CNN "Newsroom" - Transcript Interview with Sylvia Garcia

Interview

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And I'm joined by Texas Congresswoman Sylvia Garcia.

Thank you so much for being with us, Congresswoman.

REP. SYLVIA GARCIA (D-TX): Thank you for having me.

KEILAR: And you represent millions of Texans in the Houston area. There are seven sites closing, including two of your largest testing sites set to lose their federal funding. What happens in your district, in your state if these testing capabilities are reduced?

GARCIA: First of all, it's outrages the governor won't act. These are seven testing sites in Texas. Four are in the Houston region. Four in the city of Houston and four in the county. And they're sites that started from the beginning so people know that people use them.

They're testing about 500 to 2,000 people a day at each site. So, that's a lot of people. And if we lose those sites, they'll put pressure on some of the other clinics and operations.

The Houston region is huge. It's one of the largest in the country. And we need the testing sites because we have seen an increase in ICU beds. They're full at 97 percent. And one out of four of the patients are COVID-19. So, that is very alarming.

So, we need action from the governor to help us make sure that FEMA continues the sites.

I know I joined with members of the Harris County delegation, urging FEMA and HHS to delay until August because we're just seeing an increase in positive testing and in hospitalizations. KEILAR: As you're aware, Congresswoman, President Trump has said he

wants to slow down testing in order to reduce the coronavirus numbers in the United States. When you look at this, is that what you see happening here?

GARCIA: This president has said some really crazy things and this has got to be one of the craziest too, even to suggest a slowdown testing. We cannot do that.

It's always been about testing, testing, testing. Now it's about tracing and it's about treatment.

We never should have opened up the economy in Texas until we had robust testing to make sure that we could have people be tested before they went to work, tested at work, testing to make sure that everyone was safe.

And this governor, I think, in my judgment, opened too soon and opened before we had robust testing.

And now, what I'm urging him to do is issue a state-wide mask order. We've got to do everything we can to put a stop to the spread. And everyone agrees that if you wear your mask, that really does decrease the chance of spreading.

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Next thing you need to do is wash your hands. And the third, of course, is to sanitize when you can.

It's incredible to me that he's not letting our local officials on the ground, who see this increase, who see we're heading in the wrong direction, giving them the opportunity and the right to issue mask orders.

If he won't let the locales do it, then he should do it from the top, coming from Austin.

KEILAR: Congresswoman, thank you so much. Congresswoman Sylvia Garcia, joining us from Capitol Hill.

GARCIA: Thank you.

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