Democratic Senators Push National Mask Mandate | Eastern North Carolina Now

Publisher's Note: This post appears here courtesy of the John Locke Foundation. The author of this post is Mitch Kokai.

    Nicholas Ballasy reports at JustTheNews.com that some Democratic U.S. senators want the latest federal COVID-19 relief package to include a new nationwide restriction.

• Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) and Sen. Ed Markey (D-Mass.) want to see a "mask-wearing mandate" as part of the next coronavirus relief package that Congress passes.
• "Our goal is going to be, you know, to work towards including it inside of the coronavirus relief package," Markey said during a news conference on Friday about the Encouraging Masks for All Act. "We think this is kind of common sense."
• Congressional leaders and the White House are currently negotiating another coronavirus relief bill.
• "Making this mask-wearing mandate a part of that pandemic relief is an imperative; it's a moral imperative," Blumenthal said at the news conference.
• "And frankly, a political imperative," he added, "because the solution to this pandemic requires a comprehensive strategy, including mask-wearing, physical distancing, hand-washing, even as we move into a stage in addressing the pandemic that will enable more and more people to have vaccine. But this pandemic relief package is a good down payment. It's a next step, and the mask-wearing mandate should be a part of it."
• According to Markey's office, the Encouraging Masks for All Act would "encourage states to require the use of face masks in all public spaces and outside when one cannot maintain social distance."
• The bill, which requires mask-wearing on federal property, includes an additional $5 billion for the Public Health and Social Services Emergency Fund that would be made available to the states that "implement masking requirements."
• It also includes $75 million for "grants to states for promotion of universal mask wearing."
• The senators were asked for their response to Americans who argue that it's their constitutional right not to wear a mask. ...
• ... Markey and Blumenthal said there is no expiration date for the mask-wearing requirements in their legislation.