Whereas the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID–19), a deadly respiratory virus, originated in the People’s Republic of China and spread to the United States, infecting and killing tens of thousands of American citizens; Whereas large cities on the East and West Coasts of the United States faced difficult challenges battling COVID–19, especially in densely populated urban centers; Whereas President Donald J. Trump and Chief of Naval Operations Admiral Mike Gilday ordered the hospital ships, United States Naval Ship (hereinafter, USNS ) Mercy (T–AH–19) and USNS Comfort (T–AH–20), to deploy to the front lines of the COVID–19 response in New York, New York, and Los Angeles, California; Whereas the Military Sealift Command hospital ship USNS Mercy arrived into the Port of Los Angeles on March 27, 2020, and her 800-plus crew treated a total of 77 patients and assisted with care at nearby medical facilities in the greater Los Angeles area; Whereas the Military Sealift Command hospital ship USNS Comfort moored at Manhattan’s pier 90 in New York, New York, on March 30, 2020, and 1,200 personnel treated a total of 182 patients before returning to Naval Station Norfolk; Whereas Rear Admiral Mustin, Vice Commander of the United States Fleet Forces Command, stated, The last time that this great hospital ship was here was in the wake of 9/11, where she served as respite and comfort for our first responders working around the clock ; Whereas Captain Patrick Amersbach stated regarding the USNS Comfort, We were the busiest ICU in the Department of Defense over the past month and that at least 70 percent of patients were COVID–19 positive; Whereas the USNS Comfort and USNS Mercy’s primary mission is to provide an afloat, mobile, and acute surgical medical facility to the United States military that is flexible, capable, and uniquely adaptable to support expeditionary warfare