Below is a press release from Congressman Seth Moulton’s office:
SALEM, MA — Congressman Seth Moulton (D-MA) has asked the members of the National Defense Industry Association’s members to supply the nation’s defense workers with personal protective equipment so they can safely carry out their essential work supporting the nation’s defense. Moulton sent a formal request for information to the group earlier this week.
The National Defense Industry Association is a group of 1,700 corporate and 70,000 individual members. According to its mission statement, the NDIA exists “to promote the best policies, practices, products, and technology for warfighters and others who ensure the safety and security of the nation.” It champions issues that contribute to the strength, resiliency, and capacity of the defense industrial base. It builds a vigorous, responsive, and collaborative community in support of defense and national security. And it convenes legal and ethical forums for the exchange of ideas, information, viewpoints, and capabilities.
This is the latest in a series of steps Moulton has taken to protect essential workers. Weeks prior to the outbreak of COVID-19 on the USS Theodore Roosevelt, Moulton wrote the heads of the nation’s Uniformed Services, with a request for the military’s plans to protect service members from the virus. Moulton has still not received a substantive response from any of the services housed within the Department of Defense, led by Secretary Mark Esper. The United States Coast Guard, which is not part of the Department of Defense, is the only service to respond with a substantive plan.
Moulton acknowledges the shortage of PPE is in large part due to the president’s failure to lead in the crisis by using the Defense Production Act. In an op-ed published today in The Hill, Moulton asks Americans and business leaders to help fill the void.
The congressman also weighed in through a column recently published in The Bulkwarkabout the president’s failed leadership and its consequences.
“People are dying because of it,” Moulton said, adding that Trump “certainly has the blood of fellow Americans on his hands because of his total failure as commander-in-chief.”
Earlier this month, after the death of a Salem resident who worked at Market Basket in Salem and Walmart in Lynn, Moulton asked Massachusetts Governor Charlie Baker to designate grocery store workers in the state as emergency personnel so that they could receive priority testing and access to protective equipment. The day after Moulton’s request, the governor designated grocery store workers as eligible for COVID-19 screenings at priority testing centers created for emergency workers across the state. The governor also quickly designated tow truck drivers and other essential workers for priority testing after Moulton’s push.
Moulton partnered with Representatives Tom Milanowski (D-NJ), Brian Fitzpatrick (R-PA), Seth and Don Bacon (R-NE) to lead a call from more than 150 members of Congress to the Federal Transit Administration asking the government to provide PPE and guidance to transit workers who are risking exposure to COVID 19 to transport health care workers, grocery store workers first responders and other essential personnel to their essential jobs throughout the state.
A PDF of the letter to the NDIA is available here.
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