DETROIT, MI – Monday, April 13th, U.S. Senator Gary Peters (MI) joined MSNBC Live to discuss the next steps in the federal response to the Coronavirus pandemic. During the segment, Peters spoke about the need to ensure that our hospitals and health care professionals on the frontlines have the resources needed to combat this devastating disease and to increase funding for small business loans and states. Peters, a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee and a former Lieutenant Commander in the U.S. Navy Reserve, also reacted to the tragic passing of a U.S. Navy sailor who died from Coronavirus complications after being stationed on the USS Theodore Roosevelt.
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On providing more funding for hospitals, and the health care professionals on the frontlines and states: “It’s clear that they need those resources. If you think about what we’re dealing with right now, it’s a public health crisis first and foremost. We know our hospitals are stressed and will continue to be stressed. This is an appropriate time for us to kind of step back after the CARES Act passed — where are the needs — and make sure that we’re funding those needs going forward. We all agree and I certainly agree that small business needs to be helped. It’s the engine of growth for our economy and as we’re going to restart our economy it’s critical that our small businesses can be there and survive this difficult time. But we also need to make sure our health care providers have the resources they need. We need to make sure we have personal protection equipment so that we can provide that to all of our health care professionals, as well as testing. Certainly, that’s something that we continue to lag behind. We’ve got to make sure we have resources to aggressively expand testing across the country, and it’s particularly needed here in Michigan as we continue to be a hotspot.”
On whether Congress can reach an agreement in time to provide additional funding for small business loans: “We hope we can come together in a bipartisan way as we did for the CARES Act. Folks found common ground. We were able to pass it unanimously. I would hope that’s what we do in this case too. This should not be a time for political posturing or scoring political points. This is about coming together to decide how do we deal with this crisis as it continues to unfold literally on a daily basis. And we know there are other needs, let’s try to take care of those needs while we deal with the small business issue. I think many of us also want to make sure that the small businesses that are most in need are actually getting this [Small Business Administration loans] money. I think it’s important for us to be focused on that as well.”
On the passing of the U.S. Navy sailor due to the Coronavirus, who had been stationed on the USS Theodore Roosevelt and the role of the Senate Armed Services Committee in looking into the removal of Navy Captain Crozier from the ship: “First, it’s a tragic loss, and my heart goes out to the families of that sailor and certainly I’m concerned about other sailors who are also ill with COVID-19, but I think it’s clear we need to investigate exactly what happened. We’ve asked the Inspector General to take a look at this situation. I understand we’re going to have more facts and more information coming from the Department of Defense in the days ahead, but I think it’s important for us to do a deep dive, find out exactly what happened.”
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