FALL RIVER — U.S. Sen. Ed Markey had harsh words for President Donald Trump’s administration handling of the Covid-19 pandemic, but high praise for local companies like Merrow Manufacturing for stepping up when the country is in a time of crisis.
Markey visited Merrow Manufacturing on Friday as part of his re-election campaign against Democratic primary challenger Congressman Joe Kennedy III.
“A lot of the leadership that we need in the country is coming from Fall River. The example that needs to be set in terms of how we are going to navigate through this pandemic that is causing, simultaneously an economic crisis in our country,” said Markey. “When we look back in our history in times of trials – wars, natural disaster and even pandemics, the people stem the tides. Not Wall Street CEOs, but the people of Fall River, the people of our country.”
Since March and when the pandemic took hold of the region and the country, Merrow retooled its manufacturing to making PPE, creating 300,000 gowns a week, according to the company’s CEO, Charlie Merrow, and it is now are poised to manufacture PPE for children.
As a dozen Merrow workers looked on, Markey said that during the pandemic, American workers showed up, putting their safety on the line to provide local communities and hospitals with lifesaving equipment.
“And we owe Merrow Manufacturing a debt of gratitude,” said Markey. “And we owe these workers the reassurance that they will be able to keep their jobs through the economic downturn.”
Markey said that though the Paycheck Protection Program “was far from perfect,” as a member of the Senate Small Business Committee, he was proud that he helped create a program that helped over 100,000 Massachusetts small businesses in the last four months.
Turning his focus on the Trump administration and noting that Fall River has 10,000 students; Markey said it’s hard to determine which of his cabinet secretaries “is the worse cabinet secretary.”
“But in my opinion at the top of the list is the Secretary of Education, Betsy DeVos,” said Markey. “Betsy DeVos is saying all the children in America should be back in school.”
Markey said that he will return to Washington next week and he “will be fighting for the people of Fall River.”
“I will be fighting to make sure we have $175 billion for education for K through 12 in our country,” said Markey. “All of these city workers, all of the people on the frontline are heroes, but heroes need help.”
“A vision without funding is a hallucination.”
As well, Markey said that he will be fighting for the passage of $1 trillion to go back to aid the country’s states for the cities and the towns.
“So that the resources are there and people get the help which they need,” said Markey.
He blasted U.S. Sen. Mitch McConnell when asked if the federal government give financial help to cities and towns and his response was they should consider declaring bankrupt.
“That is not an answer when people need help, when the resources are not there,” said Markey.
He called it “inexcusable” that the federal government isn’t extending the added unemployment benefit of $600 a week which is set to expire on July 31.
Markey accused Trump of being “anti-science” in his handling of the COVID-19 crisis and most recently his order to shift control of COVID-19 data away from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to the Department of Health and Human Services.
“This president is allergic to science. What he’s trying to do is not letting the CDC get the information they need about cities and towns because he’s engaging in a cover-up, that’s what he’d trying to do,” said Markey. “And by the way it’s no different of these pardons like Roger Stone and backdoor pardons for General Flynn. It’s just an effort to protect his administration from the reality of what is happening here.”
Earlier Markey had discussed Fall River’s need for help funding its multi-million CSO project mandated by the federal government with city leaders.
“On the day that Joe Biden is sworn in as president that is the day that a Democratic House and Senate will be putting together a $2 trillion infrastructure package which will include funding for the CSO in Fall River and all the rest of the communities in our country because they will need funding and it will create jobs immediately which is what we are going to need.”
Email Jo C. Goode at jgoode@heraldnews.com