As lawmakers leave Washington for their annual summer recess, many pieces of legislation remain hanging in limbo.
Stalled bills include funding to combat the Zika Virus, approval of the defense budget, gun violence prevention and criminal justice reforms.
Rep. Alma Adams, D-North Carolina, said the legislation is too important to leave unfinished until after Labor Day.
“I’m just very distressed about it,” Adams said. “I’m embarrassed, very humiliated and very anxious as a citizen myself.”
For weeks Democrats have called on Republicans to delay the seve7-week break until the most pressing issues are voted on.
One of those bills is responds to the Zika Virus threat. On Friday, the Centers for Disease Control confirmed the first female-to-male sexual transmission of the mosquito-borne virus in New York City.
Florida Sens. Marco Rubio and Bill Nelson have called on Congress for months to fully fund the legislation. Massachusetts Rep. Stephen Lynch agrees with them and believes lawmakers have missed an opportunity to act.
“In seven weeks, I think this problem will be even greater,” Lynch said. “It will be more difficult to get our arms around and get addressed.”
Rep. John Mica, R-Fla., takes a different stance than Lynch and his colleagues in the Florida delegation. He says time is still on their side and only 20 percent of the money available to combat Zika has been spent.
“We do not start the fiscal year until October first,” said Mica. “So I’m confident when we get back that we'll be able to fund the money from October going forward.”
Also left for after the break is the $575-billion dollar Pentagon budget and gun violence prevention legislation aimed at keeping guns out of the hands of terrorists or those on the no-fly list. Democrats previously said they would work through the break until legislation is passed.
More than half of the Cabinet level agencies and departments have had their spending plans approved.
There has been some legislation passed in recent weeks, including a major FAA bill, a comprehensive bill concerning opioid and heroin addiction and funding to help Puerto Rico recover from a fiscal crisis.
