WASHINGTON – Today, U.S. Senator Ben Cardin (D-Md.) released the following statement to commemorate Public Service Recognition Week, observed May 3rd to May 9th, 2020.
“During Public Service Recognition Week, I thank the millions of men and women who serve as federal, state, county and local government employees across the nation. Now more than ever, public servants are working on the front lines, often times potentially putting themselves at risk, to continue the daily operations of our society and provide critical rapid relief to this immense national crisis.
“At the federal level, workers at the Department of Treasury and Small Business Administration have taken on the responsibilities charged upon them by Congress through the CARES Act, distributing billions of dollars in stimulus payments to individuals and loans to small businesses. At the state level, workers of unemployment insurance agencies now face truly historic demands of their abilities as the unemployment rate approaches levels not seen since the end of the Second World War. And at the county and local levels, public servants are striving to ensure compliance with special quarantine orders and offering testing and other emergency services.
“The U.S. will undoubtedly overcome this pandemic; but, we must recognize that it would not happen without our public servants. I am especially proud to recognize Marylanders like Nancy Sullivan, Bethesda resident and employee at the National Institutes of Health, honored this year as a finalist for the Samuel J. Heyman Service to America Medals for developing a highly effective medical treatment for the deadly Ebola virus that ravaged Africa between 2014 and 2016. I have no doubt that the service of brave public servants will contribute similarly in finding a breakthrough for COVID-19.
“We owe so much to our nation’s public servants and that must not go forgotten once we emerge from this crisis. The men and women who make up our public service are fighting for us every day, just as they were before the COVID-19 pandemic, and just as they will be afterward.”
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