Dallas (WBAP/KLIF News) – The funding bill passed by Congress this week includes $1.1 billion for research to better diagnose and cure Zika. Through last week, the Centers for Disease Control had recorded more than 22,000 cases of Zika in the United States and its territories.
“The politics up here in Washington delayed what should have been a rather expedited passage of an appropriations bill to deal with the Zika issue,” says Senator John Cornyn. “This should have been resolved in May.”
Democrats in Congress led a filibuster, blocking the bill from advancing twice. They wanted language removed that would have forbidden federal funding for Planned Parenthood. The language was dropped in the version that passed Wednesday.
The Obama Administration had made funding available that had previously been set aside to fight Ebola, but that money would have run out of money at the end of this week.
“I’m glad that in the interim, we were able to identify a large sum of money that was unspent from the Ebola crisis fund, but this important funding that was passed yesterday came right in time,” Cornyn says.
The Centers for Disease Control has confirmed a total of 3,358 cases of Zika in the United States and 19,777 cases of Zika in American territories. In Texas, the Department of State Health Services has identified 204 cases of Zika.
Across the United States, 43 people contracted Zika within the country. Every local case of Zika was reported in Florida; none have come from Texas.
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