Crow Leads Bipartisan Letter Urging Pentagon to Take All Necessary Steps to Protect Service Members and Military Families During Coronavirus Outbreak

Today, Colorado U.S. Congressman Jason Crow led a letter with 15 of his colleagues to the Secretary of the Department of Defense, Mark Esper, calling on the Pentagon to take all necessary measures to protect military families, servicemembers, and civilian personnel who will be called upon to provide humanitarian relief during the coronavirus pandemic. The letter highlights the critical role the Department of Defense has played in past disaster response missions, such as the Ebola virus epidemic, and the role it will likely play in the coronavirus pandemic.

"Our nation's response to the coronavirus will require an all hands on deck effort by the government. The Department of Defense has critical resources and world-class specialists that we will need to provide medical and humanitarian relief as the scope of the pandemic grows. This is not a time for politics - it's a time to come together as Americans and ensure that our caregivers have the resources they need to keep us healthy," said Crow. "As we prepare for increasingly difficult days ahead, I led a letter to Secretary Esper along with a bipartisan group of my House Armed Services Committee colleagues to offer our full support and resources to ensure our personnel and families are protected, and the Pentagon is prepared to flatten the curve."

In addition to Crow, the letter was signed by U.S. Reps. Don Bacon (NE-02), Gil Cisneros (CA-39), Elaine Luria (VA-02), Ruben Gallego (AZ-07), Rick Larsen (WA-02), Anthony Brown (MD-04), Filemon Vela (TX-34), Elissa Slotkin (MI-08), William Keating (MA-09), Donald Norcross (NJ-01), Mikie Sherrill (NJ-11), Susan Davis (CA-53), Tulsi Gabbard (HI-02), Seth Moulton (MA-06), and Deb Haaland (NM-01).

The text of the letter is available below.

March 16, 2020

The Honorable Mark T. Esper

Secretary of Defense

1400 Defense Pentagon

Washington, D.C. 20002

Dear Secretary Esper:

We write to express our strong support to the servicemembers and employees of the Department of Defense (DOD) as you confront the growing threat posed by the COVID-19 pandemic.

We recognize the critical role that the Department serves in providing urgently needed medical care and humanitarian relief to suffering populations across the world. When Japan was wrecked by an earthquake, tsunami, and nuclear disaster in 2011, more than 18,000 personnel and 140 aircraft supported the subsequent disaster response mission. In the wake of the 2014 Ebola virus outbreak in West Africa, more than 8,000 military and 400 U.S. Public Health Service personnel participated in the DOD-led Operation United Assurance that was integral to halting the epidemic. Now, as our country is bracing for a significant disruption to everyday life and our medical facilities face a daunting healthcare challenge, we expect that the Department of Defense will once again play an indispensable role in our national emergency response effort.

As the Department prepares to face this threat, we request that you take all necessary measures to provide care and support to military families; ensure servicemembers and civilian personnel called upon to provide humanitarian relief have the necessary equipment to safely perform their mission; and mitigate the impact of the virus on our communities. We stand ready to provide additional resources you may require to provide for the health and safety of the American people.

Sincerely,