Sanders Reintroduces Legislation to Give Every American Lifesaving N95 Masks

[Donkees]

More than 50 Democratic Colleagues Joined Sanders to Sponsor the Masks for All Act in the House and Senate

Wednesday January 12, 2022, 1:04pm EST

WASHINGTON -
As the world enters the third year of the coronavirus pandemic, with Omicron surging and cases skyrocketing, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) Wednesday, with more than 50 of his Democratic colleagues in the Senate and House, reintroduced lifesaving legislation to manufacture and distribute highly-protective N95 masks to every person in America.

Under Sanders’ Masks for All Act – first introduced in 2020 and developed in consultation with health experts including Andy Slavitt, former COVID-19 advisor to President Biden and the former Acting Administrator of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services under President Obama – every person in the U.S. would receive a free package of three N95 respirator masks. This includes individuals who are experiencing homelessness or living in group settings such as prisons, shelters, college dorms, and assisted living facilities, as well as all workers in health settings, from administrative and janitorial, to food service, doctors, and nurses.

Fifteen senators co-sponsored Sanders’ Masks for All Act including, Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.), Michael Bennet (D-Colo.), Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), Cory Booker (D-N.J.), Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.), Ed Markey (Mass.), Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), Alex Padilla (D-Calif.), Gary Peters (D-Mich.), Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), Tina Smith (D-Minn.), Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.), Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), and Ron Wyden (D-Ore.). Reps. Ro Khanna (CA-17), Lori Trahan (MA-03), and Bonnie Watson Coleman (NJ-12) are co-leading the legislation in the House, with more than 30 additional cosponsors.

“As we face the rapidly spreading omicron variant, we should remember that not all face masks are created equal,” said Sen. Sanders. “Congress must demand the mass production and distribution of N95 masks, one of the most effective ways to stop the spread of the Covid virus. It is an absolute scandal that in the richest country in the history of the world, high-quality masks are not more readily available to frontline workers, health care workers, and all Americans. We are proposing that we do what our public health experts and scientists say we must do: provide all of our people with high-quality, N95 masks without cost, which could prevent death and suffering and save huge amounts of health care dollars.”

https://www.commondreams.org/newswire/2022/01/12/sanders-reintroduces-legislation-give-every-american-lifesaving-n95-masks

[jimfields33]

1. How about those testing kits?

Maybe send a mask with the testing kits to save time and money.

[Donkees]

3. I think President Biden is going to speak on these updates tomorrow (?)

[jimfields33]

5. Thank you!

[Doodley]

2. I don't agree with this. It's more important to campaign for more people to wear masks.

You can give everyone masks, but those who are anti-mask aren't going to wear them. More important to fight against the misinformation.

[Celerity]

4. Disagree. It will help tens of millions of people who DO wear masks.

And it certainly doesn't prevent other efforts such as those you suggested.

[Doodley]

14. It is the people who don't wear masks and aren't vaccinated who are driving the spread of the virus

and the hospitalizations and deaths.

[Celerity]

15. yes, but N95's are the lowest level of protection that work well against Omicron

[Torchlight]

7. Does attempting to distribute masks prevent campaigning for masks?

I think both can be done.

[Doodley]

13. No, but where is the campaign? Why has misinformation flourished with little effort to combat it?

[Torchlight]

17. Those would be questions inherent to your original query, not my answer.

My premise is both can be done. You're asking me about a completely different bowl of hot soup.

[Donkees]

8. And too many people are wearing inferior masks including counterfeits ...

[CountAllVotes]

9. Precisely!

I've had more than my share of these faux masks.

I probably am still using some that are of little to no use, I don't know as I was advised to buy them online.

Buy them online from WHO?

Not Amacon.con, that's for sure!

& recommend !!!!!!!!!

[Donkees]

11. Here's a very informative DU thread link posted yesterday ...

CDC Weighs Recommending Better Masks For Omicron Variant; *Masks, Health Supplies, Info. Sources
https://www.democraticunderground.com/1016310806

[Doodley]

16. Have you had Covid? I'm guessing not. Your masks are not useless. You are

probably not going to be among those who spread covid around because you are behaving responsibly. The assholes with no mask, no vaccination, no social distancing will still spread it around. If these lawmakers spent as much effort in proposing ways to change the behavior of just some of those folk, we would be in a much better position.

[WhiskeyGrinder]

12. Totally disagree. The best way to get someone to wear a mask is to give them one. Sure, some people

won't. But the ones who *would* wear one but just haven't prioritized getting one will also wear one.

[50 Shades Of Blue]

6. Thank you, Bernie and Dems!

[Greybnk48]

10. I agree! Thank you Bernie! If you have money to buy them yourself

go to the https://shop.projectn95.org/all and they are about 50% off.

[JustAnotherGen]

18. A lot of folks won't wear them

So only if requested by Americans via phone, web, mail, or email. Give those of us who want to protect ourselves every option -

Mask-holes - we'll just waste money.

[luv2fly]

20. Great post, thank you

As well as all your posts regarding Bernie. Some gripe, many appreciate it though.

And of course,

Thank you Bernie!

[Donkees]

21. Thanks :)

[progressoid]

22. K/R