WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senator Jacky Rosen (D-NV) joined with twenty-six of her Senate colleagues in a bipartisan letter to Vice President Michael R. Pence, asking him to ensure the Administration provides Tribes and urban Native communities with timely access to 2019 novel coronavirus (COVID-19) resources and information.
“As you undertake your work leading the Administration’s 2019 novel coronavirus (COVID-19) response, we urge you to meaningfully engage with Native communities and Tribal leaders,” wrote the Senators. “Specifically, we ask that you ensure the Administration include a representative of the Indian Health Service (IHS) on the Administration’s COVID-19 task force; provides Tribal leaders, Tribal health departments, and urban Indian health programs with equal access to COVID-19 related information that is provided to their state and local counterparts; and directs all COVID-19 resources identified by Congress for Native communities’ use to impacted IHS facilities, Tribes, and urban Indian health programs in a timely manner. We look forward to working with you to uphold the Federal government’s Tribal trust responsibility and to engage in meaningful government-to-government relations with Indian Tribes and urban Indian communities regarding the national COVID-19 response.”
The full letter can be found here.
BACKGROUND: The United States has confirmed COVID-19 cases in a number of states where Tribes and urban Indian communities are located, including WA, OR, CA, AZ, UT, NE, WI, FL, NY, MA, and RI. At least one Tribe (i.e., the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation, OR) has a confirmed case of COVID-19 present in its community. Given these developments and past issues accessing federal resources for the Zika, Ebola, H1N1, and SARS outbreaks, Tribes are concerned that federal COVID-19 response efforts and resources will not reach them.
Last week during a Senate HELP Committee Hearing, Senator Rosen questioned health experts from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the National Institutes of Health (NIH), the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on the opportunity to utilize telehealth as a means of treatment for the novel coronavirus (COVID-19). Senator Rosen also expressed support for ensuring that health insurance limitations are not an obstacle to patients seeking telehealth care.
Senator Rosen has taken the following actions in the last month:
• Voted to pass an $8.3 billion emergency funding package to support federal, state, and local health agencies, to invest in vaccine and treatment development, and support affected small businesses with loan assistance.
• Participated in a hearing as a member of the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee on the federal response to COVID-19 and preparations for future global pandemics, and questioned officials from the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and the Department of Homeland Security.
• Questioned health experts from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the National Institutes of Health (NIH), the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on the opportunity to utilize telehealth as a means of treatment for the novel coronavirus (COVID-19). Senator Rosen also expressed support for ensuring that health insurance limitations are not an obstacle to patients seeking telehealth care.
• Questioned witnesses from the Department of Transportation, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) on the role of aviation in containing the spread of infectious diseases such as COVID-19 during a hearing hosted by the Senate Commerce Committee’s Subcommittee on Aviation and Space.
• Joined with colleagues in sending a number of letters to officials at the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), the Department of Labor (DOL), the U.S. Census Bureau, and the Department of Education (ED), requesting information on how the departments will be responding to cases of the coronavirus.
• Last week, representatives from Senator Rosen’s office attended a briefing with Governor Sisolak and members of Nevada’s public health community to discuss the state’s preparedness for potential cases of coronavirus in Nevada.
• Last month, Senator Rosen joined her colleagues in sending a letter to U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Alex Azar requesting an update on the Administration’s response to the recent coronavirus outbreak.
Nevadans can find updates on the novel coronavirus, COVID-19, by visiting the Senator’s website.
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