Subject: Daily Message Points -- May 20, 2016
From: "Cunnane, Pat EOP/WHO" <[email-masked]>
To: "Cunnane, Pat EOP/WHO" <[email-masked]>
Date: Fri, 20 May 2016 17:05:33 +0000

Daily Message Points

May 20, 2016

Zika

*         Today, the President and Vice President received a briefing on the ongoing response to the Zika virus from members of his public health team including Secretary of Health and Human Services Sylvia Mathews Burwell, Director of NIH/NIAID Dr. Anthony Fauci, and Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Dr. Tom Frieden.

*         Following the meeting, the President highlighted the facts about this disease and the ways it spreads and underscored that as summer approaches we need to step up our efforts to protect Americans, something the President has long called for.

*         Three months ago, he asked Congress to approve $1.9 billion in emergency funding to combat Zika.  $1.9 billion isn't an arbitrary number.  It's what public health experts consider necessary to fund things like mosquito control, tracking the spread of the virus, accelerating new vaccines to market, and monitoring women and babies with the virus.

*         The Republican Senate has only approved about half of that money.  The Republican House has approved no new money, instead taking money from the funding we need to keep fighting Ebola - and that money will run out in September.

*         As the President made clear, we cannot partially fight this disease - and Republicans in the House and Senate need to do their jobs. They need to get a bill to the President's desk.

*         Every day Congress waits will have consequences.  Slower, less accurate diagnostic tests.  Delayed vaccines.  Weaker mosquito control efforts.  It puts the American people at risk.

*         The American people should expect their representatives to do their jobs, and give our experts the resources they need to fight this disease and keep us safe.

The President's Foreign Travel

*         The President's trip to Vietnam and Japan - his 10th trip to Asia as President - provides a historic opportunity to further the progress in U.S.-Vietnam relations and is another step forward in the President's Rebalance to the Asia-Pacific.

*         In Vietnam, the President will focus on advancing our economic cooperation and trade. We anticipate the President will deliver a speech on U.S.-Vietnam relations and the TPP and announce major commercial deals that will help U.S. businesses.

*         Maritime security, human rights, and people-to-people ties are also key components of the Vietnam trip.

*         The President will visit Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City. In Hanoi he will have bilateral meetings with Vietnamese leaders and meet with Civil Society representatives. He will also deliver remarks on U.S.-Vietnam relations at the National Convention Center. And in Ho Chi Minh City he will visit the Jade Pagoda and host a town hall with Young Southeast Asian Leaders (YSEALI) and meet with entrepreneurs.

*         In Japan, the President will participate in his final G-7 Summit in Ise-Shima. This gathering of world leaders enables them to address a range of topics of mutual interest including the global economy, climate, foreign policy issues, trade, terrorism, migration flows, and the situation in Ukraine.

*         In addition to G-7 member nations, leaders from at least six additional Asian nations will attend on the margins of the Summit.

*         The Administration is working to leverage the Summit as a venue to advance our agenda on exchange rate commitments; economic support for Iraq; implementation of the Paris climate agreements; and the Global Health Security Agenda.

*         The President will also visit Hiroshima and give brief remarks.

###