WASHINGTON, DC – Senator Dan Coats (R-Ind.) today voted to provide $1.1 billion to combat the Zika virus as a part of the conference report for the fiscal year 2017 Military Construction and Veterans Affairs Appropriations Act.
“The Obama Administration continues to call for a bill with funding to combat the Zika virus, yet Senate Democrats rejected a bill that includes this vital funding as well as important funding for veterans programs,” said Coats. “Centers for Disease Control (CDC) Director Dr. Thomas Frieden has said that $1.1 billion is sufficient to respond to this crisis. Instead of politicizing public health, we should be working to provide the money the CDC needs to combat this devastating virus.”
The Senate failed to invoke cloture to end debate on the conference report by a vote of 52-48.
