Florida Rep. Stephanie Murphy (D), leader of the Blue Dog Coalition in the House of Representatives who may also be challenging Florida Senator Marco Rubio (R) for his seat in the upcoming 2022 midterm election, shared a video on Twitter regarding the use of Florida’s National Guard. In response to the COVID-19 pandemic and the storming of the Capitol on January 6th, 2021, Florida’s National Guard has been deployed to assist with anything needed, and Rep. Murphy commented that the state has to do everything in its power to make sure that they are properly looked after.
“Members of FL’s national guard are being asked to perform diverse missions like combat, homeland defense, COVID relief & hurricane response,” she wrote, adding that she has “asked senior military leaders to ensure the force is properly sized, resourced & trained to continue to excel.”
Members of FL’s national guard are being asked to perform diverse missions like combat, homeland defense, COVID relief & hurricane response. Today I asked senior military leaders to ensure the force is properly sized, resourced & trained to continue to excel. Watch here 🎥 pic.twitter.com/NuAQozoAHr
— U.S. Rep. Stephanie Murphy (@RepStephMurphy) February 17, 2021
“For Florida, the pandemic has disproportionately impacted us because we have one of the highest percentages of more mature Americans, as a part of our state population,” she detailed, and the state has also experienced a skyrocketing number of COVID-19 cases in recent weeks.
The state has responded by partnering with major chains like Publix and Wal-Mart in order to distribute the vaccine to said mature Americans. As Murphy explained, “those are the Americans who are more vulnerable to the negative impacts of COVID and most in need of vaccinations, along with our frontline and essential workers.”
The Democratic leader asserted that effectively and efficiently responding to the COVID-19 pandemic means also looking after frontline and essential workers. In order to make sure that plans run as best as they can, then that means that the National Guard must be as mentally and physically sound as it can be.
