[Congressional Record Volume 166, Number 48 (Thursday, March 12, 2020)]
[House]
[Page H1666]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                      UNITING TO FIGHT CORONAVIRUS

  (Mr. GOTTHEIMER asked and was given permission to address the House 
for 1 minute.)
  Mr. GOTTHEIMER. Madam Speaker, this week, coronavirus impacted my 
north Jersey community in a heartbreaking way.
  Our thoughts are with the loved ones of Bergen County resident John 
Brennan, New Jersey's first life lost from coronavirus. Mr. Brennan was 
a lifetime horse trainer, a fixture at Yonkers Raceway, and a 
remarkable individual.
  As of this morning, New Jersey now has 22 other presumed positive 
cases, several in my district alone.
  North Jersey's hospitals and frontline medical professionals are 
working to contain the outbreak and keep our residents safe. I commend 
our counties and hospitals in New Jersey's Fifth District--New Bridge, 
Valley, Atlantic, Hackensack Meridian, and Holy Name--for working so 
hard and working together and for holding daily calls to coordinate 
efforts to help combat the spread of the virus.
  This week, I led members of our congressional delegation to ask the 
CDC when New Jersey should expect to receive confirmation of our 
pending presumed positive cases. We still have not received CDC 
confirmation of the tests that have been sent to the agency.
  I know the CDC is working diligently to fight this crisis, but gaps 
in testing confirmation hinder our ability to mitigate the spread.
  Now is the time for our country to come together--our great 
hospitals, the CDC, all levels of government--to ensure all Americans 
are safe.
  There is nothing partisan about this moment. We must, as a country 
and as government, come together to fight the coronavirus and keep our 
families safe.

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