Roy Blunt: “I came to the floor today to talk about another issue, and I will talk about the issue I had scheduled to talk about…”

“I came to the floor today to talk about another issue, and I will talk about the issue I had scheduled to talk about earlier this week. But in regard to the issue of Zika, it does need to be dealt with. It is being dealt with. The good news is that there was substantial money various departments had that could be reprogrammed, and the fact that they have reprogrammed it indicates to me that there is a genuine belief in the administration, which I share, that this is an emergency. Over half a billion dollars has already been reprogrammed to deal with that emergency. I believe some of that reprogramming money needs to be restored, and some of it probably doesn't. The Ebola crisis is not what we thought it might be in Africa, but it is still in existence there. I think some of that money needs to go back into the accounts it had been reprogrammed out of. But if anybody listening to this debate believes that nothing is happening, that is not accurate. I do appreciate my friend from Florida recognizing that a lot of discussions are going on. I was in several this week, and some yesterday with House Members and Senate Members. The House could pass a bill first. That may or may not happen, but what really needs to happen is a bill that gets on the President's desk. I think there is almost no chance the Senate would pass a $1.9 billion bill as proposed.…”