Senate approves $1.1 billion for Zika funding, faces challenge in the House
The successful amendment by Senator Roy Blunt, R-Missouri, and Patty Murray, D-Washington, could be attached to a broader spending bill.
The Senate on Tuesday approved $1.1 billion to fund the fight against the Zika virus, a figure short of the $1.9 billion requested by President Barack Obama.
With 60 votes needed, the Blunt-Murray amendment passed in a vote of 68 to 29.
Earlier on Tuesday, $1.9 billion for Zika funding in the Nelson amendment failed in a vote of 50 to 47, despite support from Marco Rubio, R-Florida, for the bill put forward by Democrat Bill Nelson, D-Florida.
[Also: First Zika vaccine may start clinical trials in September; Congress yet to fund research]
Another $1.1 billion amendment by Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, failed because Democrats objected to the money being taken out of funding in the Affordable Care Act.
The successful amendment by Senator Roy Blunt, R-Missouri, and Patty Murray, D-Washington, could be attached to a broader spending bill being debated in the Senate, according to The Hill.
If would still need to be reconciled with Monday's House bill for $622 million to fight the Zika virus.
"It's essential that we devote adequate resources," Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, said Tuesday on the fight against the virus that is spread through mosquitoes.
The Zika virus causes microcephaly and other birth defects, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Twitter: @SusanJMorse
