Fund the Zika Public Health Crisis

Floor Speech

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Ms. WILSON of Florida. Mr. Speaker, today, at 12:30 p.m., I will be convening an emergency press conference from the U.S. Capitol on Zika. This is a bipartisan press conference of Floridians, Democrats, and Republicans who are concerned about their State. Please join us.

We will send out a clarion call to our fellow Members of Congress to help Floridians by passing a clean Zika bill--no riders, no poison pills, just a clean Zika bill. Our Governor, Governor Scott, will visit Congress tomorrow, and I hope he will urge Congress to act.

Life is too precious, and we should not be playing political football with unborn children and whatever else science will reveal to us about Zika. There is so much yet to be discovered, but we do know this: we are gambling with the developing brain of an unborn fetus.

Florida's 24th Congressional District, which I proudly represent, is the epicenter of the Zika epidemic in America. The district's small boutique community was where they discovered the first local mosquito- borne transmission.

A travel advisory has been put in place to warn pregnant women against coming to this American neighborhood. This is the first time in a long time that an American city has received a travel advisory. It is hurting businesses. It has a huge economic impact that is devastating to this robust business district in Miami. Tourism is down, restaurants are on the verge of closing, and the crowded tourist attractions are literally abandoned.

This public health crisis has grown so serious that one of Florida's major newspapers, the Miami Herald, has created a daily tracker to monitor the virus' spread across our State. I spent most of our 7-week recess working to educate residents in my district about how to protect themselves against this terrible and rapidly spreading virus. Whip Hoyer joined me on an occasion.

So Miami is the epicenter. It has evolved into an open laboratory where the CDC is working closely with local health officials and county officials. For weeks, a CDC response team has been on the ground in Miami working to control, contain, and defeat the virus and to educate the community on mosquito control.

The CDC is literally using Miami to teach the Nation how to cope with the Zika virus. They have said to me: We have to use every tool in the toolbox, and that requires adequate funding. They have said: We cannot lose this battle; it is too dangerous. Determining what works and what doesn't work requires adequate funding.

It is sexually transmitted, but how long does the virus live in semen? How long does the virus live in the blood? Should we stop blood donations in affected areas?

The Zika virus has been found in tears and saliva. Research shows that it causes blindness and brain disorders and could cause Alzheimer's in adults. So many questions. So many questions.

We cannot afford to delay much-needed scientific research, but that requires adequate funding. We need resources to help develop a vaccine, to develop medications to stymie the virus. We need resources to find out how long it takes for a pregnant woman to get results from her Zika test. They need to determine how long the Zika virus lives in the body.

The fever, the chills we can deal with, but we can't gamble with the developing brain of an unborn fetus. The bottom line is: the threat of Zika is grave to pregnant women.

There are so many unanswered questions, and it requires funding. We need a clean Zika bill--no poison pills, no riders, just a bill addressing the Zika virus.

Many people who live in Florida are living in fear because there is so much more to be learned about the virus. It is my State now, my beautiful State of Florida. There are 27 of us serving in the House. Many of us have taken votes to help you when your State needed help. I ask you today, my colleagues, to help my State, my district.

And please note, this epidemic has already begun to start in other States. We cannot pretend it does not exist. Please bring a clean bill to the floor.

The people of America are depending on each of us. The unborn children of America are depending on each of us. Let's put our children's future first. Mosquitoes carrying Zika must be dealt with now, and that requires the political will to do the right thing.

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