This is an announcement from the Connecticut Republican Party.
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President Trump continues to lead a whole-of-government response to the COVID-19 epidemic. Please see the below resources detailing the latest Trump Administration’s actions.

Today, the President and the First Lady participate in a tree planting ceremony in recognition of Earth Day and Arbor Day at 12:00pm ET. Members of the Coronavirus Task Force hold a press briefing at 5:00pm ET.

Additional Guidance (as of 4.21, 5:30pm):
* WH - Memorandum on Providing Continued Federal Support for Governors’ Use of the National Guard to Respond to COVID-19 and to Facilitate Economic Recovery (Click here ([link removed][UNIQID]) )
* WH With Excess National Supply, Exchanges Will Allow U.S. Hospitals to Continue Meeting Ventilator Demand (Click here ([link removed][UNIQID]) )
* HHS - Oracle Donates Therapeutic Learning System to HHS to Gather Crowd-Sourced Data on COVID-19 (Click here ([link removed][UNIQID]) )
* HHS - SAMHSA Moves Quickly to Begin Releasing $110 Million in Emergency Grant Funding to Provide Americans with Substance Use Treatment and Mental Health Services During the COVID-19 Pandemic (Click here ([link removed][UNIQID]) )
* HHS - HHS Announces Nearly $1 Billion in CARES Act Grants to Support Older Adults and People with Disabilities in the Community During the COVID-19 Emergency (Click here ([link removed][UNIQID]) )
* HHS - Statements from the Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT and the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services on Interoperability Flexibilities amid the COVID-19 Public Health Emergency (Click here ([link removed][UNIQID]) )
* CMS - Trump Administration Champions Reporting of COVID-19 Clinical Trial Data through Quality Payment Program, Announces New Clinical Trials Improvement Activity (Click here ([link removed][UNIQID]) )
* CMS - April 21 News Alert (Click here ([link removed][UNIQID]) )
* CMS - Statements from the Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT and the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services on Interoperability Flexibilities amid the COVID-19 Public Health Emergency (Click here ([link removed][UNIQID]) )
* FDA - April 20 Daily Roundup (Click here ([link removed][UNIQID]) )
* FDA - The Path Forward: Coronavirus Treatment Acceleration Program (Click here ([link removed][UNIQID]) )
* FDA - FDA Authorizes First Test for Patient At-Home Sample Collection (Click here ([link removed][UNIQID]) )
* FDA - FDA Provides Flexibility to the Food Industry to Support Food Supply Chain and Meet Consumer Demand During COVID-19 (Click here ([link removed][UNIQID]) )
* NIH - Expert U.S. panel develops NIH treatment guidelines for COVID-19 (Click here ([link removed][UNIQID]) )
* DHS-FEMA - FEMA Programs Helping People from Coast to Coast (Click here ([link removed][UNIQID]) )
* Treasury - Action Needed for Social Security Recipients with Dependents Who Do Not File Tax Returns to Receive $500 Per Child Payment (Click here ([link removed][UNIQID]) )
* Treasury - Treasury Finalizes Agreements with Major Airlines, Disburses Initial Payroll Support Program Payments (Click here ([link removed][UNIQID]) )
* Treasury - Treasury, IRS announce cross-border tax guidance related to travel disruptions arising from the COVID-19 emergency (Click here ([link removed][UNIQID]) )
* USDA - Kentucky, Missouri, and Texas Added to Innovative SNAP Online Pilot Program (Click here ([link removed][UNIQID]) )
* ED - Secretary DeVos Delivers $6 Billion in Additional Grant Funding to Support Continued Education at America's Colleges, Universities (Click here ([link removed][UNIQID]) )
* HUD - HUD Awards $1.5 Million in Funding to Support COVID-19 Related Fair Housing Activities (Click here ([link removed][UNIQID]) )
* DOL - U.S. Department of Labor Ends Temporary Non-Enforcement of Paid Leave Protections to Help American Workers During Coronavirus Pandemic (Click here ([link removed][UNIQID]) )
* DOD - Hospital Ship USNS Comfort Admits New Jersey Patients (Click here ([link removed][UNIQID]) )
* DOD - DOD Details $133 Million Defense Production Act Title 3 COVID-19 Project (Click here ([link removed][UNIQID]) )
* VA - VA acquires Texas community hospital to fight COVID-19 and care for Veterans in the future (Click here ([link removed][UNIQID]) )
* VA - VA, DoD implement new capability for bidirectional sharing of health records with community partners (Click here ([link removed][UNIQID]) )
* VA - VA’s telehealth system grows as Veterans have access to unlimited data while using VA Video Connect (Click here ([link removed][UNIQID]) )
* VA - Timeline on how VA prepared for COVID-19 outbreak and continues to keep Veterans safe (Click here ([link removed][UNIQID]) )
* VA - VA researchers to study COVID-19 in aging Veterans with dementia (Click here ([link removed][UNIQID]) )
* State - The United States Is Assisting Pacific Island Countries To Respond to COVID-19 (Click here ([link removed][UNIQID]) )

HIGHLIGHTS | President Trump and the Coronavirus Task Force Provide an Update to Americans
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SUSPENDING IMMIGRATION TO PROTECT AMERICAN WORKERS

PRESIDENT TRUMP: “In order to protect American workers, I will be issuing a temporary suspension of immigration into the United States.”
PRESIDENT TRUMP: “By pausing immigration, we’ll help put unemployed Americans first in line for jobs as America reopens. So important. It would be wrong and unjust for Americans laid off by the virus to be replaced with new immigrant labor flown in from abroad.”
PRESIDENT TRUMP: “This pause will be in effect for 60 days, after which the need for any extension or modification will be evaluated by myself and a group of people, based on economic conditions at the time.”
PRESIDENT TRUMP: “This order will only apply to individuals seeking a permanent residency, in other words, those receiving green cards. Big factor. Will not apply to those entering on a temporary basis.”
PRESIDENT TRUMP: “This pause on new immigration will also help to conserve vital medical resources to American citizens. A short break from new immigration, depending on the time we’re talking about, will protect the solvency of our healthcare system and provide relief to jobless Americans.”

NEW CORONAVIRUS RELIEF FUNDING

PRESIDENT TRUMP: “My administration has worked aggressively with Congress to negotiate this critical $482 billion funding package. We reached a deal that includes $382 billion in crucial small business support to keep workers on the payroll, $75 billion to aid hospitals, which really need the aid, and very badly. I’m very proud of that. And $25 billion to support coronavirus testing efforts.”
PRESIDENT TRUMP: “I urged the House to pass the bill and they are going to be voting on it, I imagine, very, very soon.”
SECRETARY MNUCHIN: “This also gives us $50 billion dollars for disaster loans – EIDL loans – that will allow the SBA to make $300 billion dollars of disaster loans all for small businesses.”
SEC. MNUCHIN: “I can tell you the [Paycheck Protection Program] so far is over 30 million jobs. And, and again, that doesn’t account for other money that we’ve sent out.”

CERTIFICATION FOR PAYCHECK PROTECTION PROGRAM

PRESIDENT TRUMP: “When I saw Harvard, they have a one of the largest endowments anywhere in the country, maybe in the world, I guess. They’re going to pay back that money.”
SECRETARY MNUCHIN: “I will comment there have been some big businesses that have taken [Paycheck Protection Program] loans. I was pleased to see that Shake Shack returned the money. We will be putting out some F.A.Q.s”
SECRETARY MNUCHIN: “Certain people on the [Paycheck Protection Program] may have not been clear in understanding the certification. So, we will give people the benefit of the doubt. We’re going to put an F.A.Q. out – explain this certification. If you pay back the loan right away, you won’t have liability to the SBA and to Treasury. But, there are severe consequences for people who don’t attest properly to this certification.”

GUIDELINES ON OPENING UP AMERICA

PRESIDENT TRUMP: “Thanks to our aggressive campaign against the virus and the extraordinary talent of our medical professionals, our mortality rate remains roughly half of that of many other countries and one of the lowest of any country in the world.”
PRESIDENT TRUMP: “Since we announced our guidelines on opening up America … 20 states, representing 40% of the U.S. population, have announced they’re making plans and preparations to safely restart their economies in the very near future.”
DR. DEBORAH BIRX: “So, we really want to call people’s attention, again, to the guidelines. We are continuing to see outbreaks in nursing homes and in confined spaces, and I think as Americans we want to stop that, and we have the ability to do that by really paying attention to the guidelines that were to be in all three phases.”

VENTILATORS

PRESIDENT TRUMP: “Today, Vice President Pence visited the hard working men and women of General Electric Healthcare in Madison, Wisconsin, who are working three shifts a day to quadruple their production of ventilators.”
PRESIDENT TRUMP: “GE is also working with Ford to make 50,000 ventilators in the next 100 days, more than our entire country typically produces in a very long period of time.”
PRESIDENT TRUMP: “I said from the beginning that no American who needs a ventilator would be denied a ventilator and we have kept that promise all over the United States.”

WORKING WITH NEW YORK

PRESIDENT TRUMP: “Earlier today, I had a very productive meeting with Governor Cuomo, as you probably saw, to discuss his statewide testing strategy and how we can work together to help expand it with the goal of doubling testing in the next few weeks.”
PRESIDENT TRUMP: “New York State will be continuing to control the testing of their citizens and will also manage their state and local laboratories.”
PRESIDENT TRUMP: “The Federal government will work along with the state on the national manufacturers and distributors. Together, we’ll all work together to help them secure additional tests and we hope that this model will work with the other states as well.”
PRESIDENT TRUMP: “I’ve asked Andrew if we could bring the Comfort back to its base in Virginia so that we can have it for other locations, and he said we would be able to do that.”

UPDATE ON TESTING

PRESIDENT TRUMP: “The FDA has now authorized more than 50 diagnostic tests including, as of late last night, the first test that a patient can take home … LabCorp intends to make the home collection kits available to consumers in most states with a doctor’s order.”
PRESIDENT TRUMP: “In the coming weeks, we also have four different antibody tests already authorized. Tests will help identify individuals who can donate convalescent plasma, thus providing potentially life-saving antibodies to American patients.”
FDA COMMISSIONER HAHN: “The antibody tests are just one piece of the larger response that you’ve heard in the America returning to work plan that the President has -- with the task force – has developed.”
FDA COMMISSIONER HAHN: “We’ve authorized four applications for antibody tests and 140 test developers are pursuing applications for us as we speak.”

PHASE FOUR LEGISLATION

PRESIDENT TRUMP: “We mentioned briefly the state aid. We talked about that, Governor Cuomo and myself, and I agree with him on that, and I think most Republicans agree too, and Democrats. And that’s part of phase four.”
SECRETARY MNUCHIN: “I very much appreciate the President’s support for phase four. He put out a Tweet. As the President said, we look forward to phase four would be infrastructure … roads, bridges, broadband – especially broadband now to rural America is very important. We’ve talked about incentives for restaurants, sports, entertainment, because these businesses have been impacted. The President has talked multiple times about a payroll tax cut. And we’ve also – we are talking about in the case of states, the states we have heard from the governors and the fiscal issues of the state.”

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