WASHINGTON—U.S. Senator Chris Murphy (D-Conn.), a member of the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee and U.S. Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, on Wednesday called on the U.S. government to contribute at least $500 million toward the United Nation’s interagency emergency appeal for $2 billion in humanitarian aid to fight COVID-19 around the world:

“The coronavirus knows no borders and we must be taking decisive steps both in the United States and abroad to halt its spread. The prospect of COVID-19 infecting displaced people— many of whom come from war-torn, fragile and poor countries with little-to-no health care infrastructure in place—is a nightmare that will extend the COVID-19 crisis even if we flatten the curve here. Helping fulfill the $2 billion request from the United Nations is essential to addressing the immediate needs of displaced populations and preventing new outbreaks from threatening the entire global community. That’s why I am asking my Senate colleagues to join me in a letter calling on Secretary Pompeo to designate $500 million in funding for UN agencies and humanitarian partners. The Trump administration has completely botched the response to coronavirus at home and Americans are paying the price for it. But it’s not too late to help our international partners protect vulnerable people and reduce the global danger of this pandemic,” said Murphy.

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