[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 162 (2016), Part 9]
[House]
[Page 11930]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




             EMERGENCY FUNDS TO COMBAT ZIKA VIRUS EPIDEMIC

  (Mr. SCHIFF asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute.)
  Mr. SCHIFF. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to urge the Republican majority 
to act immediately on the administration's request for emergency funds 
to combat the Zika virus epidemic.
  It is shameful that we have waited 7 months to act while the threat 
from Zika grows more and more apparent. This majority is failing the 
most basic function of government, to protect its people.
  In the United States and territories, as many as 14,000 locally 
acquired cases have already been reported, and at least 1,600 pregnant 
women have been infected, putting their babies at risk for microcephaly 
and other devastating birth defects. Every week we fail to act, more 
children and families will suffer the consequences.
  Let's heed the call of public health experts to launch an aggressive 
campaign against the Zika virus and pass a funding bill immediately.

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