WASHINGTON — Consultant Max Rose, a freshman Democrat from New York, introduced on Tuesday that he would deploy with the Nationwide Guard on Wednes
WASHINGTON — Consultant Max Rose, a freshman Democrat from New York, introduced on Tuesday that he would deploy with the Nationwide Guard on Wednesday to help the hard-hit metropolis’s coronavirus response efforts, making him the primary member of Congress to take action.
Mr. Rose, a captain within the Military Nationwide Guard and adorned fight veteran in Afghanistan who represents Staten Island and components of southern Brooklyn, mentioned he selected to deploy to “do my small half” to fight the pandemic, and would assist arrange area hospitals in Staten Island and different components of New York.
With Congress in recess and members working remotely from their districts, Mr. Rose mentioned he believed the severity of the state of affairs in New York required him to take a extra a hands-on function reasonably than attending to the seemingly limitless string of convention calls, together with city halls, and different socially distanced actions that now fill lawmakers’ days.
“I do see this as a chance to serve New York Metropolis and my group, and to serve on the bottom from an operational perspective,” Mr. Rose mentioned in an interview on Tuesday. “That is about working day-to-day to verify we will face up to and climate this surge.”
Recognized within the halls of the Capitol as a swaggering (and sometimes profane) straight shooter, Mr. Rose ousted a Republican incumbent in 2018 in a district President Trump won by nearly 10 points, after a campaign built on his knack for retail politics and fund-raising prowess. His military background — he earned a Purple Heart and Bronze Star after he suffered injuries when his vehicle hit a roadside bomb in Afghanistan in 2013 — was a crucial piece of his biography that helped power his bid.
Mr. Rose rallied his colleagues to call on President Trump earlier this month to send the Navy hospital ship U.S.N.S. Comfort to New York to help relieve New York’s overwhelmed hospitals. Now, he has decided to become more personally involved in the response effort to a virus that has taken a grim toll on his district and others throughout the state.
In the interview, Mr. Rose cited a recent trip to the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center in New York, which the National Guard helped turn into a makeshift hospital, as an example of the key role the reserve force can play in the crisis.
The National Guard in New York has activated over 2,000 personnel to help mitigate the spread of the virus, dispatching medics and technicians to establish and administer testing sites and troops to set up field hospitals.
Members of Congress are currently working from home and are not expected to return to Washington before April 20. Mr. Rose said on Tuesday that he would be able to return to the House and vote on legislation if needed, and noted that staff aides in his office would continue to assist his constituents and take on their casework.
“People are living in fear each and every day,” he said. “There is a fierce sense of urgency around this crisis. It is a fight that will define this generation.”
Nearly half a dozen other members of the House still serve in the National Guard. Representative Adam Kinzinger, Republican of Illinois, was activated last year for a two-week deployment conducting aerial surveillance over the southern border.
“It literally does pale in comparison to what our medical professions do every day,” Mr. Rose said. “I am just trying to do my duty and my small part.”