WASHINGTON, DC – House Majority Whip Steve Scalise (R-La.) today at a leadership press conference discussed House efforts to fight the spread and threat of Zika:
Remarks:
“We’re reprioritizing existing funds to make sure that the Zika attack is fully funded. This is a serious problem throughout our country. Look, in south Louisiana, we have a lot of mosquitoes and we don’t like them. And we spray to go after and kill those mosquitoes where they breed.
“One of the other things we’re doing in addition to reprioritizing funds is there’s a bill by Bob Gibbs that goes after EPA regulations that actually make it harder to spray for mosquitoes. Right now, EPA regulations under the Clean Water Act actually make it harder for our local communities to get the permits they need to go and kill the mosquitoes where they breed by sources of water, and these are federally approved pesticides.
“So this is an important bill as part of a package to make sure that we’re combating Zika, and it’s going to be an important vote on the House floor to push back on regulations that actually make it harder to kill mosquitoes. So I’m looking forward to a vote on that bill as well.”