Senator Marco Rubio called out the federal government for not paying enough attention to the Zika crisis during a press conference Wednesday at his Doral office.
“I also find it unbelievable that last week they dished out about $40 million and Florida, the state directly impacted by this with 14 mosquito borne infections, got $700,000,” Rubio told reporters.
The Zika issue has been politicized, says Rubio, with a one billion dollar Zika spending package failing to get out of congress before lawmakers left for their august break.
Rubio said $300 million has been repurposed from the government's recent anti-Ebola efforts. $175 million, he says, is available right now.
He's calling for congress to reconvene for just one day and pass a clean Zika funding bill and also criticized President Obama.
“There is no excuse for why this president is sitting by their own admission on $175 million of federal funds that are immediately available to be spent.”
Presidential politics was raised during today's news conference. Democratic vice presidential nominee Tim Kaine recently spoke about the Zika crisis at a rally in Daytona Beach. But Donald trump has been silent on the matter.
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“Hopefully that will change today and the campaign will communicate on this and say something.”
