Providing for Consideration of H.R. Military Construction and Veterans Affairs and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, Providing for Consideration of H.R. Zika Response Appropriations Act, and for Other Purposes

Floor Speech

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Mr. AL GREEN of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I am concerned. I am concerned because, while the mosquito is not the unbeatable foe, it is the deadliest living organism on the Earth. The deadliest life form is the mosquito.

Annually, the mosquito kills 1 million humans, mostly from malaria, I must tell you, but I must tell you that they also kill by way of the West Nile virus. In Houston, Texas, we have had people contract the West Nile virus. We have people die. I would also mention that they are the greatest survivors. They survived the dinosaurs.

We are dealing with a deadly foe. Make no mistake, the size should not in any way cause us to believe that this is something we can take as less than a deadly enemy that we have to confront.

The World Health Organization has indicated that there may be as many as 4 million cases of the Zika virus from Zika-carrying mosquitoes in the Americas. As of February 1, we had seven confirmed cases in Houston, Texas.

It appears, from what I have read, that standing water activates them. It appears that rain can activate these mosquitos. If this is true, in Houston, Texas, given that we have just had the so-called tax day flood and because we are still being inundated with rain quite regularly--an 80 percent chance of rain today in Houston, an 80 percent chance tomorrow--it appears that we have the makings of a special problem in Houston, Texas.

So, I am gravely concerned. I hope that we do all that we can to make sure that we get the necessary equipment and the necessary funding so that this enemy can be confronted properly.

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