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                 HOLD for 1PM -- US Senate Tackles Zika Funding

   by Michael Bowman

   U.S. lawmakers are hours away from casting their first votes on funding
   to combat the Zika virus, months after top heath officials warned the
   mosquito-borne disease could spread through large swaths of the nation.

   "Congress can't afford to sit back and do nothing," said Republican
   Senator John Cornyn of Texas, a southern state believed to be at high
   risk for the virus.

   "We have to be prepared [for Zika]" said Democrat Richard Durbin of
   Illinois.

   In the first of three votes, the Republican-led Senate is expected to
   reject the Obama administration's request for $1.9 billion to control
   mosquito populations, boost detection and monitoring efforts, and jump
   start research into the virus, including the development of a vaccine.

   ''White House plan
   Republicans say the White House's proposal contains no budgetary
   offsets and would increase the federal deficit. They also say they are
   not satisfied with the administration's explanations of how the funds
   would be spent.

   "I guess they [the administration] are asking us to trust them," Cornyn
   said. "But, frankly, I think we have a greater responsibility to see
   that the money will be put to good use."

   Two other votes have been scheduled on proposals designating $1.1
   billion to fight Zika, roughly 40 percent less than the White House's
   request.

   ''What Republican measure proposes
   A Republican-sponsored measure would siphon the funds from existing
   disease-prevention appropriations. It faces strong opposition from
   Democrats and is unlikely to advance.

   "It's robbing Peter to pay Paul," said Durbin, who noted that the
   Republican proposal would take funds from cancer-screening initiatives
   and programs that monitor the safety of drinking water.

   A final proposal, crafted on a bipartisan basis, would provide $1.1
   billion dollars as a stand-alone measure with no budgetary offsets. It
   is seen as a compromise that senators of both parties can live with,
   and is widely expected to be approved.

   Any Senate Zika funding faces an uncertain fate in the House of
   Representatives, where majority-Republicans are considering a proposal
   to redirect $622 million of funds previously appropriated to fight
   Ebola. Those funds would be merged with more than $500 million the
   Obama administration is already siphoning from Ebola programs in order
   to begin anti-Zika efforts.
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   [1]http://www.voanews.com/content/us-senate-tackles-zika-funding-/33338
   95.html

References

   1. http://www.voanews.com/content/us-senate-tackles-zika-funding-/3333895.html