Political Quotes

“Mr. Speaker, I urge the House to take meaningful action to address the public health crisis that the Centers for Disease Control recently called scarier than we originally thought, and to support the President's request for supplemental funding for the Zika virus as outlined in H.R. 5044, the FY16 Zika supplemental appropriations. I thank Appropriations Ranking Member Nita Lowey and Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies Subcommittee Ranking Member DeLauro for their ongoing leadership to help protect our constituents. More than 120 Floridians now have the Zika virus, including 36 pregnant women. Last week there were an estimated 157 pregnant women in the continental United States and 122 more in the territories who have contracted Zika. The House must take real action to protect our citizens. It is an outrage that we are not adequately responding to the calls of public health officials at the Federal, State, and local levels who are clanging the alarm bells, imploring Congress to act. Last week the House approved a Zika bill that is absolutely unacceptable. The bill the House passed would raid existing public health accounts, a dangerous precedent to set for appropriately responding to public health crises. This is an approach that Dr. Fauci of the National Institutes of Health, the so-called Zika czar, has called illogical. Furthermore, it only authorizes use of funds through September 30th.…”