[Congressional Record Volume 167, Number 35 (Wednesday, February 24, 2021)]
[Senate]
[Pages S847-S848]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                           Reopening Schools

  Mrs. BLACKBURN. Madam President, I know that some of my colleagues 
have been talking about schools, getting children back to school, 
getting schools reopened. Indeed, in Tennessee, that is a topic that 
has received a good bit of conversation. All but two of our school 
systems have been open and working this entire school year, and those 
other two systems have recently reopened since the first of the year. 
Our school superintendents, our directors of school, our parents, our 
teachers, and the students have all worked together as a team--a solid, 
cohesive team--to make this happen.
  I think there are two main points that we have seen, and as we are 
holding meetings with our county elected officials and city officials 
and as they talk about the efforts that they have made in getting 
children back into the classroom, we hear a lot about one point. That 
is that our Governor, Tennessee Governor Bill Lee, made it clear that 
the school districts would be responsible for the ``how'' they were 
going to open and the ``when'' they would be reopening. I really thank 
him for listening and recognizing that local officials and individuals 
in the community really do know what is best for their school districts 
and their students.
  The second point is that these plans didn't just drop out of the sky. 
As I said, this has been a team effort in our communities, and it has 
happened because there was this agreement between the administrators 
and the parents and the teachers that they were going to make decisions 
that were going to be best for the children. So when you look at 
Tennessee and how they have approached this--indeed, the schools 
reopening and how they proceeded--it was done with the children in 
mind.
  Last week, I had the privilege of speaking with school administrators 
from West Tennessee, who played a part in developing their own 
reopening plans. I cannot adequately describe to you with the time that 
we have on the floor today the amount of work and the thoughtfulness 
that they put into these schedules, from health and safety 
considerations, to scheduling changes, to the complicated logistics of 
social distancing and cramped classrooms. They thought it all through 
by walking through the day and listening to what teachers and parents 
had to say as to how they would walk through this day.
  They took the millions of dollars in CARES Act funding that the area 
received, and what did they do with that money? They invested in the 
best possible plan for these kids--no Federal mandate or sweeping 
litmus test required. They said: We are going to do what is right by 
these children.
  Then, of course, they turned on the TV, and they saw that the Biden 
administration was busy walking back their own enthusiastic scientific 
guidance on safely reopening schools--walking it back--and they didn't 
have to flip too many channels to figure out why. Powerful teachers 
unions had taken their own stands in refusing to make a plan, in 
refusing to think things through, and in some cases in refusing to go 
to work at all--not doing what is best for the children but doing what 
was going to serve their interests first and, in their opinions, what 
would best serve their interests. That, I think, they will see were 
regrettable actions.
  Educators in Tennessee were not just confused by what they saw; they 
were insulted because they knew exactly what was happening. On January 
26, CDC officials released a study showing that, if we were careful, 
safe reopening was indeed possible. Administration officials touted 
that report as a light at the end of a very long COVID pandemic, but 
now, just a few weeks later, those same officials are defying their own 
experts, insisting that safe reopening can only happen if Congress 
approves additional funding contained in the Democrats' latest, 
untargeted spending bill.
  Students in this country are suffering. They are lonely, they are 
bored, and many of them are struggling with clinical depression and 
anxiety. Teen pregnancy, teen alcohol, and suicide rates are rising. 
Children need to be in in-person school.
  The American Academy of Pediatrics has repeatedly stated--bear in 
mind, this isn't something that I am saying; it isn't something that is 
partisan; it is the American Academy of Pediatrics--that it is not only 
feasible but necessary for students to be back in school, back in the 
classroom, back to seeing their friends, back to participating in 
extracurricular activities and sports.
  I would ask my colleagues across the aisle to keep this in mind when 
they hear from so-called stakeholders who are willing to hold a child's 
mental health hostage in exchange for a political win that will serve 
their power and their purposes and not that of the child's. They might 
have powerful voices in the cable news circuit, but those sound bites 
will provide you no cover back home with the teachers and 
administrators who have rolled up their sleeves, have gotten to work, 
and have figured out a way to get schools open for the children.
  I yield the floor
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Montana.
  Mr. DAINES. Madam President, outrage--that is what American families 
should be feeling right now, and many are. We are seeing President 
Biden and the Democrats support opening the border, the southern 
border, for illegal immigrants while bowing to political pressure and 
keeping many of our Nation's schools closed for our students--opening 
the southern border for illegal immigrants, closing our Nation's 
schools for our students.
  Schools across the Nation remain closed to in-person instruction 
largely due to teachers unions and their influence on many of our local 
and Federal leaders on the other side of the aisle--all, unfortunately, 
to the detriment of the education and the health of our students.
  In States and localities where schools remain closed, America's 
youngest and brightest minds are posed with challenges that generations 
before have never dealt with. Children are continuing to cope with the 
unprecedented hardship of virtual classrooms, a lack of social 
interaction with their peers, and other impediments to their education. 
But this isn't because of the pandemic itself; it is because President 
Biden, the Democrats, and local leaders have caved to the political 
pressures of teachers unions and have kept many classrooms closed and 
students at home despite what the available science and other experts 
are telling us. The science is clear: Schools are not major COVID-19 
spreading grounds, and younger students are a low-risk group. Studies 
indicate that students across the country are months behind where they 
should be academically.
  The hardships our students face go beyond academics because the 
mental and physical health of children has also taken a toll. We are 
seeing depression and anxiety rates skyrocket among our young people. I 
was on a call today, a Zoom call, with several elementary school 
principals in Montana, hearing their firsthand, frankly, tragic 
accounts of what is happening with the mental health of our students in 
elementary school and hearing about elementary school students 
assaulting teachers. A whole year without full-time, in-person learning 
has done irreparable damage. The status quo is truly devastating to 
many of our students. Despite this--despite the science, despite the 
overwhelming data--schools across the country, in many parts of our 
country, remain closed.
  Frankly, it is unacceptable that many of my colleagues across the 
aisle and the Biden administration are standing by while this happens 
to our students across our country. They have chosen to play politics 
with our Nation's students instead of ensuring that

[[Page S848]]

our children are getting the very best education possible, which is 
full-time, in-person instruction. They are intent on jamming through 
this partisan $1.9 trillion COVID package, which does include billions 
of dollars for schools.
  Incidentally, in working together, we have passed five bipartisan 
COVID relief packages. Yes, it is harder to work in a bipartisan 
fashion, but that is why we were sent back here to Washington--to work 
together. Yet President Biden and the Democrats are saying: We are 
going to do this one alone. It is going to be their way or the highway.
  The sad reality is, the more the American people hear what is in this 
$1.9 trillion package, the more they are not going to like it. Most of 
the money in this package is not to be spent now. In fact, 95 percent 
of it will be spent over the next 7 years, after the crisis. We should 
not use this COVID crisis as a liberal wish list of items here wherein 
95 percent of it gets spent in the out-years. How does this help our 
students and our schools now? The answer is, it doesn't.
  This is not how we solve the problems that our students are facing. 
Fortunately, there is a pretty simple solution. It is this: Listen to 
the experts. Listen to the science. Reopen our schools, and let's get 
our students back in the classroom.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Texas.