[Congressional Record Volume 162, Number 114 (Thursday, July 14, 2016)]
[House]
[Page H4985]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                              {time}  1530
                CONGRESS HAS BEEN GROSSLY IRRESPONSIBLE

  (Mr. PRICE of North Carolina asked and was given permission to 
address the House for 1 minute.)
  Mr. PRICE of North Carolina. Mr. Speaker, Congress is set to take the 
longest recess in memory with critical national priorities, even 
emergencies, unaddressed.
  Three weeks ago on the floor of this House, we engaged in civil 
disobedience to protest the carnage of gun violence in our country and 
the disgrace of congressional inaction in the face of that.
  Republican leadership was prevented by their Freedom Caucus from 
putting even a token measure on the floor. But we will not rest until 
we are able to keep guns out of the hands of prospective terrorists and 
are able to have effective background checks.
  And now, incredibly, the Zika crisis is upon us. Months ago this 
should have been addressed. I convened researchers and government 
officials from my area, which is a research hub, to talk about the 
heroic efforts underway to find out how to prevent the spread of this 
virus, to understand how to develop a vaccine. Heroic work is going on. 
People are moving money around, dealing with the absence of a steady 
funding stream.
  We have let our people down. A public health crisis is coming. 
Congress has been grossly irresponsible in failing to provide steady 
and sure emergency funding for what is surely going to be a desperate 
public health emergency.

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