WASHINGTON, D.C. — U.S. Senators Pat Toomey (R-Pa.) and Michael Bennet (D-Colo.) are teaming up again to encourage Americans to wear a mask when they venture out of their homes.

In late March, Toomey and Bennet became the first two members of Congress to publicly support mask wearing to help stop the spread of COVID-19. Their efforts included encouraging the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the White House Coronavirus Task Force to update safety guidelines to encourage the use of masks. These efforts paid off as both the CDC and the Task Force endorsed mask wearing shortly thereafter.

In keeping with their support for people wearing masks when they venture out to public places, Toomey and Bennet are introducing a bipartisan resolution that highlights the growing evidence that mask wearing indoors, when social distancing is not an option, can help combat the spread of COVID-19.

“Wearing a mask should not be controversial. Study after study affirms that wearing a mask reduces the spread of coronavirus,” said Toomey. “As our economy continues to reopen and until a vaccine is available, wearing a face mask when you venture out is the most practical and cost effective manner in which we, as Americans, can do our part to protect one another. Please, for the benefit of your neighbors, friends, and those who live in your community, wear a mask.”

Bennet agreed.

“As COVID-19 cases continue to surge across the country, this is a moment to do all we can to prevent the spread of the virus by wearing a mask in public,” he said. “The science is clear and consistent—when we wear a mask, we significantly limit transmission of the virus. We should take personal responsibility and remember that my mask protects you and your mask protects me.”