As Zika fear escalates, lawmakers point fingers from afar

WASHINGTON — As the Zika virus escalates into a public health crisis, members of Congress remain entrenched politically, with Republicans and Democrats pointing fingers over the failure to act as the number of mosquito-transmitted cases in the U.S. grows.

Health and Human Services Secretary Sylvia Burwell warned lawmakers Wednesday that her budget for fighting Zika is running out quickly.

Yet lawmakers left Washington in mid-July for a seven-week recess without approving any of the $1.9 billion President Obama requested in February to develop a vaccine and control the mosquitoes that carry the virus.

Republicans angered Democrats by adding a provision to a $1.1 billion take-it-or-leave-it measure that would have blocked Planned Parenthood clinics in Puerto Rico from receiving money.

In a USA Today opinion piece Thursday, House Speaker Paul Ryan didn’t mention the Planned Parenthood provision in blaming Democrats for blocking the legislation.