mr. frieden: fewer travelers from zika-affected areas. and just a matter of time before they also have some cases, i think. mr. burr: let's get to funding for a second. have you been prevented from doing anything as a result of congress not yet acting on emergency funds for zika? mr. frieden: we have been able to get a start on things that are needed immediately for the zika response. what we haven't been able to get started on are some of the longer term projects we have to start now that are going to take time. you know, there's the old saying, the best time to plan to tree is 20 years ago. the second best time is today. we haven't been able to plant those tree, the went -- we haven't been able to do the work to come up with better diagnostics, better mosquito control strategies, to do that in the robust way we'll need. mr. burr: so keeping on funding for a second. how do you respond to claims, especially by many congressional republicans, that the administration's $1.9 billion request is vague, incomplete, or could result in blank check

mr. frieden: it hasn't made it easier. puerto rico is faced with a very challenging situation, not just economic and political, but also in the health care context. their medicaid program has deep problems and it's unable to pay physicians. one of the things the c.d.c. foundation is working on is a way to reimburse physicians for the care they provide for women who choose not to become pregnant during this time. it's making an incredibly difficult situation even harder. >> what level of confidence do you have that the virus persistent blood and semen for weeks or months or years? mr. frieden: there are a few things we know. virus persists in blood for only about a week. in urine for about two weeks. in saliva for about a week. that's been studied. semen is an unknown. there have been reports of virus persisting not necessarily live virus but at least parts of the vie us -- virus for up two months. we've seen long persistence in ebola. those studies need to be done they take six to 12 months to do at best and we still may n

mr. mcgovern: dr. thomas frieden, the director of the c.d.c. just wreently said in the way this house has handled the funding for the zika virus. he said, this is no way to fight an ep 2ke78ic. three months is eternity for control of an outbreak. there is a narrow window of opportunity here and it's closing. every day that passes makes it harder and harder to stop zika. so whether it's dr. frieden or dr. fauci or any of our nation's leading scientists or medical experts who all say that what is going on here today is grossly inadequate, my friends on the other side of the aisle seem to think they know more than our scientists and medical experts. at these they have convinced themselves they know more. well, they haven't convinced me and they haven't convinced the majority of the american people who are watching this and in disbelief. i mean, this is an emergency. this is a crisis. why aren't we acting more aggressively? i want to ask unanimous consent to insert in the congressional record a letter to congress from the director of the office of