Pete Sessions: “I want to thank the gentleman, not only a member of the Rules Committee, but an appropriator who is directly in line…”

“I want to thank the gentleman, not only a member of the Rules Committee, but an appropriator who is directly in line with and understands the needs of not only the American people as it relates to the NIH, but also the funding mechanisms. Mr. Speaker, I stand up to really disagree with the gentlewoman from California. To call my party and our efforts reckless and irresponsible, I believe, is unfair. I believe it is unfair because, last night at the Rules Committee, we had this virtually same discussion. And the discussion started with me when I said that I had Republicans and Democrats, only Monday, with the Director of NIH, Dr. Francis Collins, and the Director of the Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, Dr. Anthony Fauci, and we talked directly about this issue. What we learned, Mr. Speaker, is that there was a request for additional money and that the NIH had some $600 million that was sitting in a fund from Ebola that had not been completely used. A determination was made--including the gentleman from Oklahoma (Mr. Cole), Hal Rogers, and Nita Lowey, who were engaged in the decision-- that said we will allow the money to be switched over if you would like to do that. Switch it over and use that money for this specific event that we are now looking at. What happened is they used the money very quickly. They accelerated spending the money--that is fine; we want them to do what they need to do--some $600 million.…”