Republicans have approved a $622 million bill to combat the Zika virus threat in the United States of America, setting off what is predicted to be challenging negotiations with the White House and the Senate.
Advertisement
Sen. Patty Murray, who helped craft the proposal that passed, took to the Senate floor ahead of the vote to stress the urgency of getting one of the billion-dollar packages to the president’s desk, which the senators hope will extend the funding through the end of the next fiscal year in June 2017. The threat of the Zika virus urgently needs funds to kill mosquitoes spreading the disease and to devise a vaccine preventing further infection of Americans.
The woman recently traveled to Honduras, where mosquitoes carrying the Zika virus are present.
The Senate on Thursday approved its $1.1 billion plan to combat the Zika virus, setting the stage for hard negotiations with House Republicans over how much money to devote to fighting the virus and whether to cut Ebola funding to help pay for it.
But they also insist that the Obama administration has more unspent Ebola funds that it could use at any time.
The White House said the House plan is woefully inadequate and has threatened to veto it.
Zika, which can also be spread through sexual contact, can cause severe birth defects.
The House is moving toward a vote Thursday on a $622 million plan to tackle the Zika threat. Asked Wednesday about the compromise Senate measure, White House press secretary Josh Earnest said, “I don’t have a veto threat to issue”.
Obama requested $1.9 billion three months ago for the fight against Zika.
Although this is the first occurrence of the virus in Wisconsin, officials say they’ve been preparing by testing people who traveled to countries with known Zika transmission, and monitoring for mosquitoes with the virus. But House Republicans don’t want to approve the funds unless they are offset with cuts elsewhere in the budget, the Post said.
He added that combined with the Obama Administration’s earlier funding shift-most of it from existing Ebola money-the total funding with the House bill would total $1.2 billion. Bill Nelson, D-Fla., to provide the full $1.9 billion in funding that the Obama administration and health officials sought.
Advertisement
The Zika infection is not considered to be unsafe, except when a pregnant mother is bitten, in which case there can be birth defects.
