Lawmakers from both sides of the aisle took to Twitter on New Year’s Eve to reflect on 2020, share their hopes for 2021 and encourage others to celebrate safely, observing coronavirus precautions.
The New Year’s wishes come at the end of a year when the U.S. grappled with a pandemic, economic hardship, social unrest and a presidential election.
Sens. Jack Reed (D-R.I.) and Steve Daines (R-Mont.) and Reps. Maxine Waters (D-Calif.), Tom Graves (R-Ga.) and House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) along with others sent well wishes to their constituents and encouraged them to look forward to the new year ahead.
“It’s the last day of 2020. Hope you and yours stay healthy, warm, and safe. Cheers to brighter days ahead and more time together in 2021,” Reed wrote.
Waters called on her followers to try to focus on the possibilities that a new year offers.
“Let us all try to erase the hurt & pain of 2020 from our minds. Let us concentrate on the possibilities of 2021. Joy, Happiness, & Prosperity. Be safe! Love! Happy New Year,” she wrote.
Graves said that this would be his “last day” with 2020.
In a video shared to the social media platform Thursday, the House minority leader said the thing he was looking forward most about 2021 is that 2020 would be “done.”
The California lawmaker added that he hoped the politics would “go away” and people could appreciate the investment the country has made to develop a coronavirus vaccine so quickly.
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recently approved two coronavirus vaccines from Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna for emergency use. The Trump administration in partnership with state leaders has rolled out the vaccine to vulnerable populations including the elderly and health care workers in recent weeks.
“You know what?” McCarthy concluded, “Tomorrow will be better than today.”
Daines praised the resilience that he witnessed throughout the year.
Th United States experienced a particularly tough year.
The U.S. has been ravaged by the coronavirus pandemic since late February, when the disease began to spread rapidly, first hitting coastal states such as California, Washington, New York and Massachusetts hard before moving inland.
The virus has infected more than 19.8 million people in the country and has caused more than 344,000 deaths as of Thursday evening, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University.
The coronavirus has also caused economic fallout, as businesses across the country have had to shutter their doors to mitigate the spread of the virus.
The country also endured months of social unrest over the killings of Black Americans like George Floyd and Breonna Taylor and witnessed a long-fought, divisive presidential election.
Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) shared his year in review, adding in a Twitter post that West Virginians have stepped up to the challenges posed by COVID-19.
Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) remarked that 2020 was a “rough” year, but commended the hard work and sacrifices of Oregonians to combat coronavirus.