Political Quotes

“I thank Congresswoman Lowey for yielding and also for her very steady and effective leadership on our committee. Mr. Speaker, as a member of the Labor-HHS and State and Foreign Operations subcommittees, I rise today in strong opposition to H.R. 5243, which is the so-called Zika funding bill. Earlier this week, the majority finally decided to act on Zika, yet their proposal shows just how unwilling they are to take this crisis seriously. Even now, they have offered barely one-third of the resources needed to fight Zika. Not only are my Republican colleagues' efforts 3 months late, they are also woefully inadequate to address this major public health emergency. If that weren't enough, Republicans have once again included poison pills that have no place in this legislation. While we are trying to work to protect our Nation's most vulnerable, including pregnant women and their children, the majority is putting politics over public health, and that is just wrong. The Zika outbreak has already spread to more than 26 countries, including the United States and our territories. Sadly, there have been two Zika deaths in Puerto Rico. This summer, Americans living in Southern States face tremendous risks from the virus. Not only does this bill underfund our Zika response, it raids vital funding for other dangerous infectious diseases, such as Ebola. Quite frankly, we should not roll the dice should another Ebola outbreak occur. We know how this appropriations process works.…”