Early in May, the White House had offered all Congress members rapid testing kits keeping in mind that members of Congress were highly susceptible to contracting the coronavirus due to their daily commute to districts and so on.
On Friday, Speaker Nancy Pelosi declined the supply of rapid testing kits saying that it’s not her decision to make. “It’s not a decision of mine, it’s a decision of the Capitol physician.”
With the rapid spread of the coronavirus in the country and simultaneously the shortage of testing kits across the country seemed to have incentivized the statement made by Pelosi.
In a statement, Pelosi clarified, “There are many people in the country who should be tested, should have access, in order to quantify the problem, but also to trace and to treat, so that people don’t die. And I don’t think it’s a good idea for members of the Congress to say, ‘We should have it, but maybe not necessarily the people who work here at the expense of others.”
Standing firmly on her reasoning she stated further, “It comes back to equipment. We would probably have to do thousands of people — some would say every day, some would say every week. It’s not up to Sen. McConnell or me. As far as I’m concerned it’s up to the Capitol physician.”
