The political gridlock comes after the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced that it had spent almost all of the $22m (£16m) allocated to the agency in the fight against Zika. The vote came as Congress returned from a seven-week vacation.
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“It is certainly a moral imperative for the Congress of the United States to pass legislation which will meet a very critical health challenge to its citizens”, House Minority Whip Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) told reporters Tuesday. “Republicans are eager to send help now while the mosquitoes are out, and the only thing stopping us is a cynical and inexcusable move by Senate Democrats”.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell accused Democrats of partisanship.
The vote was 52 to 46 and 60 votes were needed for the legislation to advance. One option is to roll the Zika funding into the short-term spending bill created to keep the government’s lights on.
But Democrats allege Republicans doomed the bill by adding such provision as blocking funding for Planned Parenthood and allowing the confederate battle flag to fly at veteran’ cemeteries.
Nationally, the CDC says more than 16,000 travelers have shown up with Zika infections in states or territories, including Puerto Rico.
The CDC also is advising pregnant women not to travel to an area where active Zika transmission is ongoing, and to use insect repellent and wear long trousers and long-sleeved shirts if they are in those areas. In January, U.S. health officials started warning pregnant women to avoid travel to Latin America and Caribbean countries with outbreaks of a tropical illness linked to birth defects. Typically, extending that time is done with little fanfare or notice.
“You don’t need money to fight mosquitoes in the wintertime”, said Alexander.
This time pressure has many, including Sen. Republicans failed to pass a budget amid intraparty turmoil over spending levels, and Democrats blocked the defense bill over concerns that GOP leaders would use budget gimmicks to boost military spending, yet get stingy when it brought the rest of the bills funding domestic needs to the floor. “I think trying to find some path forward in a year-end appropriations bill would make sense”. Lawmakers have a long way to go to complete spending legislation to keep agencies functioning after September 30.
Democrats also railed against a provision cutting $540 million in financing from the Affordable Care Act, President Obama’s signature healthcare law, and proposed further reallocation of money from Ebola programs, totaling $107 million, the New York Times reported.
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Democrats in the Senate have pushed away funding for the Zika virus as reports from Florida indicate that seven more people have tested positive for the Zika virus, which they have acquired locally (most likely through mosquito bites). Cory Gardner – continues to hold up funding to fight the risky virus out of a vengeance scheme to destroy Planned Parenthood. House conservatives are determined to impeach IRS Commissioner John Koskinen, saying he stonewalled and impeded congressional investigations into IRS targeting of conservative organizations.
