U.S. Senator Chris Murphy (D-Conn.), a member of the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee, on Thursday sent a letter to U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and U.S. Secretary of the Treasury Steve Mnuchin calling on the United States to ease economic sanctions against countries where sanctions are hindering the humanitarian response to the COVID-19 pandemic – specifically Iran and Venezuela. Sen. Murphy’s letter is co-signed by U.S. Senators Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), Brian Schatz (D-Hawai’i), Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.), Tom Carper (D-Del.), Tim Kaine (D-Va.), Ben Cardin (D-Md.), Tom Udall (D-N.M.), Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio), Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.) and Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.).

“It hurts our nation’s security and our moral standing in the world when our sanctions policy results in innocent people dying. I am particularly concerned about the impact of sanctions on the…