[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 162 (2016), Part 9]
[House]
[Page 12501]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                   FUND THE ZIKA PUBLIC HEALTH CRISIS

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentlewoman from 
Florida (Ms. Wilson) for 5 minutes.
  Ms. WILSON of Florida. Mr. Speaker, today, at 12:30 p.m., I will be 
convening an emergency press conference from the U.S. Capitol on Zika. 
This is a bipartisan press conference of Floridians, Democrats, and 
Republicans who are concerned about their State. Please join us.
  We will send out a clarion call to our fellow Members of Congress to 
help Floridians by passing a clean Zika bill--no riders, no poison 
pills, just a clean Zika bill. Our Governor, Governor Scott, will visit 
Congress tomorrow, and I hope he will urge Congress to act.
  Life is too precious, and we should not be playing political football 
with unborn children and whatever else science will reveal to us about 
Zika. There is so much yet to be discovered, but we do know this: we 
are gambling with the developing brain of an unborn fetus.
  Florida's 24th Congressional District, which I proudly represent, is 
the epicenter of the Zika epidemic in America. The district's small 
boutique community was where they discovered the first local mosquito-
borne transmission.
  A travel advisory has been put in place to warn pregnant women 
against coming to this American neighborhood. This is the first time in 
a long time that an American city has received a travel advisory. It is 
hurting businesses. It has a huge economic impact that is devastating 
to this robust business district in Miami. Tourism is down, restaurants 
are on the verge of closing, and the crowded tourist attractions are 
literally abandoned.
  This public health crisis has grown so serious that one of Florida's 
major newspapers, the Miami Herald, has created a daily tracker to 
monitor the virus' spread across our State. I spent most of our 7-week 
recess working to educate residents in my district about how to protect 
themselves against this terrible and rapidly spreading virus. Whip 
Hoyer joined me on an occasion.
  So Miami is the epicenter. It has evolved into an open laboratory 
where the CDC is working closely with local health officials and county 
officials. For weeks, a CDC response team has been on the ground in 
Miami working to control, contain, and defeat the virus and to educate 
the community on mosquito control.
  The CDC is literally using Miami to teach the Nation how to cope with 
the Zika virus. They have said to me: We have to use every tool in the 
toolbox, and that requires adequate funding. They have said: We cannot 
lose this battle; it is too dangerous. Determining what works and what 
doesn't work requires adequate funding.
  It is sexually transmitted, but how long does the virus live in 
semen? How long does the virus live in the blood? Should we stop blood 
donations in affected areas?
  The Zika virus has been found in tears and saliva. Research shows 
that it causes blindness and brain disorders and could cause 
Alzheimer's in adults. So many questions. So many questions.
  We cannot afford to delay much-needed scientific research, but that 
requires adequate funding. We need resources to help develop a vaccine, 
to develop medications to stymie the virus. We need resources to find 
out how long it takes for a pregnant woman to get results from her Zika 
test. They need to determine how long the Zika virus lives in the body.
  The fever, the chills we can deal with, but we can't gamble with the 
developing brain of an unborn fetus. The bottom line is: the threat of 
Zika is grave to pregnant women.
  There are so many unanswered questions, and it requires funding. We 
need a clean Zika bill--no poison pills, no riders, just a bill 
addressing the Zika virus.
  Many people who live in Florida are living in fear because there is 
so much more to be learned about the virus. It is my State now, my 
beautiful State of Florida. There are 27 of us serving in the House. 
Many of us have taken votes to help you when your State needed help. I 
ask you today, my colleagues, to help my State, my district.
  And please note, this epidemic has already begun to start in other 
States. We cannot pretend it does not exist. Please bring a clean bill 
to the floor.
  The people of America are depending on each of us. The unborn 
children of America are depending on each of us. Let's put our 
children's future first. Mosquitoes carrying Zika must be dealt with 
now, and that requires the political will to do the right thing.

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