As evidence, they point to passage of a list of bipartisan bills – to fight opioid abuse, fund highway construction, reform education programs and even raise the debt limit, an often politically hard task.
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The news about the Zika virus keeps getting worse.
Although continuing resolutions by definition maintain current funding levels, lawmakers could add emergency funds for natural disasters like the floods in Louisiana or wildfires in the West, as well as for Zika.
The study looked at almost 12,000 pregnant Colombian women infected with Zika.
The top Republican and Democratic Senate leaders returned from their seven-week summer recess Tuesday and picked up where they left off in July – harshly blaming the other’s party for inaction on critical bills to battle Zika and fund the government. The virus has also been linked to neurological complications and Guillain-Barre syndrome, which can cause temporary paralysis.
The Senate struck down a procedural vote hurdle to vote on the $1.1 billion dollar Zika funding bill Tuesday.
Several Republicans exiting a morning meeting said it appeared increasingly likely that a clean bill – without restrictions on Planned Parenthood – would eventually be approved by both chambers of Congress. If members aren’t satisfied, they could drag Mylan CEO Heather Bresch to Capitol Hill for hearings by the end of the month. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., said Republicans had “loaded it up with poison pill riders to assuage the hard right”. “While a partisan minority continues to call for Zika funding in the press, they chose to block this measure from moving forward today for the third time this year”. “Let’s stop these political games”. There is an internal debate to pass only a measure that would only fund the government for a short period of time and therefore require Congress to re-examine the budget after the November election.
Zika is spread by mosquitoes and sexual contact.
While you were out campaigning, fundraising or barbequing, however, the number of Zika cases in the US more than doubled to 2,700, and people infected with the virus have turned up in every state. Is this really the best one of the world’s richest nations can do when it’s confronted by a public health threat?
Congress will be in session for the next three weeks before everyone heads home for the final campaign push before Election Day.
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Seventy-Four percent of Americans support federal funding for Zika efforts.
