Uniting to Fight Coronavirus

Floor Speech

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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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