On the recordMay 12, 2016
I am here to talk about two separate topics today. The first is the Zika virus. I am encouraged that in the last 24 hours, we finally seem to have found some action here in Congress in dealing with the Zika virus. We not only have one, we have three separate proposals that will be introduced to deal with Zika. We will continue to work on and debate these proposals next week. About 5 weeks ago, I met with Federal, State, and local health officials in Miami and came out in support of the President's emergency funding request to deal with Zika. Since then, I have come before the Senate on numerous occasions to call for action. I have stated my belief that there shouldn't be anything divisive with this. Zika is a public health emergency that sooner or later will impact the vast majority of the United States because this is a virus transmitted by mosquitoes that are only going to become more prevalent as the weather heats up and because our people routinely travel to and from the island of Puerto Rico, the most impacted community in the entire United States. When I spoke here yesterday, the count of people infected in Florida stood at 109. Since then, just 24 hours later, it has become 112. One- hundred and twelve Zika cases is the most of any State in the Union. Of the three new cases in Florida, two were in Volusia County and one was in Orange County. I have said repeatedly that Congress should not allow politics to delay action on Zika.…
