Says he is a “wartime president” over coronavirus.
As part of the Trump Administration’s efforts to combat the coronavirus pandemic, President Trump announced Wednesday that he is invoking the Defense Production Act. He said doing so makes him a “wartime president.”
“It can do a lot of good things if we need it,” he said at a White House press conference. “We’ll have it all completed, signed, in just a little while.”
The Act ensures the private sector can ramp up manufacturing and distribution of emergency medical supplies and equipment. The move gives the White House the authority to increase production of masks, ventilators and respirators, and to expand hospital capacity to combat the coronavirus.
Also during the news conference, it was disclosed that the administration has been working with Congress on a nearly $1 trillion stimulus package to reinvigorate the U.S. economy, providing relief to businesses and workers who have been hardest hit by the virus.
President Trump also announced that the Housing Department is suspending all foreclosures and evictions until the end of April. Vice President Mike Pence, who is leading the coronavirus task force, announced that the Health and Human Services Department is suspending a regulation that prevents medical professionals from practicing medicine across state lines.
President Trump has agreed to dispatch a Navy hospital ship, USNS Comfort, to New York City Harbor to add “capacity” for those who need to be administered to due to complications of the virus. The Comfort has 1,000 beds and is run by military personnel. The military has also assisted by having the U.S. Air Force fly half a million coronavirus testing swabs from Italy to Tennessee. They will now be distributed around the country.
As the Lord Leads, Pray with Us…
- For President Trump and the additional actions the Administration will be able to take for having invoked the Defense Production Act.
- For industry leaders and workers who will be shifting from regular production items to producing things that will help medical teams direct their attention to the coronavirus.
- That American industry and government will see the benefit of returning to the U.S. manufacturing that had been outsourced abroad.
Sources: Fox News, CNN
