Zika funding bill fails against Congress
Democrats accuse Republicans of adding politically charged provisions
Senate Democrats on Tuesday blocked a federal spending bill that would have provided $1.1 billion to fight the mosquito-borne Zika virus, saying Republicans had sabotaged the legislation with politically charged provisions. The move raised the possibility that no new money would be available soon to fight the disease as Southern states brace for a summer outbreak.
The stalemate, accompanied by a sharp war of words on the Senate floor, raised the prospect that the fierce partisan divide in Congress was hindering the government’s ability to respond effectively to a pressing public health emergency. Democrats blocked the bill because they were upset with cuts to programs and changes in policy they have long supported.
Democrats and the White House have been pushing since February for the Republican majorities in Congress to approve $1.9 billion in emergency financing to fight Zika, which can cause serious birth defects in infants.
The Democrats reacted with disbelief on Tuesday as Republicans tried to blame Democrats for delaying the money because they had blocked the legislation.
“We have a public health crisis descending on our country,” Senate Majority Leader. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., said moments after the vote. “Pregnant women all across America are looking at this with dismay, utter dismay, as we sit here in a partisan gridlock manufactured by the other side.”
The Senate Democratic leader, Harry Reid of Nevada, was incensed. “I don’t know what universe my friend is living in,” Reid said, referring to McConnell. “What does he think? Does he think we’re all stupid? The American people are dumb?”
The sniping continued as Sen. John Cornyn of Texas, the No. 2 Republican, declared, “Our Democratic friends block it because they are sore losers.”
In May, the Senate approved $1.1 billion in funding after months of partisan brinkmanship, during which the Obama administration ultimately redirected nearly $600 million previously approved to fight the Ebola virus, so that federal health agencies could get a start on working against the Zika virus.
House Republicans, in turn, adopted legislation providing $622 million, with most of the money cut and redirected from other federal programs supported by Democrats. Democrats were willing to go along with the Senate version, but in talks controlled strictly by Republicans, House and Senate negotiators agreed last week to provide $1.1 billion, with $750 million in cuts and policy changes.
Democrats charged that Republicans had booby-trapped the legislation by adding provisions that included a ban on any direct government financing for Planned Parenthood, the women’s health organization, to provide contraceptive services related to fighting Zika, which is also transmitted sexually.
The Democrats also said that Republicans had inserted a provision cutting $500 million in financing for the Affordable Care Act, President Barack Obama’s signature health care law, and that they had stripped a House provision that would ban the flying of the Confederate battle flag in federal cemeteries.
Another provision of the bill that Democrats disliked was a further reallocation of money from Ebola programs, totaling $107 million.
While Democrats have long maintained that money previously appropriated to fight Ebola is vitally needed, it does indicate that the Obama administration still has some flexibility in reapportioning funds among different health programs.
With Southern states expected to be hit hardest by Zika, lawmakers representing Florida have been among those pushing hardest for bipartisan action. But even Sen. Bill Nelson, D-Fla., said Republicans had poisoned the chances for moving ahead by blocking money for Planned Parenthood, knowing Democrats would never agree.
“They’re just not living in the real world, and they’re just not facing the fact that this is an emergency,” Nelson said.
He noted that at least five babies had been born with microcephaly in the U.S. — the most recent one in Florida — but said he expected the disagreements to continue.