[Congressional Record Volume 167, Number 34 (Tuesday, February 23, 2021)]
[Senate]
[Pages S794-S795]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                              Coronavirus

  Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, millions of American kids in the public 
school system have been robbed of a year, and counting, of anything 
resembling a proper education. It has been a historically tough year. 
That is why Americans are so excited our Nation appears to be 
approaching a major turning point.
  Here are just a few recent headlines:

       A U.S. Vaccine Surge Is Coming, With Millions of Doses 
     Promised

  Another headline:

       America's vaccine rollout has been among the best in the 
     world

  Another headline:

       CDC finds scant spread of coronavirus in schools with 
     precautions in place

  Here is one from my home State:

       COVID-19 cases plummet in Kentucky nursing homes, a key 
     target for the vaccine

  So let's take a look at the economy:

       U.S. Retail Sales Surprise With Sharpest Advance in Seven 
     Months
       Blue-Collar Jobs Boom as COVID-19 Boosts Housing, E-
     Commerce Demand

  Another headline:

       Consumer Demand Snaps Back. Factories Can't Keep Up.

  To be clear, this isn't over. The battle is not won yet. But the day 
is approaching when we will be able to end this defensive crouch and 
safely reclaim our normal lives.
  Last year the Senate built the largest peacetime fiscal expansion in 
American history. We spent $4 trillion on five overwhelmingly 
bipartisan packages. The most recent became law just 2 months ago. 
Funding for hospitals and providers kept our healthcare system above 
water. The Paycheck Protection Program saved Main Street small 
businesses. Direct relief and extra unemployment aid helped working 
families endure the shutdown. Operation Warp Speed laid the groundwork 
for our historic sprint toward vaccinations.
  These were strong, bipartisan policies, targeted to what families 
specifically needed to wage the war, but today Democrats are 
steamrolling ahead with a massive spending plan on a completely 
partisan basis. It did not receive a single House Republican vote in 
committee yesterday because their partisan plan is not targeted toward 
helping Americans reclaim their lives and their country from this 
invader. Instead, here is what it is: a combination of miscellaneous, 
non-COVID-related, liberal wish-list items and the kinds of bandaid 
policies that make a defensive crouch slightly less painful but don't 
help get us back on offense.
  Let's take a look at K-12 schooling. Until very recently, the new 
administration's own scientists had been crystal clear. Earlier this 
month, CDC Director Rochelle Walensky said:

       There is increasing data to suggest that schools can safely 
     reopen.

  A major CDC study found in-person schooling does not--not--fuel 
community transmission.

[[Page S795]]

  Last month, Dr. Fauci said:

       It's less likely for a child to get infected in the school 
     setting than if they were just in the community.

  But Big Labor special interests didn't appreciate science 
undercutting their political goals. The empire struck back, and the 
Democratic leaders who love to claim the mantle of science ran away 
from the science as fast as they could. Now the CDC Director admits 
that ``the lived experiences''--whatever that is--of government 
employees got between the hard science and the final guidance. It is a 
lot of points for candor.
  The unions had spoken. The goalposts were on the move. And the White 
House keeps endorsing the idea that schools need the Democrats' new 
spending plan to reopen, when the science disagrees. And furthermore, 
just 5 percent--5 percent--of what they propose to spend on schools 
would even be spent this year. Let me say that again. In this big COVID 
package, only 5 percent of what they propose to spend on schools would 
be spent this year. In other words, the spendout is over years ahead. 
You would think their view is, we are never going to get over the 
coronavirus.
  The United Kingdom just announced they will have kids back in school 
in less than 2 weeks--2 weeks. Countries like Spain and France have had 
kids in classrooms for months already. The European Centre for Disease 
Prevention has no problem affirming the science--that closing schools 
is ``unlikely to provide significant additional protection of 
children's health.'' Even here at home, private and religious schools 
have been teaching kids in person for months without causing any 
explosion in the spread of the virus.
  Science tells us unambiguously that in-person schooling can be quite 
safe and that having young children spend all day staring into a laptop 
is a nightmare. The evidence is crystal clear. Big Labor bureaucrats 
keep refusing to follow the science.
  In my hometown of Louisville, our union-backed school board vice 
chairman now asserts, with no evidence:

       I think we're probably likely to see better instructional 
     outcomes . . . if we stay [remote] for the rest of the school 
     year.

  Ridiculous. No facts. No evidence. Just a personal whim. These are 
the people controlling our kids' futures and their parents' lives.
  One anonymous teacher told reporters:

       We already have a schedule and a routine going. We don't 
     need to be babysitting for six weeks because parents are 
     upset.

  Let me say that again.
  One anonymous teacher told reporters that we already have a schedule 
and a routine going. We don't need to be babysitting for 6 weeks 
because parents are upset.
  By the way, failing grades in middle schools are up 388 percent in 
our county. Failing grades in middle schools are up 388 percent in our 
county while these kids are stuck at home.
  The Biden administration has a clear obligation to tackle the special 
interest madness head-on. Our kids are suffering, not because science 
says they must be--it doesn't. It is just because a small group of 
powerful grownups has decided they prefer it this way. Instead, the 
White House keeps parroting the anti-science myths. They back this 
notion that schools need the Democrats' new spending plan before they 
can reopen, except that science completely disagrees--completely; 
except that only a tiny fraction of the funding request would even be 
spent this fiscal year.
  Our children's futures are literally at stake. The administration has 
got to stop taking orders from the public sector unions that give 
generously to Democratic campaigns. This is exhibit A in why relief 
legislation must be targeted to the actual needs we face now. American 
families should be the starting point, not preconceived political 
priorities.