Tennessee Congressmen Stand with Governor Lee, Disapprove of House Democrats' Politicization of Pandemic

Statement

U.S. Representatives Chuck Fleischmann (R-TN), Phil Roe (R-TN), Scott DesJarlais (R-TN), John Rose (R-TN) and David Kustoff (R-TN) released the following statement in response to Rep. James Clyburn (D-SC), Chairman of the House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Crisis, sending official letters singling out four Republican-led states, including Tennessee, for their response to the COVID-19 pandemic:

"The coronavirus pandemic has affected each state -- and each community -- differently, and therefore each state has responded with different solutions. We believe Governor Lee has done an excellent job managing this crisis, which is reflected in Tennessee's lower number of deaths. Despite several states experiencing an uptick in cases, Chairman Clyburn has only chosen to focus on states with Republican governors, a blatantly partisan maneuver. We call on Chairman Clyburn to immediately stop politicizing this nation's pandemic and use his committee to help constructively determine how our nation can return to normal life while dealing with the effects of the virus. If Chairman Clyburn wants to probe state responses, he should begin by examining the efforts of New York, which alone has accounted for over 20 percent of our country's deaths from COVID-19."

Note: On July 29, 2020, Chairman Clyburn wrote the governors of Georgia, Florida, Oklahoma and Tennessee, highlighting state-wide mandates they have decided not to enact, asking them to produce all documents from the White House Task Force, and requesting detailed descriptions of all of the governors' past decisions and current plans to respond to the coronavirus within two weeks. Chairman Clyburn also wrote Vice President Mike Pence and Dr. Deborah Birx asking them to implement nationwide mandates and to provide guidance that has been privately provided to states.