Washington, D.C. — On Tuesday, May 5, Sens. Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) and Chris Coons (D-DE) will join Center for American Progress President and CEO Neera Tanden and public health experts on a press call to discuss a new letter from public health experts urging Congress to give states more funding to expand vote by mail and ensure safe in-person voting during the November election.
The letter will arrive as Congress plans its return to session early this month to work on CARES 2, the next major tranche of funding responding to the coronavirus pandemic.
The call will highlight a new letter signed by more than 800 public health experts from across the country urging Congress to provide states with $4 billion to upgrade their election systems to ensure the health and safety of voters during the coronavirus pandemic. The experts warn that Americans should not have to choose between their health and their right to vote.
Sen. Klobuchar is the Ranking Member of the Rules Committee with oversight jurisdiction over federal elections, and Sen. Coons (D-DE) is the Ranking Member of the Financial Services and General Government Appropriations Subcommittee responsible for funding the Election Assistance Commission. In March, Sens. Klobuchar and Ron Wyden (D-OR) joined by Coons, introduced the Natural Disaster and Emergency Ballot Act of 2020 to allow all voters to cast a ballot by mail and expand early in-person voting.
WHO:
Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), Ranking Member, U.S. Senate Rules Committee
Sen. Chris Coons (D-DE), Ranking Member, U.S. Senate Financial Services and General Government Appropriations Subcommittee
Neera Tanden, President and CEO, Center for American Progress
Gregg Gonsalves, Assistant Professor of Epidemiology (Microbial Diseases), Yale School of Public Health; Associate Adjunct Professor of Law, Yale Law School; Co-Director, Global Health Justice Partnership; Co-Director, Collaboration for Research Integrity and Transparency
Carl Bergstrom, Professor of Biology, University of Washington
WHEN:
Tuesday, May 5
2:30 p.m. – 3:30 p.m. ET
RSVP to Sam Hananel at [email protected]. Call-in details are available upon RSVP.
To find the latest CAP resources on the coronavirus, visit our coronavirus resource page.