House Speaker Nancy Pelosi Tuesday insisted that President Donald Trump "immediately implement the Defense Production Act" in more than just a limited way to insist the country's businesses produce the medical equipment hospitals need in the fight against coronavirus.
"We all come to this discussion with very heavy hearts about what we can do to prevent more of a spread to this, and so to the president, I would join those, whether it's the governors, the mayors, people across the country who are saying, we need the equipment, the personal protective equipment, for the workers," the California Democrat said on MSNBC's "Morning Joe." "We are asking people to risk their lives to save other lives."
Last week, Trump ordered General Motors Co., under the federal law, to make ventilators for coronavirus patients, and Pelosi said Tuesday he'd used the law in a "discreet way" when it needed to be used "across the board."
"There's an overall appeal for him to do much, much more, and this is nothing that can be handled piecemeal," said Pelosi, pointing out that Americans are concerned about health workers lacking personal protective equipment, and about how their own livelihoods are being affected by the virus.
She also called on the administration to move quickly to disburse the "opportunities, the benefits" that Congress passed last week "in a very strong, bipartisan way."
"First bill a few weeks ago about testing, testing, testing," she said, "about recognizing that you can't get a handle on the challenge unless you have, take inventory and that you know what the challenge is, and how it is disbursed, distributed around the country."
The second bill was about equipment, however, and "recognizing that we didn't have enough," said Pelosi.
Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
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