US Senators Reach Bipartisan Deal to Devote More Than $1 Billion to Fight Zika

Democrats and Republicans in the US Senate reached a compromise on Tuesday that cleared the way for approval of $1.1 billion in immediate funds to battle the Zika virus. The amount fell about $8 million short of what the Obama administration has been seeking since February, but was significantly more than the Republican-led House of Representatives proposed on Monday.

The Senate voted 68-29 on Tuesday to advance the bill to provide the emergency funding, which would be used to finance mosquito control, public education, and the development of a vaccine.

With summer fast approaching and with the mosquito-borne virus already emerging in some southern states of the US, like Florida, there is a sense of urgency to get this funding underway. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has warned that people in the US should expect to see more cases of locally-transmitted Zika as temperatures rise.

On Monday, Republican House leaders proposed allocating $622 million to combat Zika, which would be partly covered using money designated to fight Ebola. On Tuesday, the White House issued a statement condemning the House's proposal, calling it "woefully inadequate" to support the public health response that is needed.

The White House and health officials also expressed their concern that House Republicans were so willing to take money from Ebola programs to fund Zika virus efforts. White House spokesperson Josh Earnest told reporters on Monday that congressional inaction on funding meant that health officials were forced to resort to the equivalent of "digging through the sofa cushions to try to come up with the necessary money."

Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid accused Republicans of being "beyond reckless" by being too slow to send money to combat "a raging virus."

If both the House and Senate approve competing bills, they would have to reconcile their differences and pass one uniform bill before sending it to Obama's desk for him to sign it into law.

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