Obama to meet U.S. Congress leaders
Monday on spending
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[September 10, 2016]
By Timothy Gardner and Richard Cowan
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President
Barack Obama has invited congressional leaders to the White House on
Monday in an attempt to break deadlocks over government spending plans
and funding the fight against the Zika virus.
Congress must pass a temporary spending bill by Sept. 30 or much of the
federal government will shut down. With the deadline approaching, Obama
is set to meet with House of Representatives Speaker Paul Ryan and
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, both Republicans. Senate
Democratic leader Harry Reid and his House counterpart Nancy Pelosi will
also be present, White House and congressional officials said on Friday.
Of particular urgency is a program to fight the Zika virus which is
running out of money, U.S. Center for Disease Control and Prevention
Director Tom Frieden told reporters.
Frieden also noted the virus, which can cause severe birth defects,
would pose a threat well into 2017. "Zika is likely to become endemic in
this hemisphere," he told reporters.
Congressional leaders are considering attaching as much as $1.1 billion
in Zika spending to a bill to temporarily fund the government during the
2017 fiscal year that begins on Oct. 1.
Congress has yet to approve individual appropriations bills to fund the
government in fiscal 2017. If no spending is approved before the end of
September, much of the government would have to shut down.
House Republican leaders are considering a Senate Republican proposal to
extend the current government spending levels until Dec. 9, House
Appropriations Committee Chairman Hal Rogers, a Republican, told
reporters.
Rogers said he wants the package to include funding to combat Zika, but
that this was being negotiated. On Thursday, Pelosi called for a
temporary funding measure that would include a full year's funding to
combat Zika.
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President Barack Obama
listens to a question during a news conference at the conclusion of
his participation in the ASEAN Summits in Vientiane, Laos September
8, 2016. REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst
In February, Obama asked Congress to approve $1.9 billion in
emergency funds to deal with Zika. Since then, both political
parties have backed $1.1 billion, but fights over side issues
related to abortion have divided them.
One of the biggest controversies involves Democrats' opposition to
Republican-proposed language that Democrats say would prevent Zika
funds for abortion providers like Planned Parenthood, mainly in
Puerto Rico.
A spending bill expiring in December would provide time this autumn
for lawmakers to negotiate spending levels for the rest of fiscal
2017.
Some House conservatives oppose the idea, preferring to leave
decisions up to the next president and a new Congress that take
office in January.
(Additional reporting by David Morgan, Susan Cornwell and Susan
Heavey; editing by Jonathan Oatis and Andrew Hay)
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