Reopening Schools (Cong. Rec., Feb. 24, 2021)
Summary
This is S847 of the Congressional Record, Senate, February 24, 2021, with interleaved columns. Ms. Collins asks that the quorum call be rescinded and refers her remarks on the introduction of S. 436 to the Statements on Introduced Bills section. Under the heading Reopening Schools, Mrs. Blackburn says that in Tennessee all but two school systems have been open, credits Governor Bill Lee for leaving the decisions to local districts, and criticizes teachers unions and the Biden administration over reopening guidance. Mr. Daines then says schools remain closed because of teachers unions and criticizes the administration's border policy, with the views attributed to the speakers.
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“Reopening Schools (Cong. Rec., Feb. 24, 2021).”
Original at www.govinfo.gov. Archived at Pandemic Darlings, https://pandemicdarlings.com/source-documents/crec-crec-2021-02-24-crec-2021-02-24-pt1-pgs847-a9a3276f70/
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February 24, 2021 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — SENATE S847
I yield the floor. siderations, to scheduling changes, to administrators who have rolled up
I suggest the absence of a quorum. the complicated logistics of social their sleeves, have gotten to work, and
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The distancing and cramped classrooms. have figured out a way to get schools
clerk will call the roll. They thought it all through by walking open for the children.
The bill clerk called the roll. through the day and listening to what I yield the floor.
Ms. COLLINS. Madam President, I teachers and parents had to say as to The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Sen-
ask unanimous consent that the order how they would walk through this day. ator from Montana.
for the quorum call be rescinded. They took the millions of dollars in Mr. DAINES. Madam President, out-
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without CARES Act funding that the area re- rage—that is what American families
objection, it is so ordered. ceived, and what did they do with that should be feeling right now, and many
(The remarks of Ms. COLLINS per- money? They invested in the best pos- are. We are seeing President Biden and
taining to the introduction of S. 436 are sible plan for these kids—no Federal the Democrats support opening the
printed in today’s RECORD under mandate or sweeping litmus test re- border, the southern border, for illegal
‘‘Statements on Introduced Bills and quired. They said: We are going to do immigrants while bowing to political
Joint Resolutions.’’) what is right by these children. pressure and keeping many of our Na-
Ms. COLLINS. Seeing no one seeking Then, of course, they turned on the tion’s schools closed for our students—
recognition, I yield the floor. TV, and they saw that the Biden ad- opening the southern border for illegal
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Sen- ministration was busy walking back immigrants, closing our Nation’s
ator from Tennessee. their own enthusiastic scientific guid- schools for our students.
REOPENING SCHOOLS ance on safely reopening schools— Schools across the Nation remain
Mrs. BLACKBURN. Madam Presi- walking it back—and they didn’t have closed to in-person instruction largely
dent, I know that some of my col- to flip too many channels to figure out due to teachers unions and their influ-
leagues have been talking about why. Powerful teachers unions had ence on many of our local and Federal
schools, getting children back to taken their own stands in refusing to leaders on the other side of the aisle—
school, getting schools reopened. In- make a plan, in refusing to think all, unfortunately, to the detriment of
deed, in Tennessee, that is a topic that things through, and in some cases in the education and the health of our
has received a good bit of conversation. refusing to go to work at all—not doing students.
All but two of our school systems have what is best for the children but doing In States and localities where schools
been open and working this entire what was going to serve their interests remain closed, America’s youngest and
school year, and those other two sys- first and, in their opinions, what would brightest minds are posed with chal-
tems have recently reopened since the best serve their interests. That, I lenges that generations before have
first of the year. Our school super- think, they will see were regrettable never dealt with. Children are con-
intendents, our directors of school, our actions. tinuing to cope with the unprecedented
parents, our teachers, and the students Educators in Tennessee were not just hardship of virtual classrooms, a lack
have all worked together as a team—a confused by what they saw; they were of social interaction with their peers,
solid, cohesive team—to make this insulted because they knew exactly and other impediments to their edu-
happen. what was happening. On January 26, cation. But this isn’t because of the
I think there are two main points CDC officials released a study showing pandemic itself; it is because President
that we have seen, and as we are hold- that, if we were careful, safe reopening Biden, the Democrats, and local leaders
ing meetings with our county elected was indeed possible. Administration of- have caved to the political pressures of
officials and city officials and as they ficials touted that report as a light at teachers unions and have kept many
talk about the efforts that they have the end of a very long COVID pan- classrooms closed and students at
made in getting children back into the demic, but now, just a few weeks later, home despite what the available
classroom, we hear a lot about one those same officials are defying their science and other experts are telling
point. That is that our Governor, Ten- own experts, insisting that safe reopen- us. The science is clear: Schools are
nessee Governor Bill Lee, made it clear ing can only happen if Congress ap- not major COVID–19 spreading grounds,
that the school districts would be re- proves additional funding contained in and younger students are a low-risk
sponsible for the ‘‘how’’ they were the Democrats’ latest, untargeted group. Studies indicate that students
going to open and the ‘‘when’’ they spending bill. across the country are months behind
would be reopening. I really thank him Students in this country are suf- where they should be academically.
for listening and recognizing that local fering. They are lonely, they are bored, The hardships our students face go
officials and individuals in the commu- and many of them are struggling with beyond academics because the mental
nity really do know what is best for clinical depression and anxiety. Teen and physical health of children has also
their school districts and their stu- pregnancy, teen alcohol, and suicide taken a toll. We are seeing depression
dents. rates are rising. Children need to be in and anxiety rates skyrocket among our
The second point is that these plans in-person school. young people. I was on a call today, a
didn’t just drop out of the sky. As I The American Academy of Pediatrics Zoom call, with several elementary
said, this has been a team effort in our has repeatedly stated—bear in mind, school principals in Montana, hearing
communities, and it has happened be- this isn’t something that I am saying; their firsthand, frankly, tragic ac-
cause there was this agreement be- it isn’t something that is partisan; it is counts of what is happening with the
tween the administrators and the par- the American Academy of Pediatrics— mental health of our students in ele-
ents and the teachers that they were that it is not only feasible but nec- mentary school and hearing about ele-
going to make decisions that were essary for students to be back in mentary school students assaulting
going to be best for the children. So school, back in the classroom, back to teachers. A whole year without full-
when you look at Tennessee and how seeing their friends, back to partici- time, in-person learning has done irrep-
they have approached this—indeed, the pating in extracurricular activities and arable damage. The status quo is truly
schools reopening and how they pro- sports. devastating to many of our students.
ceeded—it was done with the children I would ask my colleagues across the Despite this—despite the science, de-
in mind. aisle to keep this in mind when they spite the overwhelming data—schools
Last week, I had the privilege of hear from so-called stakeholders who across the country, in many parts of
speaking with school administrators are willing to hold a child’s mental our country, remain closed.
from West Tennessee, who played a health hostage in exchange for a polit- Frankly, it is unacceptable that
dlhill on DSK120RN23PROD with SENATE
part in developing their own reopening ical win that will serve their power and many of my colleagues across the aisle
plans. I cannot adequately describe to their purposes and not that of the and the Biden administration are
you with the time that we have on the child’s. They might have powerful standing by while this happens to our
floor today the amount of work and the voices in the cable news circuit, but students across our country. They have
thoughtfulness that they put into these those sound bites will provide you no chosen to play politics with our Na-
schedules, from health and safety con- cover back home with the teachers and tion’s students instead of ensuring that
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S848 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — SENATE February 24, 2021
our children are getting the very best This is not unlike what we have to do sure others would have made other
education possible, which is full-time, periodically for hurricanes that seem changes.
in-person instruction. They are intent to find their way to the State of Texas. But each bill was a clear response to
on jamming through this partisan $1.9 But in this case we know that some of the crisis at hand and free from any
trillion COVID package, which does in- the problem was not an act of nature; unrelated partisan priorities. In other
clude billions of dollars for schools. it was a failure to anticipate these sub- words, it was focused on COVID–19 re-
Incidentally, in working together, we freezing, subzero cold temperatures. So lief.
have passed five bipartisan COVID re- we have got to ask not only ‘‘What Suffice it to say that the same can-
lief packages. Yes, it is harder to work happened?’’ but ‘‘How can we prevent it not be said about this latest piece of
in a bipartisan fashion, but that is why from happening again in the future?’’ legislation, this $1.9 trillion bill being
we were sent back here to Wash- As I said, we experience, from time to rammed through Congress by our
ington—to work together. Yet Presi- time, hurricanes, occasionally torna- Democratic colleagues.
dent Biden and the Democrats are say- does and tropical storms or record-low Overall, I have three concerns with
ing: We are going to do this one alone. temperatures, but we cannot allow our this legislation. First, it would dra-
It is going to be their way or the high- infrastructure to go offline for days on matically overspend in areas that
way. end. aren’t even in need of additional fund-
The sad reality is, the more the I want to thank the countless Texans ing.
American people hear what is in this who supported each other during this In the early days of the pandemic, we
$1.9 trillion package, the more they are crisis. There are those that have gone had no real expectation about how long
not going to like it. Most of the money above and beyond the call of duty in the crisis would last or how big a blow
in this package is not to be spent now. their official capacities, whether it is it would deal to our economy. After the
In fact, 95 percent of it will be spent as first responders, emergency dis- CARES Act was signed into law in
over the next 7 years, after the crisis. patchers, utility and energy workers, March, late March, it made sense to hit
We should not use this COVID crisis as healthcare workers—the list goes on the pause button so we could see how
a liberal wish list of items here where- and on. what we did was working—what was
in 95 percent of it gets spent in the out- But there are also the unsung he- working well and what was not work-
years. How does this help our students roes—those who invited neighbors into ing so well. Where was more assistance
and our schools now? The answer is, it their homes, delivered hot meals to needed? Where was it sufficient?
doesn’t. those in need, checked on an elderly These needs became obvious pretty
This is not how we solve the prob- neighbor, those who towed vehicles quickly. One example was the Pay-
lems that our students are facing. For- stuck in the snow, and so much more. check Protection Program. Within 2
tunately, there is a pretty simple solu- I just want to assure all of my con- weeks of passage of $350 billion worth
tion. It is this: Listen to the experts. stituents that we are in this together, of relief, it ran dry—in 2 weeks. So we
Listen to the science. Reopen our and we will do everything we can not quickly came together on a bipartisan
schools, and let’s get our students back only to find out how this happened but basis to replenish the fund with addi-
in the classroom. what we can do to make sure it never tional money, and we did so again at
I yield the floor.
happens again. the end of the year.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Sen-
CORONAVIRUS This sort of bipartisan, step-by-step
ator from Texas.
Madam President, on another mat- approach is the most effective way to
TEXAS
ter, as you know, this week our Demo- get funding where it is needed without
Mr. CORNYN. Madam President, we
cratic colleagues in the House are con- wasting money on already well-funded
have had some bizarre weather in my
tinuing to take action on President programs.
State in the last week or so. We are
Biden’s relief bill, using the budget rec- But, unfortunately, our friends
still reeling from a deadly winter
onciliation process. across the aisle didn’t apply that same
storm that hit all 254 counties in the
It is really not so much an issue in logic to this $1.9 trillion piece of legis-
State of Texas last week.
The snowstorm brought snow, ice, the House, where you can do anything lation, which sends hundreds of billions
and prolonged subfreezing tempera- you want, basically, with a majority of dollars to areas that are nowhere
tures. We don’t have temperatures vote. But if all goes their way, our near running out of money.
below zero in Texas—or at least we Democratic colleagues will write a $1.9 One example is public education. So
haven’t for a long, long time, but we trillion check, funded by taxpayers— far, Congress has provided more than
did last week. As a result, it paralyzed future taxpayers because it will be bor- $110 billion to support K–12 education,
much of our critical infrastructure, rowed money—without the input of a including $68 billion in the relief bill
leaving millions without electricity, single Republican in Congress, either passed just in December. Schools in
leaving them without heat, and leaving in the House or in the Senate. Texas have used this money to update
them without running water for days We know that there are 10 Repub- their ventilation systems, purchase
on end. licans who went over to the White masks and personal protective equip-
The good news is that power has now House, had a very pleasant meeting ment, and make other investments in
been restored for the vast majority of with President Biden, but were essen- classroom safety. But the vast major-
Texans, and cities are slowly lifting tially told: My way or the highway. ity of the funding that was provided in
water boil notices as water filtration Any effort to try to come up with a bi- December is still waiting to be used. In
systems come back online. partisan compromise was rejected. other words, there is no current need
But a number of families are still Regardless of your political affili- for any more money from Congress.
facing outages, and as we have seen ation or views on this particular bill, As a matter of fact, as of February 9,
during previous disasters, low-income that fact alone should trouble every States have spent just under $5 billion
and minority communities are the single American. After all, there was of the $68 billion we have already pro-
hardest hit. Our top priority is to re- no need for partisan maneuvering to vided for K–12 education. They have
store power and clean water to every pass a coronavirus relief bill last year. spent just $5 billion out of the $68 bil-
single Texan. As a matter of fact, we passed five of lion.
Throughout this episode—this trag- them. All of them were signed into law As a reminder, in December, the
edy, really—my staff and I have been in with overwhelming bipartisan support. CDC—the Centers for Disease Control—
contact with local, State, and, of No bill received fewer than 90 votes estimated schools would need only
course, Federal officials to determine here in the Senate. One even passed about $22 billion to reopen safely,
dlhill on DSK120RN23PROD with SENATE
what kinds of things we can do to help unanimously. meaning there is already more than
and how we can mobilize resources as Of course, the reason for the wide- enough money to support safe school
soon as possible. As recovery efforts spread support wasn’t because Mem- reopenings. But that data-driven esti-
continue in the coming days and bers thought these relief packages were mate from the experts doesn’t seem to
weeks, I will continue to try to do perfect. There were things I would have matter to our Democratic colleagues or
that. changed if I had had a chance, and I am the administration, who are preparing
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