Hillary Clinton calls for action on Zika while campaigning in Miami

Urging Congress to cut short its summer recess, Hillary Clinton called for emergency public health action Tuesday as she visited a Miami neighbourhood dealing with the first U.S. outbreak of the Zika virus.

At a local health clinic, the Democratic presidential nominee said Republican congressional leaders should summon lawmakers back to Washington and immediately pass funding for the Zika response.

• Donald Trump suggests 'Second Amendment people' can stop Hillary Clinton
• ANALYSIS:Clinton and Trump's big policy dreams could get dashed by Congress

Clinton said she was "very disappointed" that Congress left for recess without passing legislation. She spoke after touring the Borinquen Medical Center, a health clinic close to the Wynwood area where 21 non-travel related cases of Zika have been diagnosed.

"Everybody has a stake in this. And that's really why I'm here," Clinton said. "We don't want to wake up in a year and read more stories about babies like the little girl who just died in Houston."

It's an issue that could affect votes in this crucial swing state where she has held a small advantage in recent polls. So far, Republican Donald Trump has not addressed the issue in depth, though he told a Florida television station last week that Gov. Rick Scott, a Republican, "really seems to have it under control in Florida."

In Miami and beyond, there is growing concern about a different issue: new cases of Zika.

Zika warning in Florida

Until this month, the only known cases in the United States were in people who had recently travelled to Latin America or the Caribbean. Federal officials last week warned pregnant women to avoid the Miami neighbourhood and a square-mile area around it.

Lawmakers left Washington in mid-July for a seven-week recess without approving any of the $1.9 billion US that President Barack Obama requested in February to try to develop a vaccine and control the mosquitoes that carry the virus.

Obama, Clinton and Democrats blame Republicans for politicizing the legislation by adding a provision to a $1.1-billion take-it-or-leave-it measure that would have blocked Planned Parenthood clinics in Puerto Rico from receiving money.

Republicans, in turn, say the administration has not spent money that has already been provided and it's the Democrats who are playing politics in an election year.

In Florida,leaders from both parties want Congress to return and allocate more dollars for Zika, including SenatorMarco Rubio and Gov. Scott, both Republicans.

Shooter's father at rally

On Monday evening, the father of the Orlando gay nightclub shooter was spotted at a campaign event for Clinton in central Florida.

Seddique Mateen was standing in a crowd behind Clinton during the event in Kissimmee, south of Orlando. A campaign official told The Associated Press on Tuesday that he wasn't invited to attend the 3,000-person, open-door public event and that the campaign wasn't aware he was there until it ended.

Mateen told news outlets after the rally that he loves "the United States."

Omar Mateen fatally shot 49 people and injured another 53 at Pulse nightclub in Orlando on June 12. He was killed by law enforcement officers following a three-hour standoff.

• Omar Mateen hit by 8 bullets in police shootout: autopsy

The father saidhis family has been co-operating with investigators.

During her speech, Clinton expressed support for the survivors of the attack and the loved ones of those killed.

Also Monday, Clinton's campaign chairman announced she would take part in all three TV debates that the Commission on Presidential Debates is organizing. Trump has said he wants to debate, but has complained that two of the debates are scheduled during NFL football games, claiming Democrats "rigged" the schedule.