Letter to Nancy Pelosi, House Speaker; Mitch McConnell, Senate Majority Leader; Chuck Schumer, Senate Minority Leader; and Kevin McCarthy, House Minority Leader - Reps. Garamendi and Phillips Push for National COVID-19 Contact Tracing and Testing Program in Letter to Congressional Leadership
Letter
Dear Speaker Pelosi and Leaders McConnell, Schumer, and McCarthy:
We strongly recommend that any subsequent bicameral legislation provide for a new national paid
and volunteer workforce to conduct needed contact tracing for COVID-19 and other essential work.
We believe this would be best accomplished by augmenting our existing national and community
service programs, such as AmeriCorps and the Peace Corps, to assist in the national response to the
coronavirus pandemic. We appreciate that the House's "HEROES Act" (H.R.6800) would provide
$75 billion for local public health officials to fund testing, contact tracing, and other activities
necessary to effectively monitor and suppress COVID-19.
Public health experts estimate our nation will need a workforce of 300,000 or more contact tracers.
We can meet that need by utilizing flexible hiring mechanisms that federal agencies currently have
and by adding new authoritiesto build the health capacity of state, territorial, local, and tribal
governments to combat COVID-19. Like under existing national and community service programs,
we believe any national volunteer workforce for contact tracing should receive stipends
commensurate with their service and to cover living expenses. We introduced legislation to provide
this needed workforce for contact tracing and to engage our nation's volunteers in this meaningful
work:
* Undertaking National Initiatives to Tackle Epidemic (UNITE) Act of 2020
* Utilizing and Supporting Evacuated Peace Corps Volunteers Act
As state and local public health officials work in earnest to scale up testing and contact tracing for
coronavirus, the federal government must provide additional support. We believe our national and
community service programs are uniquely positioned to fill this need by providing a dedicated,
capable workforce ready for deployment. Our legislation should inform any subsequent
coronavirus-response legislation.
Thank you for your leadership and consideration. We stand ready to support any effort to bring new
federal resources to bear for increased contact tracing nationwide.
Source