Both of Virginia’s U.S. Senators, Tim Kaine and Mark Warner, are *very* much on top of the Coronavirus crisis, as we’d all expect them to be. Among other things, they’ve been giving us frequent updates regarding what’s happening regarding legislation. See below for video from today:
First, here’s Sen. Tim Kaine speaking on the Senate floor this afternoon:
“I’m on the Senate floor outlining the next steps Congress and the Trump Administration must take to combat the coronavirus pandemic and the economic dislocation resulting from it. We have to move quickly to pass a strong economic package that supports workers and families who are hurting.”
More Kaine: “Quit lying and downplaying the threat…One more thing, quit the inflammatory China bashing. Did this virus originate in China? Yes. But, Mr. President, that does not excuse your weeks and weeks of tweeting lies and misinformation…”
“I remain stunned – stunned! – that the president’s lawyers are still in court all over this country attempting to repeal the Affordable Care Act and take healthcare away from millions of Americans”
“Federal…policymakers should try to develop the science-based criteria that will enable them to confidently tell Americans when it is time to return to normal social and economic activity”
Next, here’s Sen. Warner, talking about how 6-8 weeks into the crisis, “our country is still behind…the United States has tested roughtly 15-16,000…South Korea has tested over 250,000 people.” Obviously, we need to ramp that up rapidly, and Sen. Warner is working on pushing that. On small businesses, Sen. Warner noted that we got an emergency declaration from the Small Business Administration. Still, Sen. Warner said we’re looking at an economic downturn “perhaps even worse than 2008,” so we’re going to need a lot more help from the federal government for small business, greatly expanded unemployment insurance (including “all those gig workers“). “My goal here is to make sure that nobody should lose their job, their paycheck or not have the flexibility to take care of their kids as we go through this challenge.” Finally, Sen. Warner spoke for all of his when he said, “I hope folks in the White House will the let health care professionals do a little bit more of the talking; I feel concerned at times when we hear the president make statements that don’t have any kind of medical background in terms of how quick we’ll see a vaccine or some kind of solution…we have to do this in a safe and efficient manner.”
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