Warren renews call for COVID-19 Victims Memorial Day, passage of resolution

U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Massachusetts. renewed calls on Monday for a national day to honor the lives taken by COVID-19.

In a post on X, formerly known as Twitter, Warren urged Congress to pass a resolution to designate the first Monday of March as “COVID-19 Victims Memorial Day.”

“Over a million Americans have died due to COVID-19—including many family members & loved ones,” she wrote. “We must honor & remember the lives lost. @SenMarkey & I are pushing to designate today—the first Monday in March—as COVID-19 Victims Memorial Day. Congress should pass this resolution.”

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Warren and fellow Democratic Massachusetts Sen. Ed Markey introduced the resolution in August 2021. It was reintroduced on March 6, 2023. 

“This resolution recognizes our nation’s immeasurable mourning and serves as a reminder for Congress to renew its commitment to protecting communities from this ongoing public health crisis,” Markey said in a statement last year. 

The United States has experienced more than 100 million COVID cases with more than 1.1 million deaths related to the virus. 

The resolution states that the pandemic “had a disproportionate impact on low-income communities and communities of color, individuals with disabilities, individuals with weakened immune systems, individuals with other risk factors, such as physical or mental comorbidities, and individuals living in congregate settings, such as long-term care facilities and prisons.”

Thr resolution was referred to the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions last year but no action has been taken on it since.