Submitted by Patrick Cassidy.
(February 22, 2021) Rep. Joe Courtney (CT-02) re-introduced the Workplace Violence Prevention for Health Care and Social Service Workers Act—a bill to curb rising rates of workplace violence against health care and social service workers, which has grown worse during COVID-19. Click here to read more.
On Sunday, the Minneapolis Star Tribune Editorial Board published an article calling on members of the Minnesota Congressional delegation to support Rep. Courtney’s bill, and for Congress to pass it once and for all. The editorial comes following the deadly shooting that took place at a Minnesota health care clinic on February 9th. I’ve included the full piece below.
The editorial tells in-part the story of Gene Sausse—a small business owner from Louisiana whose family was impacted by workplace violence when his sister, Lynne Sausse Truxillo, was fatally attacked while working as a nurse at a Baton Rouge hospital in April 2019. Rep. Courtney wrote about meeting Mr. Sausse in a January 2020 op-ed for Modern Healthcare—click here to read.
Courtney introduced a similar bill in the 116th Congress—it passed the House with bipartisan support, but wasn’t voted on in the Senate. Upon re-introduction yesterday, Courtney’s bill was co-sponsored by a bipartisan coalition including Rep. Bobby Scott (D-VA), Chairman of the House Education & Labor Committee, Rep. Don Bacon (R-NE), Rep. Alma Adams (D-NC), Rep. Don Young (R-AK), Rep. Ro Khanna (D-CA), Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick (R-PA), and Rep. Tom Cole (R-OK).
[To] read the Minneapolis Star Tribune’s endorsement of Rep. Courtney’s bill: click here
