Swine Flu Triggers Outbreak of Finger-Pointing on Capitol Hill Over Stimulus Funds

With the swine flu threatening to grow into a pandemic, lawmakers on Capitol Hill have wasted little time using the issue to kick off a fresh round of finger-pointing over February's economic stimulus package.

Democrats and liberal bloggers are complaining that Republican lawmakers -- most notably Maine Sen. Susan Collins -- stripped funding for pandemic flu preparedness out of the $787 billion package.

Collins is one of three Republicans who worked with Democrats to pare down the stimulus bill by more than $100 billion. Among the items that were slashed was $870 million in flu-fighting money, which Collins lobbied against.

"It is a shame that in the face of a potential global flu epidemic, Republican members of Congress dubbed this funding as 'reckless spending,'" Rep. Raul Grijalva, D-Ariz., said in a statement.

"Not only is pandemic preparation essential to any responsible plan for renewing the U.S. economy, but to the world's overall public health."

The advocacy group Americans United for Change, in a statement, also questioned whether congressional Republicans are having any regrets about stripping the money.

"Will the Party of No stop insisting on the failed economic policies of the past and at least try not to make things worse?" Tom McMahon, acting director of the group, wrote.

Collins' office released a statement calling any suggestion that she is opposed to flu research funding "blatantly false and politically motivated."

The statement detailed the senator's history of supporting funding for flu research and health emergency programs and reiterated her position that funding for pandemic flu research is "very worthwhile" but did not belong in a stimulus bill.

"Everybody in the room is concerned about a pandemic flu," Collins said during the stimulus debate. "But does it belong in this bill? Should we have $870 million in this bill? No we should not."

Conservative bloggers also fired back this week with a quote from Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., in which he referred to such funding as pork, as reported in the New York Post.

"All those little porky things that the House put in, the money for the (National) Mall or the sexually transmitted diseases or the flu pandemic, they're all out," Schumer said in February.

Looking forward, Democrats are taking another stab at appropriating more money for flu preparedness.

David Obey, D-Wis., chairman of the House Appropriations Committee, announced that he would request additional funding in the war supplemental, noting his foiled attempt to include such funding in the stimulus.

Sen. Tom Harkin, D-Iowa, also called for additional funding for pandemic preparedness. Harkin's appropriations subcommittee is holding a hearing Tuesday on the swine flu outbreak, with Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano set to testify Wednesday before a Senate panel.

With 64 confirmed cases of swine flu in the United States, none of them fatal, the Obama administration is taking a number of what it calls precautionary measures. It has about 12 million doses of Tamiflu in the federal stockpile for the states.

After declaring a public health emergency over the weekend, the administration on Monday urged travelers to avoid non-essential travel to Mexico, where about 150 people are suspected to have died from the swine flu. Customs officials are also checking people crossing the border for symptoms in an attempt to isolate potentially infected travelers.

The administration is urging calm and has not complained that a lack of stimulus funding is hampering its response.