April 30, 2020

Manchin: We Must Work On COVID-19 Solutions, Not McConnell's Personal Agenda

Charleston, WV – Today, U.S. Senator Joe Manchin (D-WV) released the following statement on Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell’s decision to bring the U.S. Senate back into session in the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic without any plans to address this crisis and instead confirm unrelated judges and Administration appointees.

“On Monday, 100 Senators from across the country will travel back to our nation’s capital. Some of these Senators will return from COVID-19 'hotspots' and others are battling cancer and considered especially high risk. I know every one of my colleagues, both Democrat and Republican, take their oath to uphold the Constitution and do the business of the American people seriously. And there is no shortage of critical business to be done. West Virginia business owners are still awaiting PPP loans they applied for weeks ago, our brave healthcare workers don’t have the necessary PPE to do their jobs safely, we are months away from the medical breakthroughs we need to put the American people at ease and Veterans across the country are still struggling to get access to COVID-19 testing. It is shameful that Mitch McConnell is calling the U.S. Senate back to DC to vote on confirmation of his unqualified judge and nominees unrelated to the COVID-19 pandemic. I am eager to go back to Washington to work on the challenges our country faces with COVID-19 and the economy but not for McConnell’s personal agenda.”