Political Quotes

“Mr. President, I want to give an update. The Zika virus is raging. It is certainly raging in Puerto Rico. It is expanding greatly in this country, and the State with the most infected cases is my State of Florida. I have been on this floor many times asking for the President's request of $1.9 billion to attack the Zika virus. About $800 million of that is, No. 1, to replace the Ebola emergency fund, which they have raided since the Congress has not given them the funding in order to try to get at the problem to begin with, which is somewhere around $500 million to $550 million. They need another $225 million to increase Medicaid in Puerto Rico, where it is now estimated that by the end of the year, 25 percent of the population of Puerto Rico--25 percent--will be infected because that is where this mosquito--called the aegypti mosquito--that transmits the virus is raging, but beware, especially as we are going into the warm summer months, this aegypti mosquito is all over the Southern United States. Anyplace that is hot, humid, and where there is rain--because rainwater will not all dissipate. It may be in a bottle cap. It may be in a dishpan. It may be in a birdbath. Where there is stagnant water, that mosquito will lay its larva, and that is the breeding ground to hatch the aegypti. About 1\1/2\ weeks ago, when we were here before the recess, there were approximately 1,000 cases reported in the United States, which included 570 in Puerto Rico and 94 in Florida.…”