[Congressional Record Volume 167, Number 70 (Thursday, April 22, 2021)]
[House]
[Page H2060]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




          BENEFITS OF THE VACCINE AND RETURNING TO NORMAL LIFE

  (Mrs. MILLER-MEEKS asked and was given permission to address the 
House for 1 minute and to revise and extend her remarks.)
  Mrs. MILLER-MEEKS. Mr. Speaker, since March, I have traveled my 
district, administering COVID-19 vaccines. As a doctor and former 
Director of Public Health, I combat vaccine hesitancy by discussing the 
safety and effectiveness of the vaccine, and the benefits of returning 
to normal lives, removing our masks, gathering together, and reopening 
businesses and schools by attaining herd immunity.
  But the deepening mental health crisis has become an epidemic within 
the pandemic. Yesterday, I read of yet another youth suicide. Eighteen-
year-old star quarterback Dylan Buckner, with plans to attend MIT, 
committed suicide on January 7. His father said that the Illinois 
extended stay-at-home orders and school closures greatly contributed to 
his suicide.
  As leaders, it is our responsibility to encourage and incentivize 
vaccinations. One incentive is by removing our masks and returning to 
normal. Despite having reached the traditional level of herd immunity 
by our Members, our Chamber does not reflect a return to normal.
  I implore leadership and the Attending Physician to follow science 
and the CDC guidelines, and permit Members who have been vaccinated or 
who have naturalized immunity to forgo wearing a mask while in the 
Chamber, and incentivize and show the public that a world beyond the 
pandemic exists.
  Not another minute should go by where children as young as 9 years 
old commit suicide because they see no hope of a future beyond the 
pandemic. We cannot waste another second or another young life.
  Let us remove our masks and show America that there can be a light at 
the end of the pandemic tunnel.

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