April 29, 2020

Durbin Statement On President Trump's Executive Order Keeping Meat Plans Open During Pandemic

SPRINGFIELD – Today, U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL), a member of the Senate Agriculture Committee, issued the following statement after President Donald Trump signed an executive order to keep meat-processing plants operating during the COVID-19 pandemic:

“President Trump’s executive order to require meat and poultry producers to continue operations ignores the health and safety realities of this pandemic.  The coronavirus is not impressed with a presidential order and neither are the workers who are risking their lives working shoulder to shoulder on meat processing lines.  If the Trump Administration would make a national commitment to serious testing and worker protection instead of a mindless mandate we could bring this valuable sector of our economy back to life.”

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