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Editorial
Congressman Weber, when The Examiner first endorsed you, a resident of Friendswood, for the 14th Congressional District, it was with the belief of a promise you made that you would always put the affairs and wellbeing of residents in Jefferson County front and center. It was your commitment and promise that you would be here for us, not just in the good times, but also the bad.
Congressman Weber, you have let us down. In a time where the health, and certainly the wellbeing,
of your constituents in Jefferson County is in peril with a lack of resources to fight this war against COVID-19, you, sir, have been playing politics.
On March 18, the very first case was reported in Jefferson County. Just four months later, with over 3,500 positive cases and hundreds in our hospitals, on many days with no available Intensive Care Unit (ICU) beds, you’re still MIA.
We have a continuous shortage of convalescent plasma and remdesivir, a life-saving drug with limited supply you did nothing to help us secure. Months ago, when The Examiner asked you to help our hospitals source the drug, you did nothing while the federal government controls the supply, and many other states had more remdesivir than they needed.
When our frontline doctors tasked with treating COVID patients were literally begging for remdesivir and convalescent plasma, on the July 4 weekend, you were in Washington locking step with those who denied the science of COVID-19; and, instead of lobbying for the much-needed medicine for your district, you were huddled with hundreds mask-less on the lawn of the White House watching fireworks.
Without intervention from you, our Congressman, doctors’ hands are tied on treatment from the
global pandemic that has claimed the lives of Southeast Texans while you sit on the sidelines. You continue to challenge the legitimacy of a disease we can visibly see claim the very mortality of our friends and loved ones.
Congressman, instead of listening to science and medical professionals, do you believe the rhetoric that this deadly pandemic was a “hoax” and comparable to nothing more than what we see during flu season? Your actions, or lack thereof, seem to answer “yes.”
Our doctors and nurses are over worked and our hospitals are on the verge of being completely overwhelmed with an influx of new COVID-19 patients. Your contribution has been to wish the nurses a “Happy Nurses Week” on your Facebook page.
While parents and teachers are worried our children will be forced to attend schools in a rush to follow an agenda that puts the economy ahead of our children’s safety, you send out a survey which amounted to nothing more than a political push poll asking our donors to complete a survey.
Jefferson County has not seen you, Congressman, since this pandemic began and we have not seen you working for our wellbeing.
Where have you been?
That, Congressman, is not leadership. That is not fulfilling the promise you made to Jefferson County when you were campaigning.
We need you to fight for resources so Jefferson County can be safe again. We need you to
stand with the scientific and medical community and fight for us in Washington for much-needed medicine and supplies. We need leadership.
You recently made a statement about some of your counterparts in Congress; “We have a job to
do: why won’t they show up?”
We are asking you Congressman Weber, you have a job to do, why won’t you show up?