Dick Durbin: “by now we have all seen reports of the neurological damage that is done by the Zika virus. We have seen the damage it…”

“by now we have all seen reports of the neurological damage that is done by the Zika virus. We have seen the damage it can do to newborn infants. It has been clinically linked to serious birth defects in pregnant women who contract it. Since the start of the outbreak, nearly 900 Americans in 41 States, Washington, DC, and 3 U.S. territories--including over 80 pregnant women--have already contracted Zika. In my State of Illinois, 13 people have already tested positive, including at least two pregnant women. But because we have the best scientists and researchers in the world at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, we know more today about the virus and prevention measures than we did when most of us first heard the word ``Zika'' a few months ago. We know that mosquitoes spread the disease. We know that the arrival of warm weather signals the start of mosquito season, but America is currently unprepared to deal with an outbreak of this dangerous virus. We must improve vector control. We must expand access to family planning, education, and contraception. We must accelerate efforts to develop a vaccine as quickly as humanly possible. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention desperately needs funding to deal with this crisis, and they need it now before the summer months, when mosquitoes spread north across the United States. Congress has failed to even consider President Obama's emergency Zika funding request.…”