National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2017--Motion to Proceed

Floor Speech

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Mrs. MURRAY. Mr. President, it has now been months since President Obama first put forward a strong emergency funding proposal to respond to the Zika virus. We now know that more than 1,400 cases of Zika have been reported in the United States and territories. Just today, the Washington Post reported that according to a new study, the odds of having a child with microcephaly as a result of a Zika infection could be higher than even previously thought--as high as 13 percent for women who are infected early in their pregnancies.

The researchers who conducted the study urged health care systems to ``prepare for an increased burden of adverse pregnancy outcomes in the coming years.'' The CDC is already monitoring almost 300 expecting mothers for possible Zika infections. Those numbers are unfortunately only expected to grow. This is a public health emergency, and it demands action.

While it shouldn't have taken so long, Democrats and Republicans have been able to agree on a bipartisan downpayment on the President's proposal, which would get emergency funding into the hands of first responders and researchers right away. We passed that agreement last week and, unfortunately, it hasn't gone anywhere.

Senate Democrats have urged our Republican colleagues to work with us on sending our bipartisan agreement to the House for a vote, but they have said they will only agree to do that if we agree to Affordable Care Act cuts. This is no time for quid pro quo politics or hostages. This is a time to protect our families. I am going to ask again that our Senate Republicans reconsider and join us to get this bill to the House. There, I hope that House Republicans will drop their partisan, underfunded billing and give our bipartisan agreement a vote. Then, I hope the President can sign it and we can get a serious response to this emergency underway.

Families and communities are expecting us to act. Parents are wondering whether their babies will be born safe and healthy. In Congress, we should be doing everything we can to tackle this virus without any further delay.

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