With Congress On Break, Zika Funding Runs Out This Month

Source: Huffington Post

With Congress On Break, Zika Funding Runs Out This Month

Programs to develop a vaccine would have to be shelved, officials said.

 08/01/2016 07:00 pm ET

WASHINGTON ― Key federal programs to create a vaccine against the Zika virus will run out of money this month if Congress doesn’t authorize new spending, the Obama administration said Monday.

Congress is on vacation until after Labor Day, and leaders of the House and Senate both said Friday that there was no reason for Congress to rush back, citing reports that $384 million remains available to fight the mosquito-borne virus.

The offices of Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) and House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) both pointed to those reports after news that four people had contracted Zika from mosquitoes in Florida. Those were the first cases of local transmission of the virus in the continental United States, and health officials Monday said there were at least 10 more cases.

President Barack Obama asked for $1.9 billion to fight Zika in February. Congress did not deliver, and failed to pass a $1.1 billion measure before going on recess last month after Republicans added riders about contraception, the Confederate flag, Obamacare and the Clean Water Act.

Read more: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/congress-break-zika-funding_us_579fa9f4e4b08a8e8b5efaaa?section=us_politics