Effort to bring home stranded Americans has created a rare unity of purpose among Democrats and Republicans in Congress.
Faced with a rising number of complaints from Americans stranded abroad, State Department officials tried to quell those concerns last Sunday in a conference call with Senate staffers speaking on behalf of their anxious and exasperated constituents.
Lawmakers in both parties acknowledged that the department has made significant improvements in recent days in coordinating with local governments, working around arcane travel regulations and arranging chartered flights for thousands of Americans stranded abroad during an unparalleled situation. In many cases, senators and aides say, they understand that the State Department is doing all it can.
Still, tens of thousands of Americans have notified U.S. embassies they need help, and many from South Africa toto Morocco have complained on social media that they are running out of money and medicine, and that other nations are working faster to organize charter flights. A flurry of new hashtags and Facebook groups have emerged with names including “Stay Strong, Quarantine On.
“As the number of cases in Peru increased, the senator grew frustrated with the lack of action from the State Department,” a spokesperson with Rubio’s office said. When asked about problems with the site, a senior State Department official said that “yes, we recognize it’s an issue.” “We get undeliverable bouncebacks,” a senior staffer to Sen. Robert P. Casey Jr. said on the Sunday call. The officials said they would try to fix it.
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