(MADISON, WI) — As Mike Pence breaks his government’s own travel advisory warnings to get a photo-op at a ventilator production facility today, Congressman Mark Pocan, State Senator Dave Hansen, frontline nurse Shari Signer, and Wisconsinite Susan Berna, who lost both her jobs due to the novel coronavirus and is desperate to get insurance through the ACA marketplace, spoke out during a video press call to highlight the Trump administration’s chaotic and failed response to the Coronavirus epidemic.
If you would like audio of the full press conference please contact [email protected]
Quote from Rep. Pocan: “I’m pretty outraged today. We have Vice President Pence coming to Wisconsin…he’s here to tout our preparedness and our production capacities…but the bottom line is that the federal government response has been pathetic to where we need it to be…there is no FEMA presence in Wisconsin, and that’s the question for Vice President Pence today is, where the hell is the federal government response for places like Wisconsin? If we can’t test, we can’t open up. Where the hell are the supplies for the state of Wisconsin and the people who live here?”
Quote from State Senator Hansen: “I think it clear, whether you’re a Democrat, Independent, or Republican, that Trump’s response to the Coronavirus has been a complete failure from the outset. From reports that the White House was warned as early as November to Trump admitting he knew as early as January about the impending crisis, Trump slow rolled his response to the pandemic that has taken over our lives.”
Quote from Shari Signer RN: “Nurses need our elected officials and leaders who will listen and do their part to get health care workers what they need so we can continue to do our vital job to protect the public. Like many health care workers across our state, I have been frustrated and dismayed by the lack of PPE available to us. When we needed leadership and bold action to protect health care workers, the Trump administration failed again and again. President Trump ignored warnings about a national shortage. We signed up to care for patients but not to risk our lives. It’s time for President Trump and our elected leaders to truly step up to this challenge and protect workers like me.”
Quote from Susan Berna: “I have been laid off from both of my jobs due to COVID-19 and I have very limited income. It’s a pretty scary time, I don’t know what is going to happen if I get sick. I feel President Trump has really failed all of us by not allowing the marketplace to be open for a longer period of time so that we could get the insurance not only that we can afford, but that would take care of us if we do catch this horrible virus. I also have taken every precaution I can not to catch the virus, however I had requested an absentee ballot three weeks before the election and never received it, I received it two days after the election so I had to go vote in person. There’s nothing more that I want than to go back to work, however I feel very much at risk because of my health insurance and the lack thereof as well as the lack of testing and resources that we have here in Wisconsin.”
