Congressman Tom Cole is upset with the Senate for not reconsidering the Zika Conference Report this week. The Senate failed to pass the report when it previously came up for a vote.
Cole blames the Democrats in the Senate.
“Democrats in the Senate continue to put their political agenda ahead of the immediate needs of the American people,” said Cole. “This virus remains a serious public health crisis, yet the Democrats would rather have a phony political issue than a serious effort to ensure the funding exists for the long term efforts to eradicate this disease.”
Cole worked on the measure which would use existing funds left over from a previous project, instead of spending new money on Zika virus efforts.
“Chairman Rogers, Chairman Cochran, myself and several of my colleagues have sent a letter to the President urging him to fulfill his promise to provide resources to fight Zika, and to use existing funds in the place of the funding that has not been passed in the Senate,” continued Cole. “I am deeply concerned that our efforts to fight Zika are being thwarted by Senate Democrats and the Obama White House for political purposes. This is not only wrong, it’s highly irresponsible.”
