The Speech we Should Have Heard
Here’s my take on the type of leadership we should have seen from the White House on the coronavirus – the steps that should have been taken FROM THE START and the speech we should have heard:
January 20, 2020
Tonight, I speak with you from the Oval Office regarding one of the greatest threats our country has faced since Pearl Harbor.
In early January, the CIA and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention told me a new coronavirus was detected in Wuhan, China. The power of this virus is enormous. It attacks the lungs and can affect the entire body. Droplets from the coughs or sneezes of people with the coronavirus can spread it. It is highly contagious and the illness it causes, COVID-19, can be fatal. There is no vaccine to protect against it.
China began treating dozens of cases of COVID-19 in late 2019. It showed up in Japan and Thailand earlier this month, and today, the first case in the U.S. was confirmed.
If there is one confirmed case here, no doubt there are more people walking around with the coronavirus who don’t know it yet and could be spreading the virus. That could include some of the 40 million people who visit the U.S. from other countries each year — more than 3 million of them, from China. Our government’s scientific and medical experts believe this virus could penetrate our entire nation with the next 30 days.
That means: Whether or not we like it, the coronavirus is here, and we need to take drastic action.
I have consulted all of the experts on this most serious issue and have pressed them for recommendations, no matter how painful they may be. Based on their advice, I am moving quickly to protect the health of the American people and the foundation of our economy by taking historic measures, effective immediately. Earlier tonight, I signed this series of executive orders:
- All flights between the U.S. and other countries – both arrivals and departures – are canceled through April 30.
- We will begin testing people for coronavirus in the potential “hot spot” cities of New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Chicago and Seattle immediately. Our goal is to test more than 3 million people by the end of February. My administration is working with research facilities and pharmaceutical companies to develop tests as quickly as possible.
- All residents and visitors in communities identified as hot spots are now required to wear face masks in public. We are currently securing millions of face masks, and they will be available in those cities no later than next week.
- Stay-at-home orders will be issued for any community where signs of COVID-19 appear. Because this virus is so contagious and knows no state boundaries, this is a federal issue, and the federal government will work closely with the states to determine hot spot areas. We will make sure the states most severely affected are adequately equipped to test and treat their residents, and to supply protective gear to health care workers and first responders.
These are not easy decisions. Too often in America, we look for the quick fix, the short-term view. Too often, we bury our heads in the sand and ignore solutions that may cause short-term pain. Not tonight, and not with this virus. The stakes are too high.
I am taking these bold actions tonight because failure to address COVID-19 now could bring this nation to its knees. If we ignore COVID-19 and focus only on the economy, the results could be devastating.
We could be looking at a virus that could overtake our nation. It could force the closing of all of our schools, our restaurants, and the majority of our businesses, and it could halt professional sports for six months or more. We could be looking at stay-at-home orders issued nationwide. Even worse, millions of Americans could be stricken by this deadly virus, resulting in overcrowded hospitals. We don’t have enough hospital beds, life-saving equipment or health care workers to treat massive numbers of patients. Hundreds of thousands of Americans could die. We could also be facing the highest unemployment levels since the Great Depression and trillions of dollars of government spending could be needed to help businesses and employees impacted by the virus. I cannot and will not let this happen.
As I contemplated the most important decision of my presidency, I have come to the conclusion that it is best to act in the long-term, best interest of the American people. And while COVID-19 is the crisis imperiling our nation now, it also serves as a reminder that we must address a number of other major problems that pose serious threats to our future.
So tonight, I am announcing that my administration will focus on the following five big issues between now and the end of June.
- COVID-19: Our objective is to keep America safe and make sure that COVID-19 does not ravage our citizens or our economy.
- Climate change: I am going to stop claiming that climate change is a hoax. Just like with COVID-19, I am going to listen to the scientists. Scientists say our world is 2 degrees warmer than it was 100 years ago and that if we don’t do anything, it will be another 6 degrees warmer by the end of the century, which would be devastating. Climate change is impacting all of us NOW. As a first step, I will send the Baker-Shultz Carbon Dividend Plan to Congress next week. This plan will tax carbon emissions and return the proceeds back to the American people.
- Nuclear annihilation: Scientific experts recently moved up the Doomsday Clock to an unprecedented danger point: 100 seconds before midnight. This is a clear warning that the threat of nuclear annihilation is greater today than at any other time in history, including the Cuban Missile crisis. Tomorrow, I will sign an executive order reducing the number of nuclear warheads from nearly 2,000 to around 300. I will also cancel all future nuclear weapons development. We have better things to spend $494 billion on over the next ten years.
- Our health: We spend more money on health care than any other country on Earth and we get the worst results. To be honest with you, we are doing this to ourselves. More than 40% of the country is obese, and the problem is growing worse at an alarming rate. We are, literally, eating ourselves to death. Within the next 30 days, I will send the Jack LaLanne Health Improvement Act to Congress to reverse this trend and to significantly improve the health of all Americans.
- Rebuilding America: Our transportation system is rated a D+ by the American Society of Civil Engineers. Our economy depends on our transportation system. We need to get past the war between Republicans and Democrats over how to pay for badly needed infrastructure updates and improvements. Tonight, I am announcing that I will send Congress a $1 trillion plan to rebuild America, and I will fund it by raising the gas tax from 18 cents to $1 a gallon.
America is a great country because we tackle tough challenges. When President Kennedy announced the Space Program in 1962, he said, “We choose to go to the Moon in this decade and do the other things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard; because that goal will serve to organize and measure the best of our energies and skills, because that challenge is one that we are willing to accept, one we are unwilling to postpone, and one we intend to win, and the others, too.”
Tonight marks a new era for America: A time when we take our big problems and turn them into big opportunities. A time when we stop being politicians more concerned about our careers and become more concerned about the people we serve and the legacy we leave behind. I look forward to working with you as we face the COVID-19 pandemic, and as we face the other big issues that our leaders have ignored in the past.
This impending health crisis provides all Americans with the opportunity to shine. As we make sacrifices and help each other to get through it, this can be—and will be—our finest hour.
May God bless you and may God bless the United States of America.
