WASHINGTON – During the waning days of the summer congressional recess, Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell could be found doing what he does best – humbly congratulating himself for fixing the “once-broken’’ upper chamber and taking all the credit he could possibly toss in his own direction for seeing to it that the body “is really back to work.’’
Under his venerated leadership, the Louisville lawmaker modestly noted, 2016 “is on track to be a year of progress in Washington’’ despite concerns voiced by some that election year politics might prove an impediment.
“But under my leadership, the Senate has continued to pass serious legislation that truly addresses America’s concerns,’’ McConnell declared, gratefully accepting all the huzzahs and kudos he heaped upon himself.
Of course, in the process of promoting his own rave reviews, McConnell passed over his failure to so much as produce a budget, something he promised to do once he became leader of the majority. It’s highly unlikely the chamber will pass the 12 appropriations bills necessary to fund the government by the Sept. 30 deadline, forcing passage of the sort of continuing resolution he has criticized in the past.
Somehow the esteemed gentleman forgot to mention that he was responsible for breaking the chamber in the first place, or how he has failed in his duty to the American public and the Senate to move ahead with the nomination of U.S. Circuit Court Judge Merritt Garland for the U.S. Supreme Court, not to mention his defenestration of the federal justice system as a whole.
And now there’s Zika. A recap:
An epidemic of Zika fever was first reported in Brazil in early 2015 and has since spread to various regions, including the United States. The malady, according to the World Health Organization, is expected to reach throughout most of the Americas by the end of 2016.
The disease is transmitted by the Aedes aegypti mosquito, seen mainly in tropical and sub-tropical climates, and can also be spread by the Asian tiger mosquito, which can be found as far north as the Great Lakes.
Men infected with the virus can also transmit the disease to their sexual partners.
Initially, health officials thought Zika was a mild viral infection. It generally is asymptomatic, although 20 percent of the cases a fever or rash can result.
Further research, however, determined that Zika can cause birth defects. The virus can be transmitted by an infected pregnant woman to her fetus, resulting in microcephaly and other forms of brain damage. In adults it also has been found that Zika can lead to Guillain-Barre syndrome.
The latest count shows more than 16,800 cases of Zika in the U.S., including Puerto Rico, where the outbreak is most significant. More than 1,500 pregnant women have been infected and at least 17 babies have been born with birth defects. Florida finds itself particularly vulnerable with 56 reported cases.
There is no vaccine to address the Zika virus. Concerned about the encroaching danger, President Obama in February – seven months ago – asked Congress for $1.9 billion to address the potential crisis.
As is their wont, congressional Republicans expressed limited concern about the outbreak and blanched at the price tag. So much for protecting the “general welfare.’’ On May 19, after the usual bickering, the Senate agreed to a $1.1 billion package in a 68-29 vote. Every Democrat supported the measure. All 29 votes in opposition came from Republicans, including Sen. Rand Paul, R-Bowling Green.
Now keep in mind Senate Democrats have already compromised, knocking $800 million off the original request. But that was only the beginning of the GOP games playing.
The House, once described by Mark Twain as that “grand, old, benevolent national asylum for the helpless,’’ originally proposed spending $622 million on the problem – a sum that would hardly pay for an NFL stadium these days. After some thoughtful consideration (pause to let the laughter subside) the lower chamber on June 23 accepted the $1.1 billion sum and sent it back to the Senate with all sorts of weird funding mechanisms attached.
Now it’s McConnell’s turn. The Republican leader offered a bill with new terms that Democrats couldn’t, and shouldn’t, abide. The measure failed to attract the 60 votes necessary when it was first offered in June and then again on Tuesday with Democrats leading the opposition.
“It’s hard to explain why, despite their own calls for funding, Democrats would block plans to keep women and babies safe from Zika,” McConnell whined.
As Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid, of Nevada, noted before the vote, “Now with this Zika virus frightening women all over America, they want to cut it (Planned Parenthood) off?”
Well, senator, let’s give it the old college try, first by noting that it was a majority of your GOP colleagues, including your new BFF, the man who would be president were it not for the voters, Rand Paul, who opposed the original $1.1 billion package. Were they also involved in a conspiracy “to keep women and babies safe from Zika?’’ Discuss.
The new bill removed a provision supported by Senate Democrats that prohibited the display of the Confederate battle flag at cemeteries operated by the Department of Veterans Affairs. To be fair, while the exclusion is a noble gesture, it’s an issue that doesn’t need to be addressed in the Zika bill. Score one for old Mitch.
But the other issue is crucial. As noted, the virus can be sexually transmitted. McConnell’s bill includes a new provision excluding Planned Parenthood from a directory of providers in line to receive funding for the purpose of providing contraception services to concerned men and women looking to combat the spread of the disease through sexual contact.
The provision makes no sense. Planned Parenthood is, by far, the largest single provider of reproductive health services in the United States. Prohibiting the non-profit organization from participating in an effort to offer contraception services is akin to prohibiting Exxon and all the nation’s major oil dealers from distributing gasoline.
As Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid, of Nevada, noted before the vote, “Now with this Zika virus frightening women all over America, they want to cut it (Planned Parenthood) off?”
The organization, of its own volition, has launched an effort to educate local communities in Florida, focusing on women of reproductive age in medically underserved areas, about the Zika virus, mosquito transmission, sexual transmission, travel-associated risks and prevention. A huge number of women expected to benefit from this program are Latinas and Haitians, who are often ignored during dangerous health crises.
Planned Parenthood health centers in the Miami area are also providing Zika prevention kits for patients who are pregnant and plan to continue the pregnancy or who are undecided, as well as for women who are planning to become pregnant.
This is the outfit the esteemed gentleman from Louisville is looking to undercut. It is a ludicrous gesture, pulled out of his usual bag of cheap political tricks.
Republicans have held Planned Parenthood in its crosshairs for years because, as the nation’s largest provider of reproductive health services, it is the nation’s largest abortion provider. The GOP tried, and, fortunately, failed, to cut off federal funds to the organization last year based on a bogus bit of subterfuge allegedly depicting an official trying to sell fetal tissue recovered from abortions.
“This bill does not value the lives of women and children,’’ said Dana Singiser, vice president of public policy and government affairs for the Planned Parenthood Federation. “However it does shine a blinding light on Republican leaders’ thinly veiled hypocrisy. Republican leadership have gone out of their way to refuse to put even one dollar towards family planning clinics in the midst of this Zika crisis. Their bill shortchanges a looming public health crisis by hundreds of millions and restricts the types of providers, including Planned Parenthood, from helping where they are needed most.’’
So much for Mitch’s crocodile tears for the women and children he’s using as pawns in his scheming. If he’s at all serious about acting to “keep women and babies safe from Zika,’’ he’ll draw down the mainsail and offer a clean funding package.
But if there’s one thing we’ve learned about Addison Mitchell McConnell over the past few years, he’s no longer a serious man.
Washington correspondent Bill Straub served 11 years as the Frankfort Bureau chief for The Kentucky Post. He also is the former White House/political correspondent for Scripps Howard News Service. A member of the Kentucky Journalism Hall of Fame, he currently resides in Silver Spring, Maryland, and writes frequently about the federal government and politics. Email him at williamgstraub@gmail.com.
I think the virus will spread thru the entire gulf coast by the end of 2017 and then thru his beloved Republican voting southern states in the following year or two. This will be on Mitch’s shoulders, but Kentucky voters will overlook this, believe his lame explanations, and vote him back in. I look forward to him becoming minority leader of the Senate.