Campaign Brief - "The Perils of Perpetual Retreat"

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Hey John -

Dan Crenshaw here. I hope you are well.

As you know, the coronavirus pandemic isn’t just a public health crisis, it’s an economic crisis too. Texans and Americans across the country are out of work and businesses of all sizes have shuttered their doors. That’s why I’m calling for a strategy to balance the battling of this pandemic with the targeted reopening of our economy.

Follow me on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram for regular updates and news you can use. As always, thank you for your support.

Now, here’s your brief:

THE PERILS OF PERPETUAL RETREAT

When I was in the Navy SEALs, if we were ambushed, we’d take what’s called a “tactical retreat.” It is a strategic effort to regroup, analyze our enemy, bolster our capacity to respond, and then go on offense. That last part is key - we never stayed in a perpetual retreat. To do so would mean defeat, and that is unacceptable.

In a recent op-ed in the Houston Chronicle, I write about the need to go back on offense against coronavirus. In the op-ed, I outline a national mobilization strategy to ensure we can continue to battle the pandemic alongside a functioning society and economy. There is a balance between reopening the economy and combating the public health crisis. Doing so will allow us to stop our retreat and begin our attack against coronavirus that has already cost countless livelihoods. CLICK HERE OR ON THE IMAGE TO READ MY OP-ED.

DO BOTH: FIGHT COVID-19 AND SAVE THE ECONOMY

It is not a binary decision. We have to take measures to mitigate the coronavirus pandemic while getting Americans back to work. It’s time to take a more targeted approach to fighting this pandemic because an indefinite lockdown is just as unwise as an immediate reopening of society. We must stop offering America this false choice.

It’s going to be hard, but here in Houston we are not strangers to hard times. We ALWAYS emerge together on the other side of challenging times HOUSTON STRONG. Decisions that we make here will be different than those made in New York or California, as they should be. But a structured reopening of our economy is possible by focusing on individual needs of different locales. This is how we can begin to safely get back to business. CLICK HERE OR ON THE IMAGE TO WATCH MORE.

AMERICANS ARE READY TO GET BACK TO WORK

People are ready to return to work, especially here in Texas. I am hearing from a lot of Texans who are losing their patience and have understandable questions about when they can get back to work or open up their business. We need to start providing answers to these questions. Livelihoods are at stake.

We have to remind ourselves that it is our local and state governments that are at the forefront of our response to this pandemic. We also need a localized approach to how to reopen the economy. Each city and state will have different strategies, but they should all follow the same pattern: increase testing, expand health care capacity, and improve public education about how to prevent further outbreaks. CLICK HERE OR ON THE IMAGE TO WATCH.

THE TRUTH ABOUT OUR SLOW START TO COVID-19 TESTING

Houston Chronicle Headline: "Did FDA regulations slow testing for the coronavirus? Fact-checking Rep. Dan Crenshaw's claim.

Why did we get such a slow start to coronavirus testing in the United States? It isn’t the “everything is Trump’s fault” narrative that many in the media would like you to believe. The truth is much more nuanced.

As I pointed out recently, part of the reason is that long standing FDA regulations - in place for decades - created barriers to the private industry creating a test quickly. Thankfully, we’ve rolled back these regulations to get widespread testing online faster. Moving forward, we’ll need to look hard at possible reforms to these regulations to ensure this doesn’t happen again, especially during a pandemic. But for now, it’s important to focus on the facts before pointing fingers at the president.

From Politifact: “Crenshaw’s statement is accurate. FDA procedures adopted in 2004 meant laboratories had to seek the agency’s approval before developing and using tests in communities, a policy many health care officials have said prevented the country from taking early action in response to the novel coronavirus.” CLICK HERE TO READ THE FULL FACT CHECK.

WEEKEND READS

Washington Post: State Department cables warned of safety issues at Wuhan lab studying bat coronaviruses

Houston Chronicle: Rockets' James Harden, Kroger team up to assist underserved communities during coronavirus pandemic

Houston Public Media: 5 Tips From Homeschool Veterans For Parents New To Learning At Home

That’s it for this week’s campaign brief. I’ll catch up with you next week.

Thanks for your support.

Never Forget,

Dan Crenshaw

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