U.S. Rep. Curt Clawson (R-FL) released a plan on Tuesday to introduce legislation that would appropriate $1.1 billion in funding for Zika virus prevention programs through Fiscal Year 2017 when the House reconvenes in early September.
“With each passing day that we do not act, the Zika outbreak will grow faster in Florida, endangering the future quality of life for the unborn,” Clawson said. “Now is not the time for partisanship, it is time for governing and doing the right thing for Florida and the nation. America has the most advanced healthcare facilities in the world and must use all resources at its disposal to create a vaccine for this virus. It is time for members to pull all levers in both chambers of Congress to get a funding measure to the president’s desk.”
Earlier this month, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) confirmed that the state of Florida had become the first state in America to report cases of localized transmission of the Zika virus.
Clawson’s legislation would use language from a Senate amendment to the Military Construction, Veterans Affairs and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, to fund $1.1 billion worth of Zika prevention programs both domestically and globally.