Health and Human Services Secretary Sylvia Burwell will brief senators Tuesday on the growing threat of the Zika virus, Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., announced Monday.
Burwell will discuss the virus at the invitation of McConnell, who said he wants to know how the Obama administration is preparing to combat the virus. Zika is transmitted via mosquito and is suspected to be a cause of microcephaly in babies born to pregnant women who contract it.
McConnell, speaking on the Senate floor Monday, said he’ll ask Burwell, “what are the administration’s funding priorities given limited federal resources.”
McConnell did not mention $1.8 billion in emergency spending Obama has requested for combating the spread of the virus, which so far is afflicting Central and South American nations. Several U.S. residents have contracted the virus after traveling to countries where Zika is present.
Minority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., called on the GOP to approve the funds, “and give our government the critical resources it needs to combat the virus.”
