(WASHINGTON, D.C.) – Congressman Jamie Raskin (D-MD-08) today joined U.S. Rep. Bill Pascrell, Jr. (D-NJ-09), Co-Chair of the Congressional Fire Services Caucus and Law Enforcement Caucus, and 159 Democratic and Republican House colleagues in urging the chamber’s leadership to ensure strong additional support for the nation’s first responders who work in one of the highest risk occupations for COVID-19 exposure in future emergency stimulus funding packages. This effort was co-led by Reps. Steny H. Hoyer (D-MD-5), Peter T. King (R-NY-2), and Mike Bost (R-IL-12), Co-Chairs of the Congressional Fire Services Caucus, and Rep. John Rutherford (R-FL-4), Co-Chair of the Congressional Law Enforcement Caucus.

The Members wrote: “First responders are routinely in physical contact with potentially infected persons and are facing unprecedented volumes of dispatch calls, especially in severely impacted areas. A short supply of personal protective equipment (PPE) for first responders to guard against disease exposure has left many police officers, firefighters, and EMS personnel exposed to the dangers of this crisis. This has resulted in too many across our nation contracting COVID-19, officers being forced to self-quarantine, and staffing shortages when our first responders are needed most."

A copy of Rep. Pascrell’s letter is available here,

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