Political Quotes

“Mr. President, I would just say to the majority leader that one of the items in his proposal takes money away from Puerto Rico. By seeing the unanimous vote we had--not unanimous--the overwhelming vote last week for the financial assistance plan to help Puerto Rico get out of its financial woes--part of those financial woes is in the health care sector. We know that experts have told us that 20 percent of the population of Puerto Rico is estimated to be infected with the Zika virus by the end of this summer. So there is just one example of why we should not take an approach that is taking money out of the Affordable Care Act and taking money away from family planning, but specifically with regard to its effect upon Puerto Rico. As I shared with the Senate last week, I represent the State that had 11 new cases of the Zika virus last week. Well, lo and behold, we now have 13 more new cases, bringing the total in our State to 276, which includes 43 pregnant women, and that is just one of the 50 States in the Union, not including the territories. The number of cases being reported across the country continues to rise. There have been seven infants born in the United States with Zika-related birth defects, and you know what I am talking about because you have seen the pictures of how, when the virus attacks the fetus in its development, it does not allow the development properly of the head and of the brain. Right now in America, the CDC is monitoring 599 pregnant women.…”