REP. RITCHIE TORRES TAKES ON FEDERAL MONKEYPOX RESPONSE & DEFENDING MARRIAGE EQUALITY

> GOOD EVENING.

WELCOME TO 'METROFOCUS.'

I'M JACK FORD.

RITCHIE TORES IS THE FIRST OPENING GAY AFRO-LATINO MEMBER OF CONGRESS.

HE IS TURNING UP THE PRESSURE ON TWO ISSUES IMPACTING NEW YORK'S LGBTQIA COMMUNITY, THE MONKEYPOX OUTBREAK AND MARRIAGE EQUALITY.

AS THE WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION DECLARES A GLOBAL HEALTH EMERGENCY AND THE CITY CONTENDS WITH VACCINE SHORTAGES AND CONCERNS ABOUT VACCINE EQUITY, THE CONGRESSMAN IS PUSHING TO INVESTIGATE THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT'S RESPONSE TO THE VIRUS, WHICH HE CALLED A PREVENTABLE PUBLIC HEALTH FAILURE THAT IGNORES THE NEETDN OF THE LGBTQIA COMMUNITY.

MOST WERE FOUND AMONG MEMBER WHO HAVE SEX WITH OTHER MEN, THOUGH ANYONE CAN GET THE VIRUS.

THE DEMOCRAT FINDS HIMSELF IN THE CENTER OF ANOTHER NATIONAL FLASHPOINT, PRESIDING OVER THE HOUSE VOTE TO PASS THE RESPECT FOR MARRIAGE ACT WHICH PROTECTS THE RIGHT TO MARRY REGARDLESS OF RACE AND SEX.

WE ARE DELIGHTED TO HAVE HIM JOIN US ONCE AGAIN HERE ON 'METROFOCUS.'

WELCOME.

GOOD TO SEE YOU.

ALWAYS A PLEASURE TO BE HERE.

LET'S START WITH YOUR CALL FOR AN INVESTIGATION INTO HOW THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT HAS HANDLED THE MONKEYPOX SCENARIO.

WHY DO YOU FEEL THAT THERE IS SUCH A NEED HERE, NOT JUST FOR CRITICISM, BUT ACTUALLY FOR AN INVESTIGATION INTO THE GOVERNMENT'S CONDUCT?

I FIND IT PROFOUNDLY DAS PO DISAPPOINTING THAT THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT HAS GONE THROUGH 2 1/2 YEARS OF COVID AND HAS LEARNED NOTHING.

FAILURE TO THE MONKEYPOX IS A POINT AT WHICH THE VIRUS BECOMES UNCONTAINABLE AND MONKEYPOX HAS BECOME WHERE IT'S IN DANGER OF ENTRENCHING ITSELF AS AN ENDEMIC VIRUS IN NEW YORK CITY.

IT HAS A DESTRUCTIVE IMPACT ON THE LGBTQ COMMUNITY.

WHAT IS MOST TRAGIC IS THAT IT WAS PREVENTABLE.

THE UNITED STATES HAD MORE THAN A MILLION MONKEYPOX VACCINES IN A PLANT IN DENMARK.

IT TOOK THE FDA TWO MONTHS TO INSPECT THE PHARMACEUTICAL PLANT AND APPROVE THE RELEASE OF THE VACCINES.

THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT, THE FDA ESSENTIALLY ALLOWED THE VIRUS TO SPREAD UNCONTAINED FOR TWO MONTHS WHILE AMERICAN CITIZENS WERE BEING INFECTED IN REAL TIME.

IT'S UNACCEPTABLE.

HAVE YOU GOTTEN ANY RESPONSE FROM THE FDA AS TO WHY THAT LAG IN TERMS OF THE INSPECTION AND THEN MAKING THE VACCINES AVAILABLE?

THE FDA CLAIMS THAT THE DELAY IN THE INSPECTION HAD NO IMPACT ON THE DISTRIBUTION OF THE VACCINES WHICH IS LAUGHABLE ON ITS FACE.

THERE'S NO ACCOUNTABLE.

THE FDA AND CDC CANNOT BE TRUSTED TO REFORM THEMSELVES.

I'M CALLING FOR AN INDEPENDENT INVESTIGATION BY THE GOVERNMENT ACCOUNTABILITY OFFICE.

WE HAVE TO IDENTIFY WHY AND HOW OUR PUBLIC HEALTH BUREAUCRACY IS SO BROKEN AND WHAT CAN BE DONE TO FIX IT.

ONE OF THE RESPONSES FROM THE CDC IS ESSENTIALLY THIS.

WE ARE STILL DEEPLY WITHIN THE COVID PANDEMIC.

WE HAVE ONLY SO MANY STAFF MEMBERS TO HANDLE THIS.

THEIR CLAIM WAS, WE TRIED TO MOVE AS MANY PEOPLE, SHIFT AS MANY PEOPLE FROM ONE DIFFICULT SCENARIO TO ANOTHER DIFFICULT SCENARIO, BUT WE ONLY HAVE SO MANY PEOPLE HERE.

WHAT'S YOUR RESPONSE TO THAT?

CAN YOU IMAGINE THE FIRE DEPARTMENT SAYING, WE CAN ONLY HANDLE ONE FIRE AT A TIME?

IT'S ABSURD.

MONKEYPOX WAS MORE CONTAINABLE THAN COVID.

COVID IS A RESPIRATORY VIRUS THAT SPREADS RAPIDLY AND WIDELY THROUGHOUT THE POPULATION.

AT THE BEGINNING OF THE GLOBAL PANDEMIC, THERE WAS VIRTUALLY NO COVID TESTING.

NO COVID VACCINES.

THERE WAS NO MEANS OF CONTAINING THE VIRUS.

MONKEYPOX IS DIFFERENT.

THERE IS MONKEYPOX TESTING.

THERE ARE MONKEYPOX VACCINES.

WE HAVE THE TOOLS TO CONTAIN THE OUTBREAK.

WHAT WAS LACKING WAS THE COMPETENCE AND THE POLITICAL WILL OF OUR PUBLIC HEALTH BUREAUCRACY.

YOU HAVE TALKED ABOUT THAT THE DELAY IN TERMS OF THE GOVERNMENT'S RESPONSE TO THIS.

ARE YOU SEEING THE GOVERNMENT MAKING OR HAVING ANY SUCCESS, A BETTER WAY TO PUT IT, IN CATCHING UP, IN GETTING PAST THAT DELAY AND STARTING NOW TO HANDLE THIS IN A MUCH MORE EFFICIENT FASHION?

THERE'S CERTAINLY BEEN AN IMPROVEMENT IN THE GOVERNMENT'S RESPONSE.

BUT THE BAR WAS LOW.

WE WENT FROM THE GOVERNMENT DOING ESSENTIALLY NOTHING OR TOO LITTLE TO TREATING THE SITUATION WITH SOME URGENCY.

BUT IT'S TOO LITTLE TOO LATE.

THE VIRUS HAS ENTRENCHED ITSELF IN NEW YORK CITY.

IT HAS BEEN DESCRIBED BY THE FORMER DEPUTY COMMISSIONER OF THE DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH IN NEW YORK CITY AS A SEXUALLY TRANSMITTED INFECTION, THAT IT HAS BECOME AN ENTRENCHED STD IN NEW YORK CITY.

IT COULD HAVE BEEN PREVENTED BY A MORE RAPID RESPONSE ON THE PART OF THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT.

LET'S SHIFT OUR FOCUS TO STATE AND LOCAL GOVERNMENTS.

HOW DO YOU FEEL THAT THE CITY, UNDER MAYOR ADAMS AND THE STATE UNDER GOVERNOR HOCHUL, HAVE DONE IN TERMS OF THEIR EFFORTS TO COMBAT THE MONKEYPOX SCENARIO.

THERE'S BEEN FAILURE AT EVERY LEVEL, INCLUDING THE STATE AND LOCAL LEVEL.

AT THE LOCAL LEVEL, THE ONLINE SYSTEM FOR SCHEDULING WAS A DEB DEBACLE.

THE HANDS OF SCITY GOVERNMENT I TIED.

THERE'S NO VACCINES.

THERE'S A LIMIT TO WHAT STATE AND LOCAL GOVERNMENT CAN DO.

THE BURDEN FALLS ON THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT TO ENSURE THAT THERE'S A SUFFICIENT STOCKPILE OF DIAGNOSTICS, THEY ARERAPEUTID V VACCINES THAT CAN BE DEPLOYED.

YOU ARE ARE A GROUP OF 50 HOUSE DEMOCRATS WHO ISSUED A LETTER TO THE PRESIDENT ASKING HIM TO ALSO DECLARE HERE IN THE U.S. A PUBLIC HEALTH EMERGENCY.

I GOT TWO QUESTIONS ABOUT THAT.

FIRST IS, HAVE YOU GOTTEN ANY RESPO RESPONSE?

SECONDLY, WHAT WOULD THAT MEAN?

IF SUCH A DECLARATION WAS MADE IN TERMS OF OUR EFFORTS TO COMBAT THIS.

IT'S NOTING THAT THE WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION HAS DECLARED MONKEYPOX A PUBLIC HEALTH EMERGENCY.

IT'S ONLY NATURAL FOR THE CDC TO FOLLOW SUIT AND DO THE SAME.

A DECLARATION OF PUBLIC HEALTH EMERGENCY WOULD MEAN A GREATER ABILITY TO RESPOND RAPIDLY TO THE OUTBREAK.

IT WOULD MEAN MORE EMERGENCY POWERS, BECAUSE WE CANNOT ALLOW THE VIRUS TO KEEP SPREADING.

IT'S HAVING A DEVASTATING IMPACT, PARTICULARLY ON THE LGBTQ COMMUNITY, ON MEN WHO HAVE SEX WITH MEN, IN PLACES LIKE NEW YORK CITY.

IT HAS BEEN PROFOUNDLY TRAUMATIC.

IT'S REMINISCENCE OF THE RESPONSE IN THE 1980s.

DURING THE 1980s, THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT DID TOO LITTLE WHILE THOUSANDS OF GAY MEN WERE BEING INFECTED BY HIV.

FLASH FORWARD MORE THAN FOUR DECADES IN 2022, THE GOVERNMENT IS DOING TOO LITTLE WHILE THOUSANDS OF GAY MEN HAVE BEEN INFECTED OR ARE IN DANGER OF BECOMING INFECTED WITH MONKEYPOX.

WE ARE RELIVING AN UGLY MOMENT OF HISTORY.

WHAT DO YOU THINK NEEDS TO BE DONE?

WHAT DO YOU THINK NEEDS TO BE DONE TO MAKE SURE THAT WE DON'T FULLY RELIVE THESE UGLY MOMENTS IN HISTORY AND THAT THERE IS, INDEED, HEEQUITABLE DISTRIBUTIO OF THE VACCINE TO THAT COMMUNITY?

THERE ARE TWO KEYS TO CONTAINMENT.

TESTING.

WE NEED TO KNOW WHO HAS MONK MONKEYPOX.

AND VACCINES.

WE FLENEED TO PROTECT PEOPLE.

WE HAVE BOTH.

WE KNOW WHAT THE POPULATION IS.

LET ME SHIFT OUR FOCUS.

THE OTHER ISSUE I MENTIONED IN THE INTRODUCTION, THAT WAS YOUR ROLE IN CHAIRING THE RECENT VOTE, THE PASSAGE IN THE HOUSE OF THE RESPECT FOR MARRIAGE ACT.

QUICK CONTEXT HERE.

GIVE US A SENSE THE IMPORTANT ELEMENTS OF THAT AND THE PROTECTIONS IT WOULD PROVIDE ASSUMING -- I WILL GET TO THAT QUESTION SEPARATELY IN A MOMENT.

ASSUMING IT GETS PAST THE SENATE AND SIGNED BY THE PRESIDENT.

THE RESPECT FOR MARRIAGE ACT PROTECTS THE RIGHT TO MARRIAGE.

BOTH INTERRACIAL AND SAME-SEX COUPLES.

IT WOULD PROTECT THEM FROM DISCRIMINATION UNDER FEDERAL LAW.

THERE IS PRESENTLY CONSTITUTIONAL PROTECTION FOR INTERRACIAL COUPLES AND SAME-SEX COUPLES BUT NO STATUTORY PROTECTION.

HISTORY TELLS US THAT THERE SHOULD BE ADDED LAYERS OF PROTECTION.

WHEN THE SUPREME COURT STRUCK DOWN ROE V. WADE AND STRUCK DOWN REPRODUCTIVE RIGHTS, THERE WAS NO STATUTORY PROTECTION THAT PROVIDED AN ADDED LAYER OF PROTECTION.

SO WE WANT TO ENSURE THAT THERE IS ADDITIONAL PROTECTION FOR THE RIGHT TO MARRIAGE, WHICH IS TOO FUNDAMENTAL TO BE STRIPPED AWAY.

SOME OF THOSE WHO HAVE SAID, WE ARE NOT OPPOSED TO THE NOTION OF THIS BILL, BUT WE DON'T -- MANY OF THESE ARE ON THE OPPOSITE SIDE OF THE AISLE, THE REPUBLICAN SIDE, THEY SAID WE DON'T FEEL IT'S NECESSARY.

THEY POINTED TO SOMETHING AKIN TO WHAT YOU SAID.

THEY SAID, THE -- THE SUPREME COURT PROTECTED THESE RIGHTS.

THEY HAVE SAID, ALTHOUGH, AS YOU KNOW, IN A CONCURRING OPINION, JUSTICE CLARENCE THOMAS SAID THAT -- AT HIS URGING, THE SUPREME COURT SHOULD RE-VISIT THESE ISSUES BASED UPON THEIR DECISION IN THE DODDS CASE THAT OVERTURNED ROE V. WADE.

OTHERS SAID THAT MIGHT BE HIS OPINION.

BUT THE OPINION ITSELF OF THE COURT APPEARED TO SAY, WELL, WE ARE NOT -- THIS OPINION SHOULD NOT BE HELD TO IMPACT IN ANY WAY THOSE ISSUES.

WHAT WOULD YOU SAY TO THOSE WHO HAVE SAID, WE DON'T NEED THIS?

THIS IS STILL GOOD LAW.

STILL CONSTITUTIONALLY PROTECTED LAW ACCORDING TO THE SUPREME COURT.

WHAT WOULD YOUR RESPONSE BE?

WE WERE REASSURED THAT ROE V.

WADE WAS SETTLED LAW.

IT IS SETTLED UNTIL IT IS UNSETTLED.

WE HAVE A SUPREME COURT WILLING TO UNSETTLE THAT.

FOOL ME ONCE, SHAME ON YOU.

FOOL ME TWICE, SHAME ON ME.

WE HAVE NO CHOICE BUT TO PREPARE FOR THE WORST.

JUSTICE CLARENCE THOMAS ANNOUNCED TO THE WORLD THAT HE IS ON A MISSION TO OVERTURN SUBSTANTIVE DUE PROCESS WHICH FORMS THE FOUNDATION FOR PRIVACY AND PERSONAL FREEDOM IN AMERICA.

THE RIGHT TO MARRIAGE IN AMERICA.

SO IF THE SUPREME COURT MOVES IN THE WRONG DIRECTION, IN THE DIRECTION THAT JUSTICE THOMAS IS ADVOCATING, THEN WE HAVE TO ENSURE THAT THERE IS AN ADDED LAYER OF PROTECTION FORF FUNDAMENTAL RIGHT TO MARRIAGE.

LOOKING AHEAD, THIS BILL WILL MOVE TO THE SENATE, AND IT PASSED IN THE HOUSE WITH SOME BIPARTISAN SUPPORT.

THERE WAS A SIGNIFICANT NUMBER OF REPUBLICANS WHO JOINED IN.

WHAT WOULD YOUR ANTICIPATION BE IN TERMS OF HOW THIS BILL WILL FARE IN THE SENATE?

I'M CAUTIOUSLY OPTIMISTIC.

THE MAGIC NUMBER IS 60.

ALL R50 DEMOCRATS ARE COMMITTED TO VOTING FOR THE RESPECT FOR MARRIAGE ACT THERE ARE FIVE REPUBLICANS WHO ARE LIKELY TO VOTE FOR THE ACT.

THERE ARE 37 REPUBLICANS WHO HAVE NOT YET TAKEN A FIRM POSITION.

OF THE 37, WE ONLY NEED FIVE OF THOSE REPUBLICANS TO OVERCOME THE FILIBUSTER AND ENTRENCH MARRIAGE EQUALITY IN LAW.

EVEN THOUGH WASHINGTON, D.C. IS A PLACE THAT OFTEN DISAPPOINTS, EVERY NOW AND THEN THERE ARE PLEASANT SURPRISES.

I'M HOPEFUL ONE OF THOSE WILL BE THE PASSAGE OF MARRIAGE EQUALITY ON A BIPARTISAN BASIS IN THE UNITED STATES SENATE.

WE HAVE A MINUTE LEFT HERE.

I'M CURIOUS ABOUT YOUR PERSONAL FEELINGS.

I WAS WATCHING THE NEWSCAST.

THEY WERE TALKING ABOUT THE PASSAGE OF THIS ACT.

THE SHOT SHOWED YOU PRESIDING.

YOU HAVE BEEN A FRIEND OF 'METROFOCUS' FOR MANY YEARS NOW.

WE HAVE HAD MANY CONVERSATIONS WITH YOU.

GIVEN YOUR OWN PERSONAL STORY AND YOUR PERSONAL HISTORY, WHAT DID IT MEAN TO YOU TO BE THE ONE AT THE DIAS PRESIDING OVER THAT?

I GREW UP IN THE BRONX.

I SPENT MORE THAN HALF MY LIFE IN THE CLOSET.

I NEVER DREAMED OF BECOMING A MEMBER OF CONGRESS PRESIDING OVER THE VOTE FOR MARRIAGE EQUALITY.

IT WAS AN EMPOWERING EXPERIENCE FOR ME AS A GAY MAN WHO WANTS NOTHING MORE THAN EQUAL PROTECTION UNDER THE LAW.

WE APPRECIATE IT WHEN YOU JOIN US HERE.

WE CAN ENGAGE IN THESE CONVERSATIONS.

CERTAINLY, THEY ARE IMPORTANT.

WE WILL CONTINUE TO CONVERSE WITH YOU ABOUT THESE ISSUES AS WE MOVE FORWARD.

THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR SPENDING TIME WITH US.

YOU STAY WELL.

ALWAYS A PLEASURE.

TAKE CARE.