Whereas the writer and history professor Dr. Micki McElya, in her May 15, 2020, perspective piece in the Washington Post, highlighted the stark absence of national mourning for American lives lost to COVID–19, and the rightful ownership of these lives to the American fabric and community soul; Whereas the national death toll from the scourge of COVID–19 throughout the United States rapidly approaches 100,000 less than 5 months since its arrival; Whereas the United States dutifully and unquestioningly honors its military dead and those who have died by mass violence, through national mourning, prayer, and moments of silence; Whereas the United States understands the importance of collective and unified mourning of its dead in times of war, and the institution of grief must continue and be acknowledged during this domestic fight; Whereas President Donald J. Trump has declared the country at war , and that all Americans are warriors in the face of this common and invisible enemy; Whereas the United States is defined by its unified national front and has always offered ubiquitous mourning in times of national grief and loss, and this pillar of American society must not be lost on the fallen who have touched many thousands of lives across our country; Whereas the virus has disproportionately impacted specific groups of people, namely, immigrants, people of color, Native Americans, African Americans, Asian American Pacific Islanders, Hispanics, the disabled, the elderly, the chronically ill, and the poor and underpaid; Whereas when Americans have historically come together to address, mourn, and love, this unified spirit, which transcends ideological lines, has always conquered the deadliest of threats; and Whereas the COVID–19 pandemic calls for this unity, as it is the actions of a collaborative and focused government that will lift Americans from this crisis: Now, therefore, be it