On the recordMay 17, 2016
I want to talk about the amendment I have offered with Senator Murray and Senator Mikulski and Senator Cochran. The chairman and the ranking member of the Appropriations Committee have joined in that amendment, as have Senator Graham and Senator Leahy. The committees involved are truly looking at this, trying to find a way forward that allows us to take action. We do need to take action, as my good friend from Maryland has just so well explained. There is no vaccine. There is no simple diagnostic test. There is no way to treat the virus once you get infected. So communities really don't have very many options right now. The limited resources they have to manage the one thing we can do something about immediately besides education--the local mosquito population--are resources that are not nearly adequate to meet the current need. At this time, there is no way to fully prevent the infection, leaving high-risk populations at risk, especially pregnant women or women trying to get pregnant. That seems to be the population where the impact of this disease--the impact of this Zika infection--has not only the most short-term but the most long-term implications because of microcephaly and other things that are going to be impacting children born. I am told by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that every indication now would be that once you have had Zika, you cannot get it again.…
