Murray: President Trump’s Testing Blueprint “Says Nothing New; Will Accomplish Nothing New”

Murray reiterates need for clear, aggressive national strategy that Congress required the Administration to produce as part of interim COVID19 relief package

(Washington, D.C.) –  Today, U.S. Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), ranking member of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee, issued the following statement on a document released by the Trump Administration that reiterates its current efforts on testing capacity.

“This document does nothing new and will accomplish nothing new. It doesn’t set specific, numeric goals, offer a timeframe, identify ways to fix our broken supply chain, or offer any details whatsoever on expanding lab capacity or activating needed manufacturing capacity. Perhaps most pathetically, it attempts to shirk obviously federal responsibilities by assigning them solely to states instead.

“What we need is a clear, aggressive national strategic plan to dramatically ramp up testing and make sure tests are fast, free, and everywhere—and then we need the Administration to implement it like people expect the President of the United States of America and his team to do. That’s what Congress has required and that is what I look forward to reviewing.”

Senator Murray has repeatedly pressed the Trump Administration to massively expand testing capacity. She released a white paper outlining Democrats’ proposal to accomplish this goal. In the recent interim COVID19 relief package she helped secure $25 billion in initial funding for testing, along with a requirement that the Trump Administration provide a national strategic plan for expanding testing capacity and addressing disparities to Congress within 30 days of the President signing the bill.

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