[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 162 (2016), Part 6]
[House]
[Pages 8537-8538]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                   PLAYING GAMES WITH WOMEN'S HEALTH

  (Mr. CARDENAS asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. CARDENAS. Madam Speaker, at what point do we stop playing games 
with women's health?
  Zika is becoming an epidemic, and American women across the country 
are helplessly watching as Congress refuses to act. Every day this 
disease spreads faster and impacts more men, women, and especially 
newborn babies.
  It is unbelievable that so far the best response to stop the spread 
of this dangerous infection is to tell American women: Don't get 
pregnant.

[[Page 8538]]

  That is unacceptable. We can do better.
  Have Republicans learned nothing from the response of the Flint water 
crisis, where they focused on the price tag instead of on protecting 
Michigan's children from getting lead poisoning?
  We cannot wait one more minute for Congress to act. We must do 
something now to prevent further spreading of the Zika virus. I am 
outraged we do not have a solution to something that can hurt an entire 
generation of our children.
  Because of Zika's serious debilitating impacts, Americans are afraid 
to travel, Americans are afraid to go outside, and Americans are now 
terrified to grow their families.
  I urge leadership to schedule a vote on H.R. 3299. This bill 
incentivizes the development of a vaccine to protect us from this 
disease.

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