U.S. Representative Mike Rogers (R-Saks) and Senator Richard Shelby (R-AL) urged their colleagues on Tuesday to pass more funding to fight the spread of COVID-19, commonly known as the coronavirus.
“It could be an existential threat to a lot of people in this country,” Shelby told POLITICO with respect to the spread of the Coronavirus.
“This current version of Coronavirus, COVID-19, represents a potential health and economic threat to our homeland. Congress must act now to provide the additional resources requested by President Trump to prepare for and respond to any outbreak here in the United States,” said Rogers in a release.
“I urge passage of a clean supplemental without any extraneous provisions. We cannot play politics with the health and safety of Americans,” he added.
Alabama’s senior senator contrasted from Rogers in his opinion of the amount the Trump administration requested. Shelby told POLITICO that Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar’s request was a “low ball” amount.
A bipartisan group of legislators has called the Trump administration’s $2.5 billion request too small, and urged the appropriate organizations to up their estimate of the necessary amount.
“So money should not be an object. We should try to contain and eradicate this as much as we can, both in the U.S. and helping our friends all over the world,” continued Shelby.
Shelby chairs the Senate Appropriations Committee and, as such, has influence over how much money is dispensed for situations like the one the United States faces with respect to the coronavirus.
Rogers and Shelby worked together over the weekend to remove the possibility of coronavirus victims being located in Alabama. Rogers added on Monday that some people might be fired over the mishaps that led to the confusion about the issue.
Henry Thornton is a staff writer for Yellowhammer News. You can contact him by email: [email protected] or on Twitter @HenryThornton95.
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