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17:10 GMT
WASHINGTON, July 1 (KUNA) -- President Barack Obama on Friday said the US Congress should not adjourn before approving emergency funds to combat the Zika virus.
The House is set to adjourn on July 15 and not return until Sept. 6, while the Senate is scheduled to have its recess from July 18 through Sept. 5.
There is a crisis "right now" in Puerto Rico surrounding Zika, "and we have to obtain the resources to make sure that we are engaging in mosquito abatement and providing the kind of basic health services to reduce the effects of Zika in Puerto Rico," Obama said. "And at a time when Puerto Rico is already going through a tough time and its public health infrastructure is being strained because of budget constraints and debt problems, it's especially important that we're responsive to the millions of American citizens who live there."
There is a lot of travel back and forth between Puerto Rico and the continental United States, "so this is not something that, ultimately, may end up just being isolated there," he said
"We have to get the money from Congress over the next two weeks to make sure that we can begin to develop the effective vaccines, the mosquito abatement tools, the state emergency response dollars so that all of us are safe, and we are not seeing families dealing with tragedies that can last a lifetime," the President said.
"This is just common sense, and this is not the time to play politics," he added.
"We have a chance at developing a vaccine quickly that will help a lot of people as long as Congress, over the next few weeks, does its job," Obama said.
The President made his remarks after receiving a briefing from the Department of Health and Human Services, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and the National Institutes of Health about the situation involving Zika. (end)
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