By Cliff Stearns
As of today, there are more than 16,000 Zika cases in the United States and its territories.
And though Congress returned to work yesterday after their annual August recess, our elected leaders fail daily to reach a compromise on long-term, meaningful legislation to fight the virus and its potential spread — whether by passing the $1.9 billion proposal by President Obama or $1.1 billion by congressional Republicans. While Congress was busy attending fundraisers and running for re-election in August, they avoided the hard job of governing. Leaders in both parties are busier passing blame than bills and staging press conferences instead of hearings. Meanwhile the CDC has warned that Zika could be an emerging infectious disease in our nation. Earlier this year, the agency estimated that 25 percent of Puerto Rico’s population could suffer from infection in just the first year of the virus’ spread.
Congress has earned the low opinion Americans have of our government. What more will it take for our representatives to put aside party politics and put the American people first again?
Don’t get me wrong — Floridians are not strangers to party politics. This cycle alone saw our former Governor Jeb Bush and sitting Senator Marco Rubio travel the country, spar over national policy more than half a dozen times and represent our party’s values in fine form. After all, we always make room for healthy debate in a democracy.
But the time for politics in Congress is over. State and local leaders know it: Governor Rick Scott sent an additional $5 million to Miami-Dade County to prepare for the Zika virus and control mosquitoes in the area. Tampa Mayor Bob Buckhorn unveiled measures to kill mosquitoes and their larvae across his city.
Until significant legislation is passed to combat the Zika threat, lawmakers should refuse to spend the party-recommended 30 hours a week dialing for dollars. Since the beginning of the 114th Congress, members have collectively spent an estimated 900,000 hours raising money, instead of doing their jobs. The American people have taken note, and a recent Issue One/Ipsos poll showed reducing the influence of money in politics is a top five voting issue ahead of November.
I regret the People’s House is failing to prioritize the needs of the American people. This constant uncertainty is not good for the country.
Historically the Republican Party has demonstrated strong leadership and a willingness to think beyond party ideology. In the 1990s, under Speaker Newt Gingrich and a Republican majority in both chambers of Congress, we passed most of the Contract with America, including balancing the budget, welfare reform and a tax cut. We passed the Telecommunications Act of 1996 in concert with Democratic President Bill Clinton and Vice President Al Gore. It was the first major overhaul of telecommunications laws in our country in more than six decades that reduced regulation and incentivized more competition. Back then, party leaders and members of Congress had their disagreements, but we were all willing to row in the same direction on behalf of the country. Today, we cannot bail out the boat when it’s sinking because we’re arguing over which bucket to use.
This is just one more example of dysfunctional government plaguing our democracy. Unfortunately, its victims are the most most vulnerable among us.
Cliff Stearns was a U.S. representative for Florida’s 6th Congressional District from 1989 to 2013. He is a member of the ReFormers Caucus of Issue One, a nonprofit dedicated to reducing the influence of money in politics.
