Senator Chuck Schumer today urged members of the US Congress to do everyting in their power to pass the emergency funding bill that would allocate $1.9 billion towards fighting the zika virus menace. He spoke at a press conference on Sunday morning and urged his fellow senators to ensure that the bill is passed.
He said,"It has been more than 165 days since the President requested emergency funding to fight Zika, but Congress has yet to pass a bill and public health now hangs in the balance: the time to act is now. " He continued, "With clinical trials to beat Zika underway, we have a real shot at a vaccine, but unfortunately a Congress that went on recess rather than approve emergency funding is about to pull the plug on this Zika vaccine effort. If Congress does not go back to Washington to pass this emergency funding package, we will regret it. This emergency funding package is an investment because the cost of doing nothing - which is what we are doing right now while Congress is on recess - will cost us even more in both dollars and in health consequences." He went on to state, "That's why I've joined my colleagues in urging Congress to go back to Washington-even for just a day-to pass this $1.9 billion emergency bill to help fight Zika,"
The New York Daily News reported, "Lawmakers left Washington in mid-July for a seven-week recess without approving any of the $1.9 billion that President Obama requested in February to develop a vaccine and control the mosquitoes that carry the virus. Abortion politics played a central role in the impasse. Republicans angered Democrats by adding a provision to a $1.1-billion take-it-or-leave-it measure that would have blocked Planned Parenthood clinics in Puerto Rico from receiving money." It remains to be seen how the members of the US Congress handle the situation.
