WASHINGTON – Sen. Chuck Grassley is asking two key federal agencies why they have been slow to distribute $589 million to fight Zika.  They identified the funding as available on April 6 but the money is still largely unspent as of this week.

“I know you share my concern about the Zika threat and the need to protect mothers and children,” Grassley wrote to Dr. Thomas Frieden, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and Dr. Nicole Lurie, Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response at the Department of Health and Human Services.  “That is why I was troubled to read about the slow distribution, by the federal government, of available funds to combat Zika.”

Grassley noted that on April 6, the administration announced that $589 million, including $510 million in unspent Ebola funding, had been found to respond quickly on a Zika response.   However, as of this week, only a reported $112 million has been distributed.  “Three months seems to be a long time to wait to respond to an impending outbreak,” Grassley wrote.  

Grassley also noted that the CDC’s recommendation that Puerto Rico consider aerial spraying for mosquito control seemed to be “very late in coming.”  He wrote that the CDC and the HHS office of Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response are meant to deal with unexpected outbreaks and have substantial budgets, yet Congress had to approve $5.4 billion in emergency funding for Ebola in 2014, and the Senate has had to approve another $1.1 billion in emergency funding for Zika this year.  “Like many of my colleagues, I find it frustrating that this administration isn’t better prepared for emergency illnesses,” Grassley wrote.  

Grassley asked for an explanation of why it has taken months to distribute identified funds to fight Zika, whether there are strategic plans to address illness outbreaks and for details of the types of disease outbreaks to which the agencies respond, funding priorities, and contingency plans for new potential outbreaks.  He asked for written responses by July 29.

Grassley voted for $1.1 billion in emergency spending for Zika, recognizing the serious threat of the disease.  At the same time, he expects the administration to use existing funds to fight Zika whenever possible and supported a Senate amendment to fight Zika that was paid-for under budget rules.

Grassley’s letters today are available here and here. 

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