US Senate To Pass $1.1 Billion Emergency Funding Against Zika

Zika Bill is set to be approved in Congress, three months following President Barack Obama's request to provide emergency funds worth $1.8 billion to fight the virus. The Senate, on the other hand, passed a compromise amount of $1.1 billion. However, the White House vetoed a bill that was introduced by the House Republican allotting $622 million, which according to the White House is not enough to stop the spread of the disease.

The Zika Bill funding was initially opposed by the Republicans, insisting that the remaining Ebola outbreak fund must be utilized first. But the Democrats fought against this by citing that the GOP was not paying attention to the alarming public health crisis. Nonetheless, Democratic Washington Senator Patty Murray and Republican Senator Roy Blunt of Missouri approved the $1.1 billion emergency funds.

The House is set to vote on the  Zika Bill on Wednesday, which is reported to gain most of the votes from the Republicans. According to Sen. Blunt, the House takes the matter seriously, and that they are hoping to draw a final conclusion that allows all agencies involved to spend the allocated Zika funding until the end of the next fall,  News4Jax reported.

Based on reports, the House will be dealing with two major points: whether to offset the expense and the concerns about the general funding level. But given the number of  Republicans in the Senate who agree not to look for offsets, the pressure is turned to the House Republicans to do something.  

Meanwhile, the previous proposal in which the Senate approved was among the three measures that the Senate voted on Tuesday. The Senators did not approve of a plan raised by two Florida senators namely Republican Marco Rubio and Democrat Bill Nelson that would have approved Pres. Obama's full request. With 60 votes needed to pass, the plan failed 50 to 47. In addition, Republican Senator Whip John Cornyn also proposed a plan that provides cost offsets for $1.1 billion, but also failed 52 to 45, USA Today reported.