Gerry Connolly

We have come so far and lost so much in the year since this pandemic began. We have lost almost 700,000 of our fellow citizens to Covid-19, millions have lost their jobs and all of our lives have been completely upended. Here in Fairfax and Prince Williams Counties we have had more than 120,000 infections and lost more than 1,500 of our neighbors. The Delta variant puts a continued strain on our health care systems, schools, and businesses – please remain considerate, social distance when possible, mask indoors, get the free vaccine if you haven’t yet, and get a booster if you need one.

Black Lives Matter, and it is clear that America has yet to truly confront and reckon with the pervasive individual and structural racism that this country was founded on. Congress needs to take action to not only address the horrifying epidemic of police brutality against people of color, but the underlying systems by which racial, social and economic inequality continue to be perpetuated.