John,

We have certainly been through a stressful few months, and I greatly understand the urge for everything to go back to normal.

Just last week, there was a meeting I really wanted to attend in person. But after hearing news within the span of only a few hours that three different acquaintances had died from COVID-related conditions, I held off and attended the meeting virtually instead.

In order to keep representing my district in Congress, I commute back and forth from Washington. Each flight grows more packed as people return to non-essential travel and activities. While I fully understand that some of us have to go to work or are called by necessity to leave our homes and travel, we owe it to each other to be thoughtful and take basic safety steps to avoid spreading COVID-19 as much as possible.

We are all going to have to work harder to stay disciplined in social distancing as much as possible and taking basic precautions like wearing masks and getting COVID-19 testing. 

I wish our governor would take the necessary step of making wearing a mask in public mandatory, as researchers at Emory University have recommended [1]. But his desire to kowtow to President Trump clearly supersedes any obligation he feels to keep the people of our state safe, which is a shame but not surprising.

I’d like to hear from you, John. Tell me what you’re thinking about in these uncertain times. Have you had a realization like I did, where you remembered the importance of safety precautions or social distancing? I’ve set up a form to hear directly from you here: https://act.myngp.com/Forms/7090620314532513792

Wishing you good health and friendship,

Hank