Political Quotes

“I agree with Representative Graham that we must fund this and we must fund a clean bill. Whatever it takes, Madam Speaker, we have to get this done as soon as possible. I have been focused on the growing problem of Zika since March, when the Energy and Commerce Committee held a hearing on Zika preparedness, and we have been working together in a bipartisan fashion to get this done. Zika is a unique problem that will only increase. As of the end of August, there were 2,686 cases of travel-associated Zika within the United States. These cases came from international travel where the individual acquired Zika abroad and discovered it when they returned to the United States. There have also been 35 cases of locally acquired mosquito-borne Zika. As a matter of fact, we have a nontravel-related case in our county, Pinellas County. There are 35 individuals who got Zika because a mosquito bit them within the United States. Because of this local transmission for the first time ever, we now have a CDC travel advisory about an area within the United States in the Miami area. If you expand the incidences of Zika to include the territories, there would be 14,059 cases of locally acquired infections of Zika. Mr. Speaker, this is a large amount. We must act now. The Commonwealth of Puerto Rico has nearly 14,000 cases of locally acquired Zika. That number will only grow, unfortunately.…”