[Congressional Record Volume 166, Number 100 (Thursday, May 28, 2020)]
[House]
[Page H2326]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




               THE NEED FOR PERSONAL PROTECTIVE EQUIPMENT

  (Ms. SCANLON asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute.)
  Ms. SCANLON. Mr. Speaker, we have lost over 100,000 lives to this 
pandemic--that we know of--and people on the front lines are still 
waiting for the PPE they need to protect themselves and our 
communities.
  Every single day, healthcare providers, States, and first responders 
tell us that they are being forced to compete for high-priced supplies, 
if they can find any at all. They are told to keep a 90-day supply for 
the fall surge, when it is a miracle if they have enough supplies for 2 
weeks.
  Our frontline workers are feeling abandoned by their government. How 
can we blame them?
  The President is claiming victory in a crisis we are still fighting, 
visiting State after State and saying it is safe to reopen completely 
when it is not. He has the authority to use the Defense Production Act 
to increase production of PPE to save lives and chooses not to, while 
the safety of our frontline workers hangs in the balance.
  We have sent countless letters, introduced bills, and passed 
legislation. We need the President to act. The American people need 
straight talk, not magical thinking. We need leaders who listen to 
civil servants when they raise alarms, not fire the messenger.
  We can defeat this pandemic if we hear the facts and act on them.

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