Sen. Ron Wyden addressed constituents' questions at a town hall held at Tigard High School's Deb Fennell Auditorium in Tigard, Ore., on Sunday, Jan. 1, 2020. Wyden spoke about topics ranging from health care to the conflicts with Iran.
Donald Orr / OPB
When asked if the country is doing enough to prevent the spread of the novel coronavirus, Oregon Sen. Ron Wyden immediately has an answer: “No.”
“The president always talks about how he makes us number one, but we lag behind a host of countries in testing,” he told OPB "Weekend Edition" host John Notarianni this weekend.
Sen. Wyden said he’s heard concerns from people across the state about virus testing in Oregon, which lags far behind neighboring states like Washington and California.
“This is what people are talking about, what consumes their thinking,” he said.
“I was at the Veterans’ Administration and they made it clear they could do more testing at the VA if the federal government helped a little bit, to get the testing off the ground,” he added.
The greatest hope for universal free testing rests in an emergency appropriations bill passed by the House of Representatives on Saturday. The legislation aims to address things like emergency paid sick leave, unemployment benefits and food assistance.
“It’s so important,” Wyden said. “Folks are being laid off, they have sick ones at home.”
Wyden said he hopes to vote on the bill as soon as possible once the Senate reconvenes Monday.
When will average people see the legislation’s effects in their daily lives?
“I hope they will see benefits next week,” he said. “That’s my goal, this is priority business.”