The House failed to pass a pesticide reform bill on Tuesday that the GOP had rebranded as a response to the Zika virus threat.
The bill failed, 262-159, because it did not obtain the two-thirds majority vote needed under suspension of normal voting rules, which eliminates amendments and limits debate to 40 minutes.
The bill, the Zika Vector Control Act, was called the Reducing Regulatory Burdens Act until late last week. The bill targets Environmental Protection Agency regulations as a way to speed up the Clean Water Act permitting processes for chemical pesticides.
Democrats used the 40 minutes of debate to blast the legislation, calling it a blatant “lie” because, despite the name, it does nothing to solve the Zika problem, nor does it address public health. The Zika virus is spread by two types of mosquitoes.
Rep. Bob Gibbs, R-Ohio, lead sponsor of the bill, lashed back. He argued that the measure does nothing to discourage the EPA from enforcing the law and would not allow the unfettered use of potentially dangerous pesticides.
Gibbs called an argument by Rep. Jim McDermott, D-Wash., equating pesticides to the Vietnam-era herbicide Agent Orange, as nothing more than “fear mongering” by Democrats.”This bill is a step backwards to about 1950 when we didn’t know the effects of pesticides,” said McDermott, a former Navy doctor who treated soldiers returning from the Vietnam War.
“The Senate, as bad as they are, won’t even let this bill get through,” he said.
