Republicans from Southern states will have to revolt against their own leaders to get a Zika deal through Congress, the White House said Monday, as Florida grappled with disease-carrying mosquitoes in a major tourist hub and Louisiana wondered if it might be next.
Insect bites have been blamed for 36 infections in and around Miami, prompting Florida Gov. Rick Scott to dole out an extra $5 million in state funding to help the area protect itself and knock out mosquito populations.
Meanwhile, administration scientists say Louisiana could soon face transmission, as floodwaters recede and leave standing water for breeding mosquitoes.
White House press secretary Josh Earnest said there is a “special onus” on Republicans in at-risk states to lobby for a funding package that passes muster with the administration, which wants $1.9 billion, and its Democratic allies.
“I think the only way this is going to get done is them figuring out how they’re going to be able to persuade the Republican leadership to let this through,” Mr. Earnest said. “And thus far, those Republican representatives from Florida and Georgia and Texas and other places have failed — and it’s their citizens that they were elected to represent — who are going to bear the costs of that.”
Some Florida Republicans are pressuring those in charge to reach a deal. Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen asked Republican leaders to reconvene Congress and pass a standalone, $1.9 billion bill that meets President Obama’s request, though she also urged the administration to reprogram more existing funds.
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Sen. Marco Rubio, a Florida Republican who backed Mr. Obama’s request early on, has primarily urged Senate Democrats to stop filibustering a GOP-drafted, $1.1 billion compromise Zika bill. Democrats blocked the package before the summer recess, saying it rolled back environmental protections and didn’t include Planned Parenthood in its birth control plans.
GOP leaders said the administration should be lobbying its Democratic allies to relent instead of waiting for rank-and-file Republicans to rise up.
“We would love for the president to convince his colleagues in the Senate to end that filibuster and pass the bill, but it doesn’t sound like he is prepared to do that,” said David Popp, spokesman for Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, Kentucky Republican. “Apparently, they believe an earmark for Planned Parenthood in the future is more important that preventing the threat of Zika now.”
Without a deal in place, Republicans are urging the Obama administration to tap what is remaining from the Ebola fight and other accounts to take on the Zika virus, though the White House said it would be dangerous to swipe any more than the $500 million it took in April.
“Even if there is a small risk from Ebola, why would we take that chance?” Mr. Earnest said.
Ron Klain, who oversaw Mr. Obama’s efforts to address the 2014 Ebola outbreak, said some in Congress might not be taking Zika seriously enough because the U.S. largely escaped the global health scare out of West Africa.
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He also said lawmakers might be smarting from the $5 billion price tag of America’s role in beating back Ebola in Liberia while bolstering vaccine research.
“I think there is some perception that maybe that was too much money, maybe we could have gotten by with less,” Mr. Klain said at the Harvard Global Health Institute.
While Congress dukes it out, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention are urging pregnant women to stay away from areas with active Zika transmission, including a 20-block segment of Miami Beach, while urging others to avoid mosquito bites with insect repellent.
Elsewhere on the U.S. mainland, fear of local transmission is spilling into Louisiana.
Scientists in the Bayou State say Zika’s primary vector, the Aedes aegypti mosquito, tends to buzz around New Orleans, though there are pockets of them around the capital, Baton Rouge, which was struck by flooding.
Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton said she doesn’t plan to visit to flood-stricken parts of Louisiana until it is clear that a visit “will not disrupt the response,” though she called for relief support and vigilance for Zika.
“We also need to make sure that this crisis is not compounded by another, by ensuring mosquito abatement is happening hand-in-hand with flood response, to reduce the risk of mosquitoes that could carry the Zika virus from gaining a foothold in Louisiana,” Mrs. Clinton said.
• Tom Howell Jr. can be reached at thowell@washingtontimes.com.
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