Bernie Sanders calls for expanded benefits, national emergency declaration

Sen. Bernard Sanders of Vermont on Thursday called on President Trump to declare a national emergency amid the coronavirus outbreak and said the federal government needs to make clear that people will have free access to health care and an eventual vaccine.

“While we work to pass a Medicare for All, single-payer system, the United States government today must make it clear that in the midst of this emergency, everyone in our country, regardless of income or where they live, must be able to get all of the health care they need without cost,” Mr. Sanders said in a speech in Burlington, Vermont.

Mr. Sanders also called for emergency funding for paid leave and an expansion of community health centers.

“The government must respond aggressively to make certain that we, in fact, have the latest and most effective tests available and the quickest means of processing those tests,” he said.

He said the ongoing crisis is on the scale of a “major war.”

“The number of casualties may actually be even higher than what the armed forces experienced in World War II,” he said.

“We are all in this together,” said Mr. Sanders, a top contender for the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination. “Now is the time for solidarity.”

He also said Congress should try to take the lead on the issue amid what he described as a lackluster response from Mr. Trump’s administration.

“Because President Trump is unwilling [and] unable to lead selflessly, we must immediately convene an emergency, bipartisan authority of experts to support and direct a response that is comprehensive, compassionate, and based first and foremost on science and fact,” he said.

“In other words, Congress, in a bipartisan manner, must take responsibility for addressing this unparalleled crisis,” he continued.

Mr. Sanders also called for emergency unemployment assistance to anyone who loses their job through no fault of their own, and for people who depend on tips and “gig” workers to be eligible for unemployment benefits.

He said there should be an “immediate moratorium” on evictions, foreclosures, and utility shut-offs amid the escalating crisis.

He also called to expand federally-funded programs that provide meals to the elderly and children, as well as food stamp benefits.

Mr. Sanders spoke shortly after former Vice President Joseph R. Biden, the current front-runner for the Democratic presidential nomination, laid out his own proposal to deal with the coronavirus outbreak earlier in the afternoon.

The Trump campaign responded by saying that Mr. Sanders’ government-run health care system would drive doctors away from the profession and that the senator is “trying to score political points by recklessly provoking anxiety and fear.”