BRUNSWICK, Maine — Senator Angus King Friday joined a group of 47 Senators in a letter to Vice President Mike Pence raising concerns about the Administration’s reliance on private companies to distribute needed medical supplies during the coronavirus pandemic.
On Friday, the Washington Post reported that Maine had received about five percent of the PPE it had requested, although other states such as Florida received far larger percentages.
But King said Maine wouldn't be scrambling to obtain necessary supplies to fight COVID-19 if the federal government had better managed the national stockpile of supplies and the distribution of those supplies to states.
FEMA is currently relying on private companies to distribute masks, N95 respirators, gowns, gloves and other critical supplies to states, without guidance from the federal government on which areas or facilities should be prioritized.
Asked Thursday if he is confident Maine is as prepared as it could be, King responded, “No I’m not, in part because of what I consider a failure from the federal government to, number one, anticipate this problem, and number two, to get the equipment out to the places where it’s needed.”
King said he worries that politics played a role in determining which states received adequate supplies from the national stockpile.
"Here’s what’s really bothering me," he said. "There are indications that some of the allocations of these things – and I say indications … this is a worry, not a straight-up accusation -- that there’s some politics in this, in the way things are being distributed. The president has said, ‘Well I don’t like that governor because they said something nasty about me and we’ll see if I return their phone call.’ That’s very worrisome. I think we have an obligation to be sure that’s not the case. If there was ever a time politics shouldn’t play a role, this is it.'"
Read the full letter below:
At NEWS CENTER Maine, we're focusing our news coverage on the facts and not the fear around the illness. To see our full coverage, visit our coronavirus section, here: /coronavirus
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