Jeff Fortenberry: “Our world has changed. Who could imagine just 3 short months ago where we would be right now as this silent avenger has…”

“Our world has changed. Who could imagine just 3 short months ago where we would be right now as this silent avenger has threatened life, the life that we knew, and we suddenly found ourselves quarantined in our homes and apartments with nowhere to go, no planes to catch, no appointments to make, just quiet isolation with family and neighbors across the way. Many friends are suffering, suffering unemployment or job uncertainty, or the impact of the sickness directly. The trauma of this crisis is so, so real. With that said, Madam Speaker, I am sure all of us in this body are doing quite a bit of reflection, adjustment, and alteration as we go back to what I call first principles, and here is an example. As I was reviewing my mail recently, my daily mail, a gentleman wrote to me. He was concerned about something. It might not be about what we will talk in a moment, our dependence on China for protective equipment and medical supplies, it might not be the latest surge of the virus in cities throughout America, but, nonetheless, it was important to him that he point something out to me: The flag at one of our small post office locations is not flying, and it hasn't been flying for some time. So my diligent staff actually contacted the gentleman. I believe they reached out to the post office themselves, but it sat out there as a lingering issue. So I decided to call the postmaster myself, and I apologized to her.…”