Senator Baldwin Calls on President Trump to Provide Leadership with a National Plan for Widespread Testing

WASHINGTON, D.C. – As Wisconsin continues to confront a public health and economic crisis, U.S. Senator Tammy Baldwin is calling on President Trump to put in place a national testing plan, and provide states the medical supplies necessary to conduct widespread testing.

In a letter to President Trump, Baldwin and Wisconsin U.S. Representatives Mark Pocan and Gwen Moore wrote, “In Wisconsin we have a work ethic that is second to none, and our workers want to get back on the job just as our businesses want to safely reopen. However, we all know that the path forward must be guided by putting science and public health first. At present, no national plan exists from your White House to provide our state with the resources and supplies we need to conduct widespread testing to identify those who are infected, isolate positive cases, and safely trace all contacts so the spread of this virus can be contained.”

The members of Congress noted that Wisconsin still lacks the supplies needed from the federal government to scale up widespread testing and wrote, “In order to put people back to work and reopen businesses, we need your Administration to step up and provide Wisconsin with the guidance, supplies, and PPE we need to conduct widespread testing. You can accomplish this by doing something you have failed to do – using your Presidential authority to unlock the full power of the Defense Production Act to support a robust national testing strategy so that the United States can massively scale up production of the testing supplies and PPE our health care workers need to protect themselves, take care of patients, and save lives.”

This weekend, Vice President Mike Pence stated that the United States was conducting approximately 150,000 tests per day. However, public health experts have suggested that the nation needs at least 500,000 tests per day to begin reopening parts of the economy by mid-May. 

“Liberating our country from this pandemic and moving our economy forward requires you to lead with a national testing plan and the supplies to implement it. This public health and economic crisis demands leadership from the White House, and Wisconsin families and businesses are waiting on you to provide it,” Baldwin, Pocan and Moore wrote to the President.

The full letter to President Trump is available here.