WASHINGTON, D.C. [2/11/21]—Today, U.S. Senator Tina Smith (D-Minn.) said the Biden-Harris Administration’s recent announcement of the COVID-19 Health Equity Task Force is welcome news, since she helped introduce legislation last Congress—the COVID-19 Racial and Ethnic Disparities Task Force Act of 2020—to do just that. Sen. Smith is also pleased to see that Mary Turner of Plymouth, Minn., the current President of the Minnesota Nurses Association, has been named to the task force.
“We know that COVID-19 has not been the great equalizer—it has laid bare the inequities in our country, and it has hit hardest our elders, frontline workers, and Black, Indigenous, and other people of color. By establishing the COVID-19 Health Equity Task Force, the Biden-Harris White House is acknowledging this, and putting intention behind examining the racial and ethnic disparities in our nation’s response to COVID-19,” said Sen. Smith, a member of the Senate Health Committee. “I pushed to help make this happen, and I’m glad we have Minnesota representation with Mary Turner of Plymouth being included in this effort.”
You can learn more about the COVID-19 Health Equity Task Force here.