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May 20, 2020

Congressman David Trone Hosts Conversation with Former HHS Secretary Sylvia Burwell on Impacts of COVID-19 on Health and Higher Education

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: Hannah Muldavin, Hannah.Muldavin@mail.house.gov 

 

Congressman David Trone Hosts Conversation with Former HHS Secretary Sylvia Burwell on Impacts of COVID-19 on Health and Higher Education 

 

WASHINGTON, DC – Today, Congressman David Trone (MD-06) hosted a conversation about our nation’s health and higher education systems amid the COVID-19 global pandemic with President of American University and former U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services Sylvia Burwell. 

The conversation is the third in a new series hosted by Trone called Candid COVID Conversations, which will feature periodic discussions covering some of the most pressing issues during the COVID-19 pandemic. He has previously held conversations on mental health with Congressman Joe Kennedy III (MA-04) and children’s health and wellbeing with Congresswoman Kim Schrier (WA-08).

 

You can watch the conversation here

 

“The health and economic fallout due to the COVID-19 pandemic has changed our way of life, and there are few people who have more leadership and experience on these topics than Sylvia Burwell,” said Congressman David Trone. “I was honored to speak with President Burwell about her experience leading the nation’s response to the Ebola and Zika outbreaks, and what our public health and institutions of higher education need to do in order to adapt to the changing landscape after COVID-19.”

 

President Burwell has served as the President of American University since 2017. Prior to this, she held two cabinet positions in the United States government, including U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services and director of the Office of Management and Budget under President Barack Obama. She also served in leadership positions for the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and the Walmart Foundation. 

 

In the conversation, the duo discussed the importance of testing and contact tracing, the development of a vaccine for COVID-19, and how to address the hardships faced by college students and institutions of higher education during the COVID-19 pandemic, including mental health care and access to high-speed broadband.

 

Congressman David Trone was elected to the House of Representatives in November 2018 to serve the 6th District of Maryland, which includes all or part of Montgomery, Frederick, Washington, Allegany, and Garrett Counties. Trone serves on the Education and Labor, Foreign Affairs, and Joint Economic Committees, where he is fighting to make progress on issues that matter to Marylanders, including the opioid epidemic, criminal justice reform, and funding for medical research. 

 

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