U.S. Senator Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) on Tuesday called on Congressional leaders to stop playing politics with the Zika emergency and immediately pass the bipartisan compromise bill that passed the Senate in May. Murphy, who served as a member of the U.S. Senate Committee on Appropriations and the conference committee negotiating the Zika virus supplemental funding bill, voted against invoking cloture on the conference report that needlessly and recklessly cut funding for Planned Parenthood and the Affordable Care Act. On May 17, Murphy voted for a bipartisan compromise that provided $1.1 billion to respond to the public health emergency presented by Zika. The compromise, which Republican leaders have since abandoned,  passed the Senate by a vote of 68-30 on May 19.

“The CDC says it’s running out of money, and the American people are running out of time. Zika isn’t waiting on us to get our act together – we need to pass a bill now,” said Murphy. “Congress failed to act before taking its summer vacation, and now Zika-infected mosquitoes are on our shores. This dangerous disease is no longer just a concern for those who travel overseas. We need to pass a bill before things get even worse.”

Murphy added, “The most frustrating part of this stalemate is that we already have a compromise that passed with an overwhelming bipartisan majority, but Senate Republicans won’t let it see the light of day. It’s time to stop the politics and pass a bipartisan bill to give doctors and scientists the funding they need to stop Zika.”

Murphy has supported numerous initiatives to combat the outbreak of Zika in Connecticut and across the United States, and has continuously called for $1.9 billion of emergency funding to address the outbreak. A bill cosponsored by Murphy – called the Adding Zika Virus to the FDA Priority Review Voucher Program Act – was recently signed into law. It adds Zika as an eligible disease to receive a priority review voucher from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), incentivizing the development of Zika vaccines.

Last week, the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said, “Basically, we are out of money and we need Congress to act.” Forty-eight states, the District of Columbia, and several U.S. territories have reported travel-related cases of Zika. The Connecticut Department of Public Health has confirmed that 68 Connecticut residents have tested positive for travel-related cases of Zika, including 4 pregnant women. For further information regarding the Zika virus, visit the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s website.