DeLauro Statement on the Zika Virus Public Health Crisis

WASHINGTON, DC (August 2, 2016) — Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro (CT-03) today released the following statement on the rising number of cases of the Zika virus in Florida and the urgent need for Congress to appropriate funds to respond to this public health crisis.

“The U.S. government warning pregnant women to avoid an entire neighborhood on the U.S. mainland is unprecedented and it shows the severity of the crisis that we are facing. Rather than address funding for the Zika virus before it struck at home, Republicans in Congress skipped town for seven weeks, only to leave men, women, and families at risk. How can Republicans say they are the party of family values when they will not even lift a finger to protect the families being affected by this public health crisis?

“Congress must immediately return from recess to fully fund the President’s emergency $1.9 billion request and protect the American people. Summer is only half way through and the mosquitoes will keep biting and infecting more of our people. And next year, when the first children with Zika-related microcephaly are born in the U.S., we will have another round of this crisis. The government’s role is to protect its people and we cannot abandon them in this fight. Speaker Ryan, we must act now!”

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