There are several reasons why counselors need the ability to get a national license, not one that ends at the state border. 1) Mental health needs are going to skyrocket in the aftermath of the pandemic. Creating an agile, responsive, national force of mental health workers that can respond to mental health criss "hot spots" will be important. 2) Clients, who have started seeing a counselor out of state during the COVID 19 exemptions, may have to start all over again with a new counselor when the exemptions run out if Congress doesn't act. 3) Counselors run into problems when clients who reside in one area temporarily move to another state (think of college students who go to college in one locale, then may go home to a different state). Current licensing laws don't adequately address current reality and our new telemental health capacities. 4) The pandemic has shown us how arbitrary state lines are when it comes to health emergencies. If these rules can be waived now, then surely we can find a more permanent workable solution. Please tell Congress we need a national solution to the problems created by state-by-state licensing for counselors. At the very least, we need a national approach to licensing telemental health providers so when crises arise, we can respond swiftly and in a unified way.

Each day, we hear story after story after story about someone who is suffering in the face of the coronavirus pandemic. In response, the Pentagon performed a series of military fighter jets flyovers across the United States in early May. But this ultra-militaristic show of force has nothing to do with COVID-19 — it won’t help people get their jobs back or get better. It’s simply a gigantic and insulting waste of taxpayer money in a moment when millions are asking for critical help and support. Our movement is built for fights just like this. When Trump wanted a tank parade, we stopped him. When his Administration tried to limit our rights to protest outside the White House on the National Mall, we fought back, and we won. We can win this fight, too, but only if we get loud now. Demand Secretary of Defense Mark Esper immediately stop fighter jet flyovers and redirect every dime planned for these shows to be spent on lifesaving medical equipment and economic relief instead.

In light of the extensive evidence that through late January, February and early March there was a refusal by Donald Trump to take seriously and make any effort to address the growing menace of the Corona Virus, even as he was being repeatedly warned of its dangers (e.g. in the context of his daily Presidential briefings) it is apparent that he was engaging in a dereliction of his duties and as a result was placing every American citizen in peril. Furthermore, as was recently documented in the New York Times, at the end of February Trump and his administration perpetrated a systematic cover-up, lying to and misleading the American public in an effort to convince people that COVID-19 posed no serious danger to them. The Trump administration purposely jeopardized the health, safety and lives of Americans and is culpable for the growing number of deaths that have at least in part resulted from this. They must be held responsible for their inaction and disregard for protecting the lives of American citizens.

Because until massive testing, tracing, and adequate provisions exist for supportive isolation of coronavirus victims, Ohio remains in a state of emergency. Governor DeWine accepted more than enough risks already in opening Ohio.

We are deeply concerned about the growing number of COVID cases and deaths in our community. Palm Beach County's death count ALONE is higher than 18 other states. The handful of extremists who held a ReOpen Rally in front of your meeting last night do NOT represent the vast majority of residents who want Shelter in Place to continue until public health experts deem our county safe to enter Phase 1 of reopening. A poll taken on April 22 from Quinnipiac University showed among registered voters, 76 percent said the economy should only reopen when health experts say it's safe. Only 17 percent say Florida should reopen even if public health officials warn against it. source - https://poll.qu.edu/florida/release-detail?ReleaseID=3659 Please listen to the EXPERTS, not the extremists and keep Shelter in Place for Palm Beach County until health experts believe it is safe to begins Phase 1.

Right now, these companies are using the keep open order as protection from any liability for what happens to workers. This is egregiously unfair and is a barely disguised form of what's called "forced labor." Workers should not have to choose between poverty and getting sick and possibly dying. These plans change all of that. Shame on Trump and Shame on these companies for not doing this!

1. Robert Kadlec did not disclose he was a consultant with Emergent BioSolutions and he did not bid out the purchase but made private negotiations with the company to pay $2.8 billions of a vaccine. That was a conflict of interest. Emergent BioSolutions got a ten year contract with the United States Department of Health and Human Services. He also did not note in his Senate filings that he had been a part owner of a company with Fuad El-Hibri, Emergent's founder and chairman. 2. He diminished the role of government experts and reduced the decision making to himself and a few advisers. 3. In 2018, he halted an Obama-era initiative to spend $35 million on a machine that would have made 1.5 million N95 masks per day. These masks would have been very helpful for our healthcare professionals in the frontlines. A recently made contract for $62.3 million went to the company which designed the rapid mask machine that was not purchased as planned. https://www.washingtonpost.com/investigations/before-pandemic-trumps-stockpile-chief-put-focus-on-biodefense-an-old-client-benefited/2020/05/04/d3c2b010-84dd-11ea-878a-86477a724bdb_story.html

Massage therapists provide medically necessary services for their clients including but not limited to services that: 1. Boosts the immune system 2. Help drain the lymphatic system 3. Reduces pain and inflammation 4. Improves circulation and lowers blood pressure 5. Lowers stress 6. Helps with fatigue 7. And a multitude of other benefits Many of our clients have chronic illnesses and come to us to help alleviate pain and to maintain a higher quality of life. By forcing us to stay closed, you are handicapping us and preventing us from taking care of our families as well as handicapping the thousands and thousands of clients across the state who come to massage therapists for a multitude of reasons. If a client can go to a physical therapist or chiropractor as well as get their hair and nails done (or tan or go to a gym), certainly they should be allowed to make this choice for themselves as well.

My small studio is also zoned medical and helps clients/patients with injuries as well as neurological issues learn efficient movement patterns so they can continue to stay active and healthy . Too much time is passing by where they are now going to regress which is not good in the long term.

Where are all the masks, test kits, and other crucial supplies desperately needed to safely end the lockdowns and end the coronavirus pandemic? It looks like Jared Kushner, Donald Trump's son-in-law, has a lot of them. He's working with big corporations to hoard millions of gloves, masks, swabs, and more. We don't know where they're all going, even as governors have to have the National Guard protect their own shipments so the feds don't seize them. This is totally unacceptable. It could even be criminal. But we don't know the details. It's time for Congress to act.

We base our request to amend visitor policies and to reinstate doulas in addition to the birthing person's chosen partner upon a wealth of human rights legislation, the guidance of professional organizations who work to protect the rights of birthing people, and the widely documented research evidence which identifies that the physical and emotional support provided by doulas positively impacts birth outcomes.  Doulas are of particular importance to the maternity care team during this pandemic as the support they offer promotes increased rates of physiological birth that ultimately reduce the risk of exposure to COVID19 through shorter hospital stays and reduce staff burden. They also improve birth outcomes and the holistic health of birthing people and their babies.

Health care workers are getting paid $5000 a week prn,cna lpns. RNs are getting $10000 a week. in new Orleans. An $10000-$20000 a week in new York. Unknown for every where else. But truckers are risking their lifes and health to keep the economy going. They are losing pay freight dropped extremely. Some cant go home due to the virus. Something have to give. Or the next pandemic is when truckers go on strike.