Senate Republicans tried to pass a $1.1 billion Zika bill on Tuesday, but it was shot down by Democrats opposed to the Planned Parenthood language.
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A $1.1 billion measure to fund Zika research, vaccine development and mosquito control efforts got derailed in Congress in July, after Republicans added several riders to the previously bipartisan bill.
Republicans have accused Democrats of blocking the bill to gain political advantage by portraying Republicans as obstructionists on Zika funding.
In the Senate, both parties are working on a short-term bill that would fund operations through December 9 at current spending levels – undercutting conservatives in the House, who wanted to see a bill last into the new administration next year. The pro-abortion Democrat said she is willing to compromise with Republicans on other issues but not on the Planned Parenthood funding, The Hill reports.
The Miami area now has 56 documented cases of locally transmitted Zika infection, which causes the birth defect microcephaly that leads to babies born with abnormally small heads and brains.
Senate Democrats also want Republicans to hold hearings on President Obama’s U.S. Supreme Court nominee, Judge Merrick Garland.
In the absence of a funding bill, the White House has been redirecting funds earmarked to fight Ebola, cancer and other diseases.
Congress came back this week from their summer recess and the battle over how to fund the fight against the Zika virus has continued.
Through the end of August, 16,832 Zika cases had been reported in the US and its territories, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. To date, more than 16,000 Americans have been infected with the Zika virus, of which more than 1,600 are pregnant women.
Yesterday, Democrats almost unanimously voted to block that $1.1 billion funding bill, which was approved by House Republicans in June.
“Unfortunately, rather than work across the aisle on these important measures, Senate Democrats continue to play politics at the expense of public health as well as the health and safety of veterans and our troops”, said Ernst, who sits on both the Armed Services and Homeland Security committees.
Smarting from public disapproval, Democrats quickly deflected blame over the holdup. “It went to the House and they sent it back with all of this unusual, weird stuff in it”, Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., said Tuesday.
In response to the blocked Zika bill, Dr. Anthony S. Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said, “If we don’t get new money, we won’t be able to do things at a pace that is necessary and appropriate to the urgency of this threat”.
Congress does not have time for political games.
While Rs insisted on vacation, Zika spread in the USA mainland.
With so much at stake, you’d expect Congress to be pulling out all stops to prevent the scourge from worsening. “Basically, we’re out of money, and we need Congress to act to allow us to respond effectively”.
For his part, Ryan has to navigate some tricky waters on the underlying stopgap spending bill, known in Washington-speak as a continuing resolution. “That is why I’m joined by these mosquitoes today”, he said.
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Tuesday’s vote followed a day of floor discussion about the effects and spread of Zika, a topic that included some out-of-the-ordinary speeches by members in both the House and the Senate.
