Possibly facing a more competitive race in November than she is used to, South Florida Republican Congresswoman Ileana Ros-Lehtinen called on the GOP leadership to do more to battle Zika.
Ros-Lehtinen pointed to new Zika cases in Miami-Dade County on Monday.
“The report that locally transmitted Zika cases have been confirmed in Miami Beach highlights the gravity of the threat we face and the urgent need for more cooperation between federal, state and local agencies in order to find a solution,” Ros Lehtinen said. “As the number of Zika cases expand throughout our community, it is imperative that South Florida has the resources necessary to halt and eradicate this disease. In this time of need, our community requires and deserves better than to get caught in the middle of a political fight; the threat presented by Zika is too great.
“I will continue to advocate for decisive and immediate actions that will empower our community to overcome this disease,” she added. “I wrote a letter to Speaker Ryan and Leader McConnell urging them to immediately reconvene the House and Senate to pass a comprehensive, stand-alone funding bill that meets the president’s $1.9 billion request. I have also written to President Obama to ask that he work with congressional leaders to quickly reprogram as much additional funding as possible to the domestic Zika response. I met with CDC Director, Tom Frieden, Governor Scott, and Senator Rubio to discuss federal, state, and local responses to eradicate Zika in South Florida. I led a letter signed by every member of the Florida Congressional delegation asking the CDC to allocate more funds to our state.
“I will continue urging my congressional colleagues to recognize the gravity of the situation and return to Washington immediately to fulfill our moral and constitutional obligation to the people of South Florida and our nation,” Ros-Lehtinen concluded. “I will also continue to cooperate with all federal, state, and local stakeholders, especially our impacted community members, to ensure that South Florida is prepared and ready to face this grave threat. I call on all partners to share information in a timely manner so that all agencies have up to speed information on new Zika cases.”
While Ros-Lehtinen has been blowing out Democrats for more than 20 years in her reelection races, at the end of last month, the Cook Report moved her race from “Solid Republican” to “Likely Republican.” The latest round of congressional redistricting has made this South Florida district more competitive and some experts believe this seat could do to the Democrats if Ros-Lehtinen decides to retire.
Businessman Scott Fuhrman, the favorite to win the Democratic nomination later this month, has been going on the attack against Ros-Lehtinen over Zika and other issues. Fuhrman insisted last week he was going traction.
“We're seeing this on the ground as people are waking up to her inaction on Zika, her ‘A’ rating with the NRA and tone-deaf gun control positions, and her overall record that proves she's not the moderate she's tried to brand herself as,” Fuhrman insisted.
