Press Releases

WOODINVILLE – Congresswoman Suzan DelBene (WA-01) today called on House Republicans to allow a vote on President Obama’s emergency Zika funding request during a visit to SpringStar, a local business at the forefront of that fight.

“Repeatedly, Democrats have asked for a vote on the President’s request for emergency funding to combat Zika. Instead of addressing this serious health crisis, House leaders are putting thousands of American families in harm’s way by refusing to act ahead of mosquito season and suggesting we simply divert resources from other public health emergencies,” DelBene said. “We can and must provide the much-needed emergency funding to ensure our researchers, public health agencies, medical professionals and most importantly, women, are prepared to address this outbreak, which has now reached the U.S. mainland.”

More than 7,300 Americans have confirmed cases of Zika including 972 pregnant women. At least 16 travel-borne cases are reported in Washington state. And there are now 16 confirmed infections in Florida transmitted by local mosquitoes on the U.S. mainland.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) last week advised pregnant women and their partners to avoid traveling to certain areas in Florida — the first time the agency has ever issued a U.S.-based travel warning to stop the spread of an infectious disease. CDC has also advised pregnant athletes and those with partners trying to get pregnant in the near future not to attend the Rio Olympic Games, which kicked off last week. Zika causes microcephaly and a range of other serious birth defects in newborns.

SpringStar, a local Woodinville business, is working with CDC and the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to design and manufacture mosquito control devices that can be deployed along the Gulf Coast to reduce transmission of Zika, dengue and chikungunya.

“Stopping Zika now is of paramount importance,” said Michael Banfield, owner and founder of SpringStar. “This disease puts half the world’s population at dire risk, and an entire country that fails to take action to stop mosquitoes, which transmit the disease, is acting irresponsibly, not for just its own citizens, but for the world’s citizens.”

DelBene joined more than 120 colleagues in calling on Speaker Paul Ryan to hold a vote on President Obama’s full emergency funding request for $1.9 billion to combat the Zika outbreak, but he instead allowed Congress to adjourn during the height of mosquito season without taking any meaningful action.

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