Blumenthal Speaks on the Senate Floor to Call for More Resources for Vaccines, Schools

[WASHINGTON, DC] – U.S. Senator Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) spoke on the Senate Floor today in support of the American Rescue Plan. Blumenthal highlighted the importance of investing in vaccine production and equitable distribution, and called for additional resources to help schools reopen safely.

“Now I was very excited over this past week or ten days to travel throughout the state of Connecticut and visit clinics where vaccinations are being provided to thousands of people in Connecticut, raising our rate to one of the highest in the country, about 10.3 percent. I saw nurses and doctors at Danbury Hospital led by John Murphy, making promises real for people. I visited Rentschler Field, a former runway turned into a vaccination site for people receiving those shots in their arms from the community health center, headed by Mark Masselli. I saw vaccinations at Griffin Hospital, a wonderful team headed by Pat Charmel.”

“But here’s the story of Griffin Hospital. Last week, they did 6,000 doses. This week, it will be 2,000. Not because of any lack of skilled vaccination person power, not because of any lack of determination – because of lack of vaccine.”

“There is light at the end of the tunnel, but it is longer as we delay the vaccine that is necessary to do the job. There is not enough. It’s not reaching the people who need it in enough supply, and it’s not being delivered equitably,” Blumenthal said.

Blumenthal’s full remarks, as delivered, are copied below.

I’m really pleased to follow my colleague Senator Murphy after that very articulate case, and to build on the case for keeping our promises to America. And the Presiding Officer knows that promises made must be kept, including another $1,400 in stimulus payments to every individual, bringing that total to $2,000, which is what we promised. To make sure that vaccines are available broadly across this country, and that schools become places of learning again in person for students and teachers in a safe learning environment.

What we’re doing in this package which is big and bold – and it has to be – is to put money in people’s pockets, put vaccinations in people’s arms, and put children back in schools safely – and I emphasize safely.

Now I was very excited over this past week or ten days to travel throughout the state of Connecticut and visit clinics where vaccinations are being provided to thousands of people in Connecticut, raising our rate to one of the highest in the country, about 10.3 percent.

I saw nurses and doctors at Danbury Hospital led by John Murphy, making promises real for people. I visited Rentschler Field, a former runway turned into a vaccination site for people receiving those shots in their arms from the community health center, headed by Mark Masselli. I saw vaccinations at Griffin Hospital, a wonderful team headed by Pat Charmel.

But here’s the story of Griffin Hospital. Last week, they did 6,000 doses. This week, it will be 2,000. Not because of any lack of skilled vaccination person power, not because of any lack of determination – because of lack of vaccine.

Shortages in Connecticut and around the country are impeding and setting back our efforts. They are lengthening the tunnel. There is light at the end of the tunnel, but it is longer as we delay the vaccine that is necessary to do the job. There is not enough. It’s not reaching the people who need it in enough supply, and it’s not being delivered equitably.

The numbers in Connecticut show that people in communities of color are nowhere near as likely to receive that vaccine. In fact, perhaps three times less likely. And we need to make sure that delivery is fair and effective in this country, or we will never conquer this pandemic and put America back to work.

Using the National Defense Production Act is absolutely necessary, but so is the commitment of $160 billion in this big and bold relief program, and it has to be big and bold. It also has to be done now. Time is not on our side.

I have no tolerance for delay or dithering. I have no patience for cuts in this package – $1.9 trillion ought to be our floor, not our ceiling, and if there is a need for targeting those stimulus payments, the money ought to be reallocated to vaccines and to creating safer environments to work and to learn.

Now, vaccines are important to our schools. Teachers are essential workers. They’re on the front lines. They are putting their lives at risk. They have been demonstrating the courage and conviction to come to school. But they should receive this vaccine, and a safe learning environment means also personal protective equipment, barriers such as we’re seeing in restaurants and other public places, Plexiglas and other kinds of dividers. These kinds of essential equipment are the reason that we are advocating $130 billion for our schools.

There are many other steps that must be taken to assure not only that our learning environments are safe but also that students have the connectivity they need to learn remotely, because for some period of time, that will be the way they learn. And more than a third of communities of color in the state of Connecticut, which is thought to be a very sophisticated and advanced state, still lack that connectivity. A third of our seniors. Safe and fair learning environment mean broadband. That is also another reason for that $130 billion in this package.

Many of these students face serious gaps. One to three months, and even longer for some students who have lacked that connectivity. Up to six months in basic skills – reading, writing, arithmetic.

These kinds of gaps have to be filled. We need a major effort to focus on our students who have been left behind. And that is why this kind of package is a moral imperative. It is a social obligation. We will lose talents and skills, but students will also lose their futures.

We should come together on a bipartisan basis. There is nothing wrong with cooperation, and I hope that my colleagues across the aisle will join with us as we move forward, but we will move forward.

We cannot repeat the mistakes of the past when efforts to wait meant unconscionable delay. We have no such luxury in this humanitarian crisis. We must move forward, and we will.

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