Statement from Moe Davis on Coronavirus Pandemic

Statement

We've seen the news of the Trump Administration's bungling of the coronavirus response, how he fired the entire White House scientific and medical team designed to protect us from a pandemic threat and cut funding to the Center for Disease Control, making us even more vulnerable. And how ineptitude at the highest levels has led to new infections in the United States and put us all at risk.

President Trump, in a desperate attempt at damage control, is now calling the threat a hoax. But confirmed cases in the U.S. are rising. And Wall Street is in a freefall. The worst losses in the long history of the Dow Jones have occurred over the last few days. We haven't seen a week this bad since the economic implosion of 2008 and it's because the financial markets understand the clear and present threat to our economy.

We need leadership. We need a president and an administration that will hire scientists and allow them to do their work. We need to restore the budget for the Centers for Disease Control, to bring pandemic disease experts back into the White House and give them the tools they need to help protect us.

And just as important, the public needs to be kept fully informed in order to protect themselves, their families and children. Putting a White House muzzle on the flow of information to control the political fallout is not only self-serving and cynical, it puts more of our lives at risk.

Unless our country acts quickly and smartly, we face a potential nationwide pandemic. Who knows how many lives may be lost.

It's always the right time to do the right thing, Mr. President. Act -- before it's too late.

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