Coronavirus Response: Lawmakers Want Trump To Order GM To Reopen White Marsh Plant To Make Ventilators
WASHINGTON (WJZ) -- Maryland's Democratic lawmakers in Washington are calling on President Donald Trump to order General Motors to reopen its plant in White Marsh to produce ventilators amid the coronavirus pandemic.
In a letter to the president Tuesday, Sens. Chris Van Hollen and Ben Cardin and Reps. Dutch Ruppersberger, Jamie Raskin, David Trone, John Sarbanes, Anthony Brown and Steny Hoyer all urged Trump to use the Defense Production Act to force GM to reopen the plant.
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The letter reads in part:
"On April 8, GM received a contract to build 30,000 ventilators under the Defense Production Act. It is unfortunate that the Defense Production Act was not invoked months ago so that these ventilators could be rolling off the line now, since COVID-19 has been a public health emergency since the end of January. Maryland now has over 13,000 confirmed cases of COVID-19, as of April 20. As numbers continue to rise across the state and region, reopening the White Marsh plant will put high-skilled workers back to work and ensure that ventilators will be available and easily accessible in an area with multiple hotspots."
READ MORE: Baltimore GM Plant To Close On May 3
The lawmakers also sent a letter to GM Chairwoman Mary Barra asking her to reopen the plant, which closed nearly a year ago.
For the latest information on coronavirus go to the Maryland Health Department's website or call 211. You can find all of WJZ's coverage on coronavirus in Maryland here.
