Murray calls on House Republicans to drop “partisan, underfunded” Zika proposal
(Washington, D.C.) –Today, U.S. Senator Murray (D-WA), top Democrat on the Labor, Health, and Human Services appropriations subcommittee, issued the following statement after Senate Republican leaders agreed to move to conference with the House on legislation to respond to the Zika virus.
“Every day that this Republican-controlled Congress fails to act on Zika, we leave more families exposed to the tragic threats the virus poses—so I’m glad that after more than four months of pressure from Democrats, public health experts, women and families, Republicans have finally taken the step of moving to conference on legislation to respond to this public health emergency.
“It absolutely shouldn’t have taken so long to get to this point, but now that we have, we need to do everything we can to get a strong emergency funding proposal on the President’s desk as quickly as possible. The clearest, fastest path to get this done is for House Republicans to drop their partisan, underfunded, and frankly irresponsible Zika proposal and work with Democrats to build on the $1.1 billion downpayment that passed the Senate with strong bipartisan support—and if House Republicans are finally getting serious about Zika, that’s what they’ll do.
“Women and families in my home state and across the country have already waited far too long for Congress to give communities the resources they need to prevent and treat the Zika virus. I urge Republicans to work with us to prevent any further delay.”
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