Durbin, Senate Dems Call Trump Administration’s Testing Blueprint Insufficient, Insist Federal Government Release And Implement National Plan

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) joined Senators Chuck Schumer (D-NY), Patty Murray (D-WA), and 39 additional Senate Democrats today in sending a letter to President Trump, calling on his Administration to develop a comprehensive national strategic plan of action by May 24 to ensure states have sufficient tests to begin safely re-opening.

The first case of COVID-19 in the United States was diagnosed in Washington State on January 20, 2020. After 12 weeks, and the appearance of more than 1.1 million cases of COVID-19 and more than 67,000 deaths, the United States still lacks a national testing strategy to reliably and consistently test patients across the country. Instead, states have been forced to respond with limited federal support, leaving a patchwork of testing efforts across the country, limited data on the spread of the disease, and scarce supplies for testing and protection of health care workers. Last week, the Trump Administration released its national coronavirus testing “blueprint”, but the document accomplishes nothing new and instead continues to place the burden on already hard-hit states.

“While the Paycheck Protection Program and Health Care Enhancement Act took important steps on testing, these are merely first steps. Your Administration needs to do much more to stand up enough testing to effectively trace, control, and suppress the spread of the virus, and it is essential that you do so in a manner that is transparent and accountable. The health of our nation—physically, behaviorally, and economically—depends on it,” the Senators wrote.

In the letter, the Senators laid out their expectations for what details the Administration needs to include in the national plan it is required to submit to Congress by May 24 under the Paycheck Protection Program and Health Care Enhancement Act. The Senators wrote that while states and tribes are critical in executing nationwide testing, it is the Administration’s responsibility to release and implement a detailed national plan as quickly as possible, as well as address other problems that demand a federal solution, such as managing the supply chain and analyzing national data.

In addition, they urged President Trump to use the full authority of the Executive Branch, including the Defense Production Act and the $25 billion allocated in the Paycheck Protection Program and Health Care Enhancement Act, to ensure sufficient production of testing kits and materials—such as testing swabs, reagent, and personal protective equipment (PPE)—to meet demand. The Senators also emphasized increasing lab testing capacity and building up a massive contact tracing workforce in order to identify future COVID-19 cases and contain the spread, in coordination with states.

In addition to Durbin, Schumer, and Murray, the letter was signed by Senators Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), Sherrod Brown (D-OH), Chris Van Hollen (D-MD), Tom Carper (D-DE), Ed Markey (D-MA), Brian Schatz (D-HI), Maggie Hassan (D-NH), Bob Casey, Jr. (D-PA), Ben Cardin (D-MD), Martin Heinrich (D-NM), Tom Udall (D-NM), Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH), Sheldon Whitehouse(D-RI), Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), Gary C. Peters (D-MI), Bob Menendez (D-NJ), Tina Smith (D-MN), Debbie Stabenow (D-MI), Mark Warner (D-VA), Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), Chris Murphy (D-CT), Catherine Cortez Masto (D-NV), Mazie K. Hirono (D-HI),Tim Kaine (D-VA), Cory Booker (D-NJ), Kamala Harris (D-CA),Jack Reed (D-RI), Jeff Merkley (D-OR), Jacky Rosen (D-NV), Dianne Feinstein (D-CA), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), Bernie Sanders(D-VT), Chris Coons (D-DE), Joe Manchin (D-WV), Doug Jones (D-AL), Ron Wyden (D-OR), Patrick Leahy (D-VT), and Kyrsten Sinema (D-AZ).