Res. Comm. Pedro Pierluisi

Representing the At Large District of PUERTO RICO

Pierluisi Announces that Bill to Fund Federal Government Includes At Least $126 Million for Puerto Rico and Other U.S. Territories

Sep 22, 2016
Press Release
Puerto Rico will also benefit from additional funding provided to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the National Institutes of Health

Washington, DC—Resident Commissioner Pedro Pierluisi announced today that a bill to fund the federal government until December 9th—known as a Continuing Resolution—includes $1.1 billion in funding to help prevent and respond to the Zika virus, including at least $126 million that will be directly targeted at Puerto Rico and other U.S. territories with active transmission of Zika.  Puerto Rico will also benefit greatly from the $394 million that the bill provides to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the $152 million that it provides to the National Institutes of Health (NIH).

Zika is transmitted by the bites of female Aedes aegypti mosquitoes, which also transmit chikungunya and dengue.  Zika infection during pregnancy can cause serious birth defects and is associated with other pregnancy problems.  Puerto Rico is the U.S. jurisdiction most affected by the Zika virus.  According to information released by the Puerto Rico Department of Health on September 15th, there are 19,967 confirmed cases of Zika in Puerto Rico, including 1,706 cases in pregnant women; 150 hospitalizations due to Zika; and 48 cases of Guillain–Barré syndrome, an uncommon sickness of the nervous system that may be linked to Zika. 

There are also locally-transmitted cases of Zika in the U.S. Virgin Islands (265), Florida (92), and American Samoa (46). 

The bill released today would provide $1.1 billion in emergency funding to combat Zika and other mosquito-borne viruses, including $387 million that would be provided to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Public Health and Social Services Emergency Fund.  Of the $387 million:

  • $75 million is for states and territories with active local transmission of Zika, including at least $60 million for Puerto Rico and other territories with the highest rates of local Zika transmission.
  • $40 million is to expand health care services at Federally Qualified Health Centers, often called 330 centers, in Puerto Rico and the other territories.
  • $20 million is for Zika projects in Puerto Rico and the other territories of national or regional significance. 
  • $6 million is to enable the National Health Service Corps to assign additional physicians and other health professionals to Puerto Rico.

“In sum, Puerto Rico and the other territories will receive at least $126 million in targeted funding to address Zika.  Puerto Rico will also benefit from the $394 million that is being provided to the CDC.  Recently, the CDC awarded an $8 million grant to the Puerto Rico Science, Technology and Research Trust to fund a Vector Control Unit.  ‘Vector Control’ refers to the effort to reduce the population of Aedes aegypti mosquitoes through a variety of methods,” said Pierluisi.

“Congressional action on Zika is long overdue.  It is critical that a Zika bill be enacted into law as soon as possible, so that additional funding and other assistance can be provided to Puerto Rico and other U.S. jurisdictions already experiencing or threatened by Zika,” the Resident Commissioner added.

Pierluisi has held many meetings on Zika, including with the Secretary of HHS, Sylvia Burwell, and the Director of the CDC, Dr. Tom Frieden.