Political Quotes

“first, I want to thank my colleague from Florida, Senator Nelson, for his comments in regard to the Zika funding. As the Senator from Florida, he knows firsthand of the locally acquired Zika virus in his own State. This is not just a matter of individuals traveling to other countries and obtaining the Zika virus and coming back to the United States; we have a locally acquired Zika virus here in the United States, and Senator Nelson has been an outspoken leader in the Senate and in the Congress for doing the right thing. He was absolutely right when he said that 3 months ago we passed a compromise bill that would have funded the NIH, USAID, and the other agencies and what they need for the remainder of the year. It would have done it in a way that was not all the money I thought or he thought should be provided, but it was a fair compromise. Instead, of course, we got a conference report that contained less funds, poison pills, and issues that are not related to the Zika funding to try to move forward a pretty extreme agenda. That is not what we should be doing with the health of the people of this country. So I take this time to support what Senator Nelson has said, and I rise to talk about the urgent need for us to provide full funding--full funding--for our response to the Zika virus. More than 6 months ago, President Obama submitted a request to Congress for $1.9 billion in emergency supplemental funding to address the virus.…”