“We are going to have to look Americans in the eye and say ‘We are making the best decisions for the most Americans possible’ and the answer to that is to get Americans back to work, to get Americans back to their businesses,” Hollingsworth told WIBC, adding that no option will result in “zero evil.”

“But it is the lesser of these two evils and we intend to move forward that direction,” he continued. “We’ve got to get Americans back to work, back to their schools, and back to their churches. That’s where they want to be when I talk to them every single day.”

Hollingsworth reiterated that “these decisions will lead to harm for individuals, whether that’s dramatic economic harm or whether that’s the loss of life.”

“But it is always the American government’s position to say, in the choice between the loss of our way of life as Americans and the loss of life of American lives, we have to always choose the latter,” the congressman added. “It is policymakers’ decision to put on our big-boy and big-girl pants and say, ‘This is the lesser of these two evils.’”

“That is our responsibility, and to abdicate that is to insult the Americans that voted us into office.”

Hollingsworth told Newsweek, when contacted for further comment on Tuesday, that “it’s hyperbolic to say that the only choices before us are the two corner solutions: no economy or widespread casualties.”

“We can use the best of biology and economics to enable as much of the economy to operate as possible while we work to minimize disease transmission,” he added.

President Donald Trump on Tuesday said plans to reopen the economy “are close to being finalized” during the White House Coronavirus Task Force’s daily briefing. He also noted that he will be speaking to each of the 50 state governors on Wednesday to develop a plan for the reopening of their economies.

In recent days, U.S. leaders have engaged in heated debates over whether the country should prioritize opening the economy as the domestic coronavirus death toll continues. Health officials warn that the country could face a second wave of outbreaks if social distancing measures are relaxed, but some experts predict that a lengthier shutdown period may result in long term harm that’s greater than the coronavirus.

On Tuesday evening, more than 613,500 individuals had tested positive for COVID-19 in the U.S., with over 26,000 deaths and 38,500 recoveries. Indiana has confirmed 8,527 cases of the novel coronavirus and 387 deaths.