude private health care agencies like Planned Parenthood. 'Eligible providers could only be public health departments, hospitals and entities reimbursed by public health plans. This would make access to contraceptive and prenatal services more difficult, especially for women in Puerto Rico,' the aide said." [ABC News, 6/28/16]
Democrats Claimed That Excluding Planned Parenthood From Funding For A Public Health Crisis Impacting Pregnant Women Was Unreasonable. According to the Wall Street Journal, "Senate Democrats blocked a spending bill that includes $1.1 billion to combat the Zika virus---saying the measure unreasonably excludes Planned Parenthood Federation of America from money for a public health crisis that impacts pregnant women. [...] Democrats say that by excluding Planned Parenthood from funding and adding other provisions they oppose, Republicans could delay the funding well into the mosquito season and leave only a small window to act before Congress leaves Washington in mid-July for the political parties' conventions and lawmakers' August recess." [Wall Street Journal, 6/28/16]
President Obama Requested $1.9 Billion To Combat Zika. According to the Washington Post, "President Obama on Monday asked Congress to set aside $1.9 billion to respond to the Zika virus abroad and to prepare for it in the United States, saying the funds are necessary to halt the spread of the disease and 'protect the health and safety of Americans.' The White House had detailed the outlines of the request earlier this month, arguing that new resources are needed to help ramp up surveillance efforts, control the mosquitoes spreading Zika, accelerate research into new vaccines and diagnostic tests, and help countries already battling the virus." [Washington Post, 2/22/16]
2016: Schweikert Voted To Appropriate $622 Million In Supplemental Funding To Combat The Zika Virus, Over $1 Billion Less Than President Obama Requested. In May 2016, Schweikert voted for legislation appropriating $622 million in funding to combat Zika. According to Congressional Quarterly, the legislation would have "appropriate[d] $622 million in supplemental funding for activities to combat the Zika virus, including $170 million for the Centers for Disease Control and $230 million for the National Institutes of Health. The funding would [have] only be[en] available during fiscal 2016 and would [have] be[en] subject to restrictions on appropriations included in the fiscal 2016 omnibus appropriations law, which includes a prohibition on the use of funds to pay for abortions. The cost of the measure would [have] be[en] offset by rescinding $352 million in funding appropriated under the fiscal 2015 omnibus appropriations law to combat the outbreak of Ebola and $270 million in Health and Human Services Department administrative funding." The vote was on the legislation. The House agreed to the bill by a vote of 241 to 184, but the Senate took no substantive action on the legislation. Funding to combat Zika was later funded by continuing resolution. [House Vote 207, 5/18/16; Congressional Quarterly, 5/18/16; Roll Call, 6/8/16; Congressional Actions, 9/28/16; Congressional Actions, H.R. 5243]
2016: Schweikert Effectively Voted Against Appropriating More Than $622 Million To Combat Zika. In May 2016, Schweikert effectively voted against an amendment that would have, according to Congressional Quarterly, "appropriate[d] additional funds to combat the Zika virus." The underlying legislation would have, also according to Congressional Quarterly, "appropriate[d] $622 million in supplemental funding for activities to combat the Zika virus, including $170 million for the Centers for Disease Control and $230 million for the National Institutes of Health." The vote was on a motion table an appeal of the ruling of the chair with respect to the motion to recommit the bill. The House agreed to the motion by a vote of 240 to 183. The House later passed the underlying bill, but the Senate took no substantive action on the legislation. Funding to combat Zika was later funded by continuing resolution. [House Vote 206, 5/18/16; Congressional Quarterly, 5/18/16; Congressional Quarterly, 5/18/16; Roll Call, 6/8/16; Congressional Actions, 9/28/16; Congressional Actions, H.R. 5243]