Biden for President Hosts Press Call with Congressman Donald McEachin and Congressman Raul Ruiz on Health Inequalities of COVID-19

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
April 30, 2020

ICYMI:
Biden for President Hosts Press Call with Congressman Donald McEachin and Congressman Raul Ruiz on Health Inequalities of COVID-19

Yesterday, Biden for President hosted a press call with Virginia Congressman Donald McEachin and California Congressman Raul Ruiz, and Biden for President Policy Director Stef Feldman to discuss the disproportionate impact COVID-19 is having on communities of color, including the role environmental injustice has played in contributing to these inequities.

“Tragically, every day we are witnessing the devastating impacts of the coronavirus pandemic in communities across our country, including communities in my district,” said Virginia Congressman Donald McEachin. “And because of our nation’s legacy of systematic racism and environmental inequality, environmental justice communities are being disproportionately impacted by the virus. I am proud, very proud to stand with [Vice President Biden] because he will make environmental justice a priority across the federal government and he will work directly with environmental justice communities on community led, community driven solutions to address long standing injustices.”

“As a doctor, we definitely need to ensure that hospitals in the neighborhoods most at risk are prepared with proper equipment, that they have the testing that’s necessary, that the workplaces have PPE, that the agricultural industries and other industries where the working poor that are deemed essential workers and on the front line incurring the highest risk right now have the proper equipment and the policies to keep them safe from getting infected and infecting their families,” said California Congressman Raul Ruiz. “And we also have to make sure that we do not neglect the marginalized communities in our attempts to go back to school, back to work with the proper safeguards in place to ensure that there’s not an outbreak in those communities[…]I truly support Joe Biden for president because I believe that he will take a science and fact-based approach and has a concern for these health disparities and inequities that we see. And will have a plan to really address them, not only in words, but in real action.”

Congressman McEachin is a member of the Congressional Black Caucus and a co-chair of the CBC Energy, Environment, and Agriculture Task Force and the Sustainable Energy and Environment Coalition. Congressman Ruiz is a doctor and a member of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus who serves on the House Energy and Commerce Committee.

This week, Biden and his Public Health Advisory Committee laid out a plan to get things going, fast – calling for the creation of a Pandemic Testing Board, modeled on FDR’s War Production Board, to massively scale up the production and distribution of testing equipment and supplies.

Joe Biden has laid out a plan to safely reopen America – building a bridge from today’s medical crisis through to a vaccine, with five key milestones:

• Get the number of new cases way down, with continued social distancing – and discipline and unity from every American.
•  Surge accurate, quick testing – to track, trace, and contain this virus.
• Get our hospitals the steady supply of staff and equipment needed to be ready for any flare-ups that could come from reopening too fast.
• Workplaces have to change how they operate and how they’re arranged, to better protect workers.
• We need to be ready to produce and distribute effective new treatments for COVID-19 – and ultimately, many millions of doses of a vaccine. That’s when we’ll know this is really over.

And, Vice President Biden will fight to end the deadly racial and economic disparities this crisis is magnifying – starting by making testing and treatment free; expanding Obamacare; cracking down on the environmental injustices that exacerbate this disease; fighting for workers’ rights and safety; and rebuilding an inclusive middle class that deals everyone in. To read more about Vice President Biden’s plans to address this crisis visit: https://joebiden.com/covid19-leadership/.