AS MORE AMERICANS BECOME INFECTED

AS MORE AMERICANS BECOME INFECTED, MIKULSKI, CARDIN URGE REPUBLICAN LEADERSHIP TO IMMEDIATELY CALL CONGRESS BACK INTO SESSION TO PASS A CLEAN, BIPARTISAN FUNDING BILL TO FIGHT ZIKA

WASHINGTON – Today, Senate Democrats released a new letter to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and House Speaker Paul Ryan urging the Republican leaders to immediately call Congress back into session to pass emergency funding legislation to address the growing Zika crisis. Since Republican leaders shuttered both chambers of Congress for a seven-week recess – the longest in 60 years – without passing legislation to help stem the spread of the virus, the crisis has become exponentially worse. Signed by Senators Barbara A. Mikulski and Ben Cardin (both D-Md.), the letter notes that since Congress went into recess, at least 15 individuals have contracted the Zika virus on U.S. soil, likely via mosquito, and according to health experts, thousands in Puerto Rico become infected each day, including up to 50 pregnant women.

 

The letter also reminds Republicans that President Obama first requested emergency funding to fight Zika 164 days ago, longer than the combined 137 days it took Congress to fund the fight against Ebola, H1N1 and Avian flu, the last three public health emergencies.