Zika Virus

Floor Speech

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Mr. RUBIO. Mr. President, I am here to talk about two separate topics today. The first is the Zika virus. I am encouraged that in the last 24 hours, we finally seem to have found some action here in Congress in dealing with the Zika virus. We not only have one, we have three separate proposals that will be introduced to deal with Zika. We will continue to work on and debate these proposals next week.

About 5 weeks ago, I met with Federal, State, and local health officials in Miami and came out in support of the President's emergency funding request to deal with Zika. Since then, I have come before the Senate on numerous occasions to call for action. I have stated my belief that there shouldn't be anything divisive with this. Zika is a public health emergency that sooner or later will impact the vast majority of the United States because this is a virus transmitted by mosquitoes that are only going to become more prevalent as the weather heats up and because our people routinely travel to and from the island of Puerto Rico, the most impacted community in the entire United States.

When I spoke here yesterday, the count of people infected in Florida stood at 109. Since then, just 24 hours later, it has become 112. One- hundred and twelve Zika cases is the most of any State in the Union. Of the three new cases in Florida, two were in Volusia County and one was in Orange County.

I have said repeatedly that Congress should not allow politics to delay action on Zika. One issue we have been encountering is the desire to offset the spending. I made it clear that if we can offset the spending and find the money somewhere else in the budget to pay for what it is going to cost to deal with Zika, we should do it, but that in times of public health emergencies, just like natural disasters, we shouldn't delay acting while we figure out and try to agree on what we are going to cut from other parts of the budget.

Another issue we have encountered is whether we do this through the normal process that is going on or fund it as an emergency spending bill. Again, I am open to either one of those approaches. But back in the real world, people infected by this and their families, who have already been impacted by this, don't have the time for us to figure all of this out; they just believe, as I do, that we need to get going here and get something done.

I have said that we should deal with this issue fully and that the $1.9 billion requested so far may not even be enough when it is all said and done. But I believe there is no one here who wants to get caught in a situation where it is August and people are back in their States, maybe even campaigning for reelection, and have to scramble back here in the middle of the summer to come up with solutions when it gets hotter and there are more mosquitos and when the conditions are ripe for more people to be impacted by Zika.

I commend Senator Nelson, my colleague from Florida. I especially commend Senators Murray from Washington and Blunt from Missouri and others who are taking this seriously and trying to come up with a solution and a way forward.

This is indeed a devastating disease. It has taken lives throughout our hemisphere, and the way it impacts unborn children alone should call us to action. Let's deal with this now, and let's protect our people. There is no reason that every proposal to address Zika cannot be bipartisan and earn broad support.

I am hopeful that we can reach a final outcome that fully addresses the problem. I am hopeful we will see some meaningful action on the Zika public health emergency very soon, including the American citizens in Puerto Rico who have been most impacted so far, and that is one of the reasons I plan to introduce--along with my colleague from Florida, Senator Nelson--an amendment to provide the full $1.9 billion request to fight the Zika virus. The strain on Puerto Rico's health system from Zika must be addressed, and this is the only proposal so far that tries to fully deal with the unique challenges Puerto Rico faces with the Zika virus.

I think it is important to remind people who are asking themselves ``Why should we care about Puerto Rico?''--I will remind them that 4 million U.S. citizens live there, that the first American to lose their life to Zika lived in Puerto Rico, and that Puerto Ricans routinely travel to the continental United States--to Florida and New York especially. These 4 million Puerto Rican citizens have no voice here in the Senate, so I will make sure they are not forgotten as we work on solutions to this virus that has disproportionately impacted these Americans.

When we return next week to continue debating appropriations bills, I hope we can come together on this issue. I hope we can find a way forward that deals with these issues fully and that helps to stop this disease in its tracks and that saves lives.

I urge my colleagues here in the Senate, and the House as well, to look at the proposal Senator Nelson and I will introduce and offer their input and ultimately sign on and get this passed. As we know, it is not going to be enough to see progress here in the Senate; we need the House to act as well, and I hope we can start doing that next week. We need to act. Zika is taking lives, it is hurting unborn children, and this problem is only going to get worse as we move forward.

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