Dick Durbin: “I rise to speak as in morning business. Zika Virus Mr. President, the statement just made by the Senate Democratic…”

“I rise to speak as in morning business. Zika Virus Mr. President, the statement just made by the Senate Democratic leader on the Zika challenge to the United States is well documented. What is well documented is that the President of the United States came to Congress 4 months ago and said: We are facing a public health threat. Do something. For 4 months the Republican-led Congress has done nothing. Meanwhile, the mosquitoes carrying this deadly virus are on the march. This is a report from the New York Times from last week which I ask unanimous consent to have printed in the Record in its entirety. There being no objection, the material was ordered to be printed in the Record, as follows: [From the New York Times, June 17, 2016] U.S. Officials Are Surprised by Zika Rate in Puerto Rico (By Catherine Saint Louis) Roughly 1 percent of recent blood donors in Puerto Rico showed signs of active infection with the Zika virus, suggesting that a substantial portion of the island's population will become infected, federal health officials reported on Friday. From April 3 to June 11, testing of 12,700 donations at blood centers in Puerto Rico identified 68 infected donors, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Over all, about 0.5 percent of donors had active Zika infections, but the prevalence rose to 1.1 percent in the week ending June 11.…”