TRUMP MUST PROTECT HEALTH CARE WORKERS NOW!
ACTION ONE: CALL YOUR SENATORS
SAMPLE SCRIPT FOR WYDEN AND MERKLEY:
My name is [–] and I’m a constituent from [city], Oregon [zip code]. I am calling because…
I am shocked the Senate is on vacation. You need to get back to work and push for Sen. Chris Murray’s bill to order Trump to take over and speed up the manufacturing of medical supplies, and ensure that they are distributed fairly. Right now! Our neighbors are risking their lives to protect us. We have a moral obligation to do all we can to protect them.
CALL SENATOR MERKLEY
CALL SENATOR WYDEN
ACTION TWO: CALL YOUR HOUSE REPS
Not sure who your U.S. Representative is? Find out here.
SAMPLE SCRIPTS FOR REPRESENTATIVES:
My name is [–] and I’m a constituent from [city], Oregon [zip code]. I am calling because…
I’m outraged that we could protect our health workers but we aren’t. That’s barbaric. You need to stay at to work and push for Sen. Chris Murray’s bill to order Trump to take over and speed up the manufacturing of medical supplies, and ensure that they are distributed fairly. Right now! Our neighbors are risking their lives to protect us. We have a moral obligation to do all we can to protect them.
CALL SUZANNE BONAMICI (OR-01)
CALL GREG WALDEN (OR-02)
CALL BLUMENAUER (OR-03)
CALL PETER DEFAZIO (OR-04)
CALL KURT SCHRADER (OR-05)
ACTION THREE: HELP REGISTER VOTERS FROM YOUR HOME
Organizing for the 2020 Election is going VIRTUAL!
- Find virtual events at http://swingleft.org/
- Host a virtual letter-writing party! Get started here: http://swingleft.org/p/virtual-letter-writing-party
- Call voters in Wisconsin about their April 7th election. Sign up for training and call info here. http://www.mobilize.us/swingleft/event/263614/
Stay tuned — more activities to come!
BACKGROUND:
The most urgent need to fight the pandemic is for Personal Protection Equipment (PPE) including N95 masks, eye shields, and surgical gowns for our health care workers and first responders. If they fall ill and get pulled off the front lines, everyone loses. Yet they have been begging for protections.
Oregon has burned through half of its stock of N95 masks, two-thirds of its surgical masks and more than 80% of its surgical gowns. That’s before our peak.
The supply chain has been drained. Restocking PPE is difficult since much of the supplies come from Asia, which has its own needs.Yesterday, at Trump’s briefing/rally, he paraded several CEOs who announced they were retooling their facilities to make PPE.
Why now? As one CEO stated, they were retooling to avoid the demands that would be imposed if the president employed the Defense Production Act.
Assuming Trump isn’t lying again, it’s unclear if the gear will be distributed fairly, quickly and where it’s most needed.
Assuming Trump can’t be trusted, bills in Congress would force Trump to take over the medical supply chain. We must fight like hell for this. These are our friends and neighbors fighting for us.
SOURCES:
OPB, March 20, 20202: “Fear Grows As Protective Equipment Supplies Dwindle For Oregon Health Care Workers” https://www.opb.org/news/article/ppe-gloves-masks-gowns-oregon-shortage-health-care/
US News, March 29, 2020: “Relief Package Billions Can’t Buy Hospitals Our of Shortages” https://www.usnews.com/news/politics/articles/2020-03-29/stimulus-billions-cant-buy-hospitals-out-of-shortage-crisis
Kaiser Health News, March 28, 2020: “Health care workers getting sicker from coronavirus than other patients, expert says” https://www.thedailybeast.com/coronavirus-emails-federal-health-official-warned-of-mask-and-glove-shortages-a-month-ago?source=articles&via=rss
Washington Post, March 26, 2020: “As they rush to save lives, health care workers are updating their own wills and funeral plans” https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2020/03/26/healthcare-workers-coronavirus-end-of-life/
Vox, March 27, 2020: “Why America ran out of protective masks – and what can be done about it” https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2020/3/27/21194402/coronavirus-masks-n95-respirators-personal-protective-equipment-ppe
Medscape, March 29, 2020: “Survey Shows Just How Dire PPE Shortages Are at Many Hospitals” https://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/927728
ProPublica, March 26, 2020: “Medical Workers Treating Coronavirus Are Resorting to Homemade Masks” https://www.propublica.org/article/medical-workers-treating-coronavirus-are-resorting-to-homemade-masks
CNN, March 19, 2020: “ Health care workers getting sicker from coronavirus than other patients, expert says https://www.cnn.com/2020/03/16/health/doctors-coronavirus-health-care-hit-harder/index.html
NY Times, March 19, 2020: “Of Course Trump Deserves Blame for the Coronavirus Crisis” https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/19/opinion/trump-coronavirus-us.html?searchResultPosition=1
Yahoo News, March 27, 2020: “Senator says White House turned down emergency coronavirus funding in early February” https://news.yahoo.com/senator-says-white-house-turned-down-emergency-coronavirus-funding-in-early-february-003319950.html?bcmt=1
Sen. Chris Murphy, March 23, 2020: “Medical Supply Chain Emergency Act” https://www.murphy.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/murphy-schatz-announce-legislation-requiring-federal-government-to-take-over-medical-supply-chain
Representative Chellie Pingree, March 24, 2020: “Medical Supply Chain Emergency Act” https://pingree.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=3311
