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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,

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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