[Congressional Record Volume 166, Number 129 (Wednesday, July 22, 2020)]
[House]
[Page H3670]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                          OPENING OUR SCHOOLS

  (Mr. MURPHY of North Carolina asked and was given permission to 
address the House for 1 minute.)
  Mr. MURPHY of North Carolina. Mr. Speaker, as August approaches, 
reopening schools is now at the forefront of the American agenda.
  The American Academy of Pediatrics strongly advocates that we should 
start with a goal of having students back physically in the classroom. 
As an experienced physician of more than 30 years, I concur with the 
AAP, and I believe that the science and the data point toward reopening 
our schools in America.
  This is why I introduced the Open Schools Responsibly Act yesterday, 
which provides liability protection to schools that adhere to CDC and 
State guidelines. As we want to open schools again, then educational 
administrators need to have the confidence that they will not face the 
brunt of frivolous lawsuits.
  Obviously, schools that reopen without taking the proper precautions 
should be held accountable, and this legislation will still ensure that 
is the case. We want to protect everyone, from exceedingly low-risk 
students up to our higher-risk older teachers.
  We simply cannot allow our children, especially our higher-at-risk 
children, to fall further behind in their education. So, it is 
Congress' duty to pass liability protection to let our kids get back to 
school and get back on track.

                          ____________________