[Congressional Record Volume 162, Number 133 (Tuesday, September 6, 2016)]
[Senate]
[Page S5291]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]





                           ZIKA VIRUS FUNDING

  Mr. RUBIO. Mr. President, on a separate topic, I rise today to 
discuss the spread of the Zika virus. As many of my colleagues know, I 
have been calling for funding to confront this crisis to be included in 
the continuing resolution Congress is hopefully going to pass in the 
coming weeks.
  First, in light of tonight's vote, I want to take a step back and 
look at how we have gotten to this point. I want us to think about how 
long we have known about this crisis. I want us to think about how many 
warning signs had to be ignored for us to still be having this debate. 
And I want all the American people who are concerned about and impacted 
by the virus to know the truth about our deliberations up to this 
point.
  The truth is that every Senator has known about the Zika virus since 
at least January. We all knew then that it was a threat. The World 
Health Organization warned in January that Zika would spread throughout 
most of the Americas by the end of this year. In February, as the 
number of travel-related cases in the United States grew, President 
Obama made an emergency spending request of $1.9 billion. I supported 
that request. The vast majority of Congress, for political reasons, did 
not. So the virus continued to spread.
  Since then, I have come to the floor of the Senate to urge my 
colleagues to take action on Zika on at least eight separate occasions. 
I have written letters, I have written laws, and I have supported every 
single Zika proposal that has come before the Senate regardless of 
which party wrote it. Tonight will mark the 12th time--the 12th time--I 
have voted to move forward on funding to take on Zika.
  But tonight, for the third time, the minority party--the Democrats in 
the Senate--have blocked more funding to fight this virus. And I want 
to be frank. At times, my own party has not taken the issue seriously 
enough either. In the eight times I have come to the floor to deliver 
speeches about this issue, I have called out both parties, and I have 
repeatedly warned it was only a matter of time before we had a mosquito 
transition in the mainland of the United States. Tragically, that time 
has now come and, with it, an increase in infections.
  In July, when we last voted on this issue, there were approximately 
1,300 cases of Zika in the continental United States and 2,900 cases in 
U.S. territories. Since that time in July, these numbers have more than 
doubled to over 2,700 cases of Zika in the continental United States 
and over 14,000 cases in U.S. territories, particularly Puerto Rico. 
That includes 625 pregnant women whose babies are now at risk of 
complications, including very serious ones like microcephaly.
  These are not statistics. These are real people. As the infection 
rate continues to snowball, our health officials and experts 
desperately need additional resources to combat this crisis. I continue 
to support supplemental legislation to fund the fight against Zika, but 
we simply cannot afford to wait any longer. That is why I have 
requested that any legislation to fund the Federal Government beyond 
the 30th of September include additional resources to combat and, 
hopefully through a vaccine, eradicate the Zika virus.
  For Congress, this is our moment of truth on this incredibly 
dangerous issue. We are going to continue to see more explosive growth 
in infections if people keep conspiring, for political reasons in an 
election year, to do nothing. My colleagues on both sides of the aisle 
and in both Chambers--in the House and the Senate--now face a choice: 
Are the political points you hope to gain from posturing on this 
funding really more valuable than saving lives, protecting pregnant 
women, and preventing unborn children from being afflicted by this 
disease?
  And ask yourself this: How will history remember this moment 20 years 
from now if, God forbid, there are hundreds or even thousands of 
children who are born with microcephaly while we stood here playing 
politics and did nothing? This has the potential to tarnish the legacy 
of our generation of national leaders and, far worse, to cause grave 
health challenges for an untold number of Americans.
  My colleagues, for the life of me, I cannot understand why any 
Senator with any chance to do something about this would stand in the 
way any longer. My message to both parties and both Chambers for this 
month is simple and straightforward: Zika is not a game. And if you 
think it is, then you should take your game somewhere else. This issue 
is about human beings, not political chess pieces, and we have a duty 
to solve it. It will not stop until Congress does what is necessary to 
respond to this public health crisis. Enough waiting. Enough games. 
Congress needs to act, and it needs to act now.
  With that, Mr. President, I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Ohio.

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