Political Quotes

“I am furious and fed up at Congress's inability to act in a bipartisan way to protect us from the Zika virus. The U.S. is facing a public health emergency. Americans are desperate for Congress to respond. Instead, the House of Representatives passed a Military Construction and Veterans Affairs and Zika conference report at 3 a.m. with no debate and no Democratic input. The bill passed by House Republicans doesn't recognize Zika as a public health emergency. It nickels and dimes our efforts to respond. It makes it more difficult for women to access birth control. And it waives safety rules for the use of pesticides. Now the House has left town and expects the Senate to pass this terrible bill. The facts are clear: Zika is here. It disproportionately affects women and babies. It causes horrible birth defects. And there is no treatment or vaccine. If there was ever a time that Congress should act in a bipartisan way to counter a significant threat, it is now. We are now considering cloture on the conference report on Military Construction and Veterans Affairs and Zika appropriations. We began the conference with an open meeting between Democrats and Republicans, the House and the Senate. But when we got down to the last, hardest issues, Republicans decided among themselves and then told Democrats, ``take it or leave it.'' That means no Democratic conferees signed the conference report, House or Senate.…”