Murray: GOP Proposal Woefully Inadequate On Testing Funds, Silent On Testing Plan

Murray: “Republicans’ proposal, which is woefully inadequate on funding and is silent on the need for a serious testing plan, simply isn’t going to fix things.”

Murray: “We absolutely cannot settle for the status quo here, we need to demand a serious change of course from the Trump Administration before this pandemic spirals even further out of control.”

(Washington, D.C.) – U.S. Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), ranking member of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee, released the following statement calling for greater action to expand testing in light of Republicans announcing a proposal which falls far short of the $75 billion investment in testing, contact tracing and more proposed by Democrats in the HEROES Act, and which does nothing to require a comprehensive national testing plan from the Trump Administration.  

“Across the country, testing continues to be a serious problem, and with cases surging it continues to get worse and worse due to President Trump’s embarrassing refusal to lead. Testing should be fast, free, and everywhere—but right now testing results are coming back more slowly, the Administration is weakening the laws we passed to make sure testing is cost free, and many people still can’t get the tests they need.

“Republicans’ proposal, which is woefully inadequate on funding and is silent on the need for a serious testing plan, simply isn’t going to fix things. We need to provide dramatically more funding, make sure it’s spent quickly and equitably, and demand this Administration finally develop, publish, and implement the kind of comprehensive national testing plan we should’ve seen many months ago.

“Democrats are pushing to take action to finally force the Administration’s testing efforts onto the right track, and to make the kind of public health investments we need to be able to follow up on every positive result with tools, like contract tracing, that can help slow the spread. We absolutely cannot settle for the status quo here, we need to demand a serious change of course from the Trump Administration before this pandemic spirals even further out of control.”

Senator Murray has previously put out a white paper outlining the steps she is pushing for to ensure the U.S. can rapidly expand testing. She made further recommendations in her recent report which looked at the Trump Administration’s missteps so far which have hindered efforts to expand testing.

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