Clinton In Miami: 'Get A Bill Passed Focused On Fighting Zika'
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MIAMI (CBSMiami/AP) - Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton toured a health clinic near Miami - pleading with Congress to pass funding to fight the spread of Zika virus in the United States.
On Tuesday, Clinton toured the Borinquen Health Care Center, at 3601 Federal Highway, to raise awareness about the public health threat of the virus. The clinic is close to the Wynwood area where health officials believe 21 non-travel related cases of Zika transmission occurred.
"You are on the front lines, not only on behalf of Zika but on behalf of all our health challenges," said Clinton.
Referring to the virus, Clinton said, "This is a challenge and one that we need to be mobilized to address before it spreads even further."
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The focus is on a 500-square foot area where crews were testing and spraying insecticides on Tuesday. They were also draining standing water out of the manholes in the area.
While at the clinic Clinton, joined by Republican Miami-Dade Mayor Carlos Gimenez, called on Congress to return to Washington and pass emergency funding for Zika response.
"We also need to get more resources and treat this as the public health challenge that it is and that means we've got to have funds," said Clinton.
She demanded Republican leaders bring Congress back in session to either pass stalled legislation or craft a new bipartisan compromise bill to provide funding for testing, treatment, and research on the disease.
"Get a bill passed. Get a bill that is focused on combating Zika passed," said Clinton. "I am asking the Republican leaders in the House and Senate to call Congress back immediately," said Clinton.
Clinton's running mate, Virginia Sen. Tim Kaine, has already said he'd return to Washington for a vote on a Zika bill.
Lawmakers left Washington in mid-July for a seven-week recess without approving any of the $1.9 billion that President Barack Obama requested in February to develop a vaccine and control the mosquitoes that carry the virus.
Both sides have been pointing fingers since. Obama, Clinton, and Democrats blame Republicans for politicizing the legislation by adding a provision to a $1.1 billion take-it-or-leave-it measure that would have blocked Planned Parenthood clinics in Puerto Rico from receiving money. Republicans say the administration has not spent money that has already been provided and is trying to play politics in an election year.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., has signaled he is in no rush to return. Writing in the Lexington (Ky.) Herald-Leader last week, he criticized Democrats for balking at passing the bill. He said they'll get another chance after Labor Day when Congress is back in session.
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Clinton supported the bill, which her policy aide Ann O'Leary called "a critical first step to protecting public health and ultimately save lives" in a post on the website Medium.
She laid out a plan to combat the virus last March, which included allocating $1.8 billion in emergency funds. A month later, she dispatched two of her aides to Puerto Rico, where hundreds of cases have been detected, to meet with medical professionals.
Click here for more information on the Zika virus or here for more Zika-related stories.
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