Ebola: House Republicans Fund Obama's $88 Million Response Request In Spending Bill

A spending bill introduced by House Republicans on Tuesday will fulfill the White House's request to provide $88 million in new funding to aid in the fight against the Ebola outbreak ravaging West Africa.

House Appropriations Committee Chairman Hal Rogers, a Kentucky Republican, reportedly said Tuesday morning that he would be willing to allocate only $40 million for the effort, a source familiar with the negotiations told The Hill. But the Obama administration's request is fully funded in the final text of the bill, a so-called continuing resolution dubbed H.J. Res 124, released later Tuesday. The House of Representatives is expected to vote Thursday on the measure to fund the government through Dec. 11.

The bill would allocate $58 million to the Department of Health and Human Services for activities related to the production, development and research of Ebola therapies, and $30 million to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention "for responses to the outbreak of the Ebola virus in Africa."

The Ebola epidemic, which was first detected this winter in Guinea, has spread to a total of five West African nations and killed more than 2,000 people so far, according to the World Health Organization. Leading global public health agencies and organizations have said that world governments are not taking the threat seriously enough.