Bill Lee: “Thank you, Mr. President. I rise not to debate the broad question of the Federal Government's proper role in protecting…”

“Thank you, Mr. President. I rise not to debate the broad question of the Federal Government's proper role in protecting and advancing public health; instead, I am here to stress to my colleagues that with a growing national debt that will soon exceed $20 trillion, we cannot continue spending money we don't have. If this emergency supplemental measure is adopted, it will be the 15th emergency supplemental we have passed since 2006, totaling about $190 billion in deficit spending. This is not how responsible governments budget. It is not how responsible governments behave. Indeed, we have the ability to provide the resources the country needs to fight the Zika virus without adding to our national debt. For starters, we can undo the $500 million President Obama took from the international infectious diseases account which was placed in his unapproved Green Climate Fund. USAID is sitting on $1.2 billion in unobligated Ebola funds. The Office of the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response currently has $347 million not being put to use. There is $525 million in CDC's global health security agenda that is unspoken for. To the extent that the Zika virus is truly an emergency, one that deserves the Federal Government's attention, we already have more than enough unused emergency funds to pay for the fight against this emerging threat. Yesterday, my colleague, the distinguished junior senator from Oklahoma, Mr.…”