News

Washington, D.C. – U.S. Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL) today welcomed the announcement by Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) that the Senate would move forward this week on a Continuing Resolution (CR) that would fund the government through December 9 and include additional money to fight the Zika virus in Florida.
 
“As I’ve told members in both the House and Senate, Zika is not a game, and we need to pass this funding as soon as possible so our health officials and experts have the resources they need to conduct vital medical research and eradicate Zika in Florida,” said Rubio. “I called for this money to be included in whatever spending bill ultimately passes to keep the government open beyond this month, so today’s announcement is good news. We just need to get this done.”
 
Last week, Rubio urged House and Senate Appropriations Committee members from both parties to fund the nation’s Zika response in the upcoming appropriations debate.
 
Also last week, in two separate speeches on the Senate floor, Rubio called for immediate action to address Zika, saying “funding to confront this crisis” should “be included in the Continuing Resolution that Congress is hopefully going to pass in the coming weeks.”
 
Rubio also highlighted the Wynwood community in Miami and the rising number of military men and women who have contracted the virus, and he spoke about two pieces of Zika-related legislation he introduced. The first aims to help Zika-affected small businesses get loans from the Small Business Administration (SBA), and the second would provide additional protections to Department of Defense personnel and their families.