WASHINGTON-Senate Democrats blocked a spending bill that includes $1.1 billion to combat the Zika virus-saying the measure unreasonably excludes Planned Parenthood Federation of America from money for a public health crisis that impacts pregnant women.
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In the meantime, one Republican senator – Susan Collins of ME – struggled to build a little bipartisanship, but that too was snuffed out by GOP leaders, who rushed a vote to the floor on Thursday, just as she was building momentum for her bill.
It’s really not that complicated: GOP lawmakers, after blowing off public-health warnings for months, put together a hyper-partisan package they knew Democrats wouldn’t support. Now, with time running out before Congress gives itself another vacation, the Republican-run Senate expects Dems to go along with a shameless partisan gambit, rather than working on a bipartisan solution. The money is redirected to community health centers and other organizations.
“It’s like we’re being dared to oppose this legislation”, Reid said.
The White House promised to veto the bill, which it said diverted funding from the Affordable Care Act as well as from a previous emergency fund designated for combating the Ebola epidemic of 2014.
“There’s not going to be another opportunity to deal with this in the near future”, promised No. 2 Senate Republican John Cornyn of Texas. The House passed the measure along party lines last week.
Obama requested $1.9 billion to fight the virus in February, but Republicans didn’t act for months and ultimately balked at the price tag.
Democrats were angered by a provision that would block supplemental funds from going to Planned Parenthood for birth control services for women at risk of becoming infected with the Zika virus.
The Obama administration has said that Democratic lawmakers, who staged a 24-hour sit-in (dharna) on the floor of the US House of Representatives earlier this week, were making their voices heard, while exercising their right to free speech and to expression peacefully.
The funding package, which was passed by the House last week and attached to a larger bill providing funding for veterans and military construction programs, was negotiated by House and Senate Republicans in recent weeks after Democrats abandoned bipartisan talks due to the spending cuts included in the legislation and what they viewed as “poison pill” political provisions, according to Democratic aides.
“We stand ready to work cooperatively with you”, the Democrats’ letter said.
The conference report on Zika spending, which Democrats said was developed without their input, failed to receive the 60 votes needed to shut off debate.
The Democratic leader, Harry Reid, accused Republicans of trying to advance “fake funding” that would prevent women from accessing reproductive health care that could prevent transmission of the virus.
Republican leaders have not formally responded, but any chance of new negotiations is slim. The package loosens Environmental Protection Agency restrictions on pesticides and strikes a measure that would have banned display of the Confederate Battle Flag at cemeteries run by the Department of Veterans affairs.
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The past two weeks have been unprecedented in Congress on the issue of gun control, marked by a almost 15-hour Senate filibuster on June 15 that led to votes in that chamber on four separate bills.
