Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) is looking to hold back funding from states who refuse to mandate masks to help combat the coronavirus pandemic.

“Wearing masks in public should be mandatory. Period,” Feinstein declared in a statement released on Thursday.

The California Democrat announced her intentions to offer an amendment that would withhold federal assistance payments to states who do not want to implement mask requirements.

Citing 41 states seeing an uptick in coronavirus cases and 60,000 cases in the U.S. in the past five of the last six days, Feinstein said, “We’re failing to control this virus and it’s time for serious action.”

She then noted U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director Robert Redfield’s recent comments suggesting if people wear a mask he believes “over the next four, six, eight weeks we could bring this epidemic under control,” as IJR reported.

While many states have taken steps to mandate masks, not all of them have. However, some businesses, such as Walmart and Target, have now mandated it across all of their stores in the U.S.

“So why doesn’t the United States have a national mask mandate?” Feinstein asked.

Advertisement

In response to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell’s (R-Ky.) recent remarks that the Senate plans to begin work on the next coronavirus relief bill next week, Feinstein said, “At that time, I intend to offer an amendment to prohibit sending funds to states that haven’t adopted a statewide mask requirement.”

“The situation is getting worse daily. This should be universal.”

“My hope has been that other governors would show the leadership to institute their own mask mandates, but so far that hasn’t happened. It’s time for Congress to step in,” Feinstein concluded her statement. “This is a matter of life or death, and partisan politics shouldn’t play a role.”