Political Quotes

“it has now been months since President Obama first put forward a strong emergency funding proposal to respond to the Zika virus. We now know that more than 1,400 cases of Zika have been reported in the United States and territories. Just today, the Washington Post reported that according to a new study, the odds of having a child with microcephaly as a result of a Zika infection could be higher than even previously thought--as high as 13 percent for women who are infected early in their pregnancies. The researchers who conducted the study urged health care systems to ``prepare for an increased burden of adverse pregnancy outcomes in the coming years.'' The CDC is already monitoring almost 300 expecting mothers for possible Zika infections. Those numbers are unfortunately only expected to grow. This is a public health emergency, and it demands action. While it shouldn't have taken so long, Democrats and Republicans have been able to agree on a bipartisan downpayment on the President's proposal, which would get emergency funding into the hands of first responders and researchers right away. We passed that agreement last week and, unfortunately, it hasn't gone anywhere. Senate Democrats have urged our Republican colleagues to work with us on sending our bipartisan agreement to the House for a vote, but they have said they will only agree to do that if we agree to Affordable Care Act cuts. This is no time for quid pro quo politics or hostages.…”