The nation is mourning the death of tens of thousands of Americans’ lives lost so far amid the coronavirus pandemic.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), along with Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), penned a letter to the president on Thursday to request half staff flags to honor all of those who have died from the coronavirus amid the pandemic.
The letter comes as the U.S. death toll nears 100,000, as almost 95,000 people have died from the virus since the outbreak occurred across the country.
“Our country mourns the deaths of nearly 100,000 Americans from COVID-19,” the letter reads. “Our hearts are broken over this great loss and our prayers are with their families.”
“Respectful of them and the loss to our country, we are writing to request that you order flags to be flown at half staff on all public buildings in our country on the sad day of reckoning when we reach 100,000 deaths. It would serve as a national expression of grief so needed by everyone in our country.”
While asking for the half staff flags, Pelosi and Schumer noted that Memorial Day, held on May 25, will be set aside to still be reserved to honor “the men and women who were willing to make the ultimate sacrifice for our country.”
“We will carry always their memory in our hearts,” they wrote.
See the full letter below:
Pelosi/Schumer letter to POTUS: “We are writing to request that you order flags to be flown at half staff on all public buildings in our country on the sad day of reckoning when we reach 100,000 deaths.” pic.twitter.com/uziDg61eMQ
— Phil Mattingly (@Phil_Mattingly) May 21, 2020
The nation still continues to combat the coronavirus outbreak, with the confirmed number of cases in the country at 1,593,303, as of Thursday morning. Several states are in the tens of thousands of cases, including New York which has become the epicenter in the U.S. and has 364,249 reported cases of coronavirus.