R 013
2021 -- H 5045
Enacted 01/21/2021

H O U S E   R E S O L U T I O N
RECOGNIZING THE 400,000 AMERICANS AND OVER 2,000 RHODE ISLANDERS WHO HAVE LOST THEIR LIVES TO COVID-19

Introduced By: Representatives Cortvriend, Blazejewski, Filippi, Ruggiero, McGaw, Morales, C Lima, Tanzi, Kazarian, and Craven

Date Introduced: January 21, 2021

     WHEREAS, Our nation has reached a grave point in our history as the death toll from
COVID-19 has surpassed 400,000 Americans including more than 2000 Rhode Islanders; and
     WHEREAS, The Presidential Inaugural Committee hosted a lighting ceremony at the
Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool on the afternoon of January 19, 2021, a day ahead of
President-elect Biden’s inauguration-in ceremony and encouraged communities across the
country to mark the moment; and
     WHEREAS, The rapid spread of the virus, the scope of its impact, and the mitigation
through “social distancing” has prevented families and communities from having the opportunity
to grieve, remember, and mourn those lives taken by this disease; and
     WHEREAS, So many Rhode Islanders are grieving the loss of family, friends, and
neighbors and the mourning process has been delayed, inhibited, and distorted in ways that have
left us as individuals and as a community with unresolved grief that will affect us for years to
come; and
     WHEREAS, The pandemic has also exposed longstanding inequalities that make racial
minorities and economically disadvantaged groups more vulnerable to COVID-19 and numerous
other diseases. Frontline workers who care for our sick and elderly, pack our groceries, and serve
our food, along with the homeless and our non-English speaking residents are the people who
need our attention most as we work to prevent more deaths from COVID-19; and
     WHERAS, It is important that we honor those who have died and reflect on what has
been one of the more challenging periods in our nation’s history; now, therefore be it
     RESOLVED, That this House of Representatives of the State of Rhode Island hereby
stands together in shared grief with all Americans. We moreover rise to observe two minutes of
silence in remembrance of the 2000 Rhode Island souls we have lost, and acknowledge the
marginalized communities that have been disproportionately burdened by COVID-19 and renew
our commitment to coming together to end the pandemic and to rebuild our state and country.
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