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Congressman Max Rose, a captain in the Army National Guard whose congressional district includes parts of Staten Island and Brooklyn, announced that he will deploy on Wednesday, April 1.
The freshman congressman is expected to serve as an operations officer in Staten Island, where he will assist with the response to the virus in the area.
“Over the past month I have seen acts of incredible bravery and sacrifice by our first responders, nurses, doctors, and essential workers who never thought they’d be on the frontlines of a crisis like the COVID-19 pandemic,” he said. “My activation and deployment is nothing compared to what our city, state, and country has asked of all them. And it’s certainly nothing compared to the other men and women serving in uniform both here at home and overseas.
During his stint in the military, Rose was awarded a Purple Heart and Bronze Star after a vehicle he was traveling in in Afghanistan in 2013 hit a roadside bomb.
Rose said he’ll be able to return to Washington, D.C. if he is needed to vote in Congress, where elected officials have been working from home and are not expected to convene until at least Monday, April 20.
While he is deployed, Rose said that his staff will “be there every step of the way, doing the unbelievable constituent services they have done so well for the past year and change.”
“This is a small thing compared to what our doctors, our nurses, our frontline medical staff, our first responders are doing each and every day, putting their lives on the line often without the equipment they so desperately need,” he added.
“I hope you know this: we’re going to beat this virus. This is the greatest city in the history of the world, and this is the greatest country in the history of the world. This is only going to make us stronger, and the entire country is united. We’ll get past this.”
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