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Miami Beach Congresswoman Ready For More Zika Funding Talks

Leon County Judge John Cooper on June 30, 2022, in a screen grab from The Florida Channel.
The Florida Channel
Leon County Judge John Cooper on June 30, 2022, in a screen grab from The Florida Channel.

This week, Congress will have another opportunity to compromise on a Zika funding measure.

Money that would be used to prevent the spread of the virus and develop a vaccine is tied up in a larger government spending bill.

Previous attempts to fund the fight against Zika have failed because of controversial riders like a caveat that would restrict funding to Planned Parenthood, which has been engaged in fighting Zika in Puerto Rico.

The Senate reportedly is working on funding language that would not include those additions.

The district of Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, D-Fla., includes the portion of Miami Beach where there is reported active transmission of the Ziska virus. She is skeptical about how negotiations over the language will play out.

“We’re told that that’s not an issue that Republicans are going to stand in the way of moving forward,” she said. “But, that’s not something that the leadership has said out loud. And so it’s concerning to me because the way the budget negotiation process works in Congress is nothing is agreed to until everything is agreed to.”