[Congressional Record Volume 167, Number 109 (Wednesday, June 23, 2021)]
[Senate]
[Pages S4715-S4716]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                   Unanimous Consent Request--S. 2084

  Mr. SCOTT of Florida. Mr. President, it has been a trying year for 
our Nation. Thankfully, the vaccine has brought so much hope and a 
semblance of normalcy back to the lives of many Americans.
  As families and businesses in Florida and across the United States 
continue to work hard to recover from the devastation of COVID-19, 
travel is critical to get our economy fully reopened.
  From the beginning of the pandemic, I encouraged everyone to wear a 
mask as we learned more about this virus, but now the science is clear 
that broad mask mandates aren't necessary. Unfortunately, the CDC has 
decided to buck the science when it comes to travel and is still 
requiring face masks on public transportation.
  We have all heard the stories of how this mandate impacts families: a 
mother and her six children traumatized by being kicked off a flight 
after her 2-year-old daughter refused to wear a mask; a New Jersey 
couple forced to deplane because their 2-year-old wouldn't wear a mask; 
a Colorado mother and their family booted off a flight over fears their 
3-year-old son, who has a disability, wouldn't wear a mask; an Orthodox 
Jewish family kicked off a flight because their 15-month-old baby was 
not wearing a mask.
  You can't make this stuff up. It has made traveling with children 
nearly impossible. After a year of hardships and being apart from loved 
ones, these families were denied the ability to reconnect. It is awful 
and unnecessary. And I hear stories all the time about parents with 
young children deciding, I am not getting on an airplane because I know 
I will get kicked off or I might get kicked off.
  And to make guidelines even more confusing, you are allowed to remove 
your mask to eat and drink. So why is it OK and totally safe to not 
have a mask while you eat a snack but dangerous to be unmasked any 
other time?
  The CDC itself has been clear that mask mandates aren't needed. You 
don't have to wear a mask in a restaurant. You don't have to wear a 
mask in a hotel. You don't have to wear a mask at a school. You don't 
have to wear a mask in a stadium. So why is the CDC singling out 
airlines and public transportation? It doesn't make any sense.
  This isn't a political argument. In fact, during our Commerce 
Committee markup of the surface transportation measure last week, both 
Democrats and Republicans expressed frustration at the continuation of 
the mask mandate. Republican and Democratic Governors and mayors across 
the country have followed the science and lifted mask mandates.
  Just like the Federal Government should not be in the business of 
requiring Americans to turn over their vaccination records, the Federal 
Government should not be mandating citizens wear masks on public 
transportation.
  That is why I introduced the Stop Mandating Additional Requirements 
for Travel, or SMART Act, which would revoke the Federal requirement 
for Americans to wear masks on public transportation. Americans should 
be free to make choices they feel are in the best interest of their own 
health and the health of their loved ones.
  If someone wants to wear a mask, they are absolutely free to do so, 
but the government has no right to tell them what to do. If an airline 
or other private company decides it wants to implement a mask policy, 
so be it. This does not prohibit them from doing so.
  I have been clear. Private companies should be able to make decisions 
that they feel are appropriate for their employees and their customers. 
And their customer gets to make a decision.
  This bill is pure common sense, and I am glad to be joined today by 
my colleague from Utah, Senator Lee, and he will be speaking after I 
ask for the consent.
  The science just doesn't support keeping the mask mandate in place. 
We have to listen to the science and work together to move America 
forward. I know Americans will do the right thing to stay safe, and I 
hope my colleagues join me in passing this important bill.
  Mr. President, as if in legislative session, I ask unanimous consent 
that the Committee on HELP be discharged from further consideration of 
S. 2084 and the Senate proceed to its immediate consideration. I ask 
unanimous consent that the bill be considered read a third time and 
passed and that the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid 
upon the table.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there objection?
  The Senator from Washington.
  Mrs. MURRAY. Mr. President, reserving the right to object, right now, 
experts at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention are 
continuing to update their mask requirements based on the latest 
developments, including requirements related to travel. They need us to 
be reinforcing their science-based work to keep people safe, not 
overruling it.
  We cannot pretend this pandemic is over. This virus is still 
spreading; it is still mutating; it is still costing lives; and it is 
still leaving survivors with long-haul symptoms. And the new Delta 
variant is more contagious, more likely to send people to the hospital, 
and already in our country.
  We have made great progress on vaccinations, but there are still 
people who are not vaccinated, as well as people who cannot yet get 
vaccinated. We know masks remain a simple, effective way to protect 
everyone, especially in small crowded spaces--in an airplane, on a bus, 
or a train.
  Getting rid of mask requirements for travel before the experts tell 
us it is safe to do so is not going to get people to their destinations 
any faster, and it is not going to end this pandemic any faster. 
Instead, it will draw things out. It will cost time, and it will cost 
lives. To get everyone safely through this pandemic, we need to listen 
to the experts and let them do their jobs; therefore, I object.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Objection is heard.
  The Senator from Utah.
  Mr. LEE. Mr. President, I echo the remarks presented by my friend and 
colleague, the junior Senator from Florida. I agree wholeheartedly with 
his analysis. I think it is unfortunate that we missed this opportunity 
to enact meaningful change today, change that is backed up by science.
  It was in January of this year that the Centers for Disease Control 
ordered the mandatory use of masks on planes, trains, buses, and other 
modes of public transit of every kind everywhere across this country. 
If Americans failed to comply with this mandate, they risked being 
fined or even criminally prosecuted.
  Six months later, the coronavirus continues with the CDC refusing to 
recognize its own research that the mandate is no longer defensible. It 
is now June. The vaccine has been made available for months, COVID 
cases are plummeting, and the country is anxious to return to the way 
things once were. The CDC has even said that vaccinated Americans don't 
have to wear masks and can get their lives back to normal.

  More than 45 percent of Americans are now fully vaccinated. States 
are lifting their restrictions, and in restaurants, stores, and 
workplaces across the country, it is no longer required, mercifully, to 
wear a mask. If Americans still want to wear one, they can make that 
decision for themselves. They are free to do so. But the CDC's 
requirement that vaccinated individuals--even vaccinated individuals--

[[Page S4716]]

must wear masks on all forms of public transit now blatantly 
contradicts the Agency's own policies and the Agency's own scientific 
research. It needlessly promotes fear and plays politics with the lives 
of the American people, not to mention it has imposed absurd 
expectations and serious consequences on children and families, 
especially families with children trying to travel.
  You see, after the January mandate, the CDC issued a corresponding 
mandate that exempted only children over the age of 2, in keeping with 
their original mask-wearing guidance, guidance that is among the most 
stringent in the world and, I would add, the most unrealistic in the 
world, when you consider that they require it up to and including 
children as young as 2 years old.
  So what have been some of the results of this guidance? Parents have 
been kicked off and banned from flights if their small children refuse 
to wear a mask. For parents of kids with disabilities and many parents 
of especially small children, compliance has been nearly impossible.
  We already know that children, especially young children, are 
unlikely to contribute to the spread of the virus. What we do not know, 
however, is what scientific studies, if any at all, the CDC happens to 
be relying on in reaching this guidance--in reaching the conclusions 
underlying this guidance.
  In fact, several of my colleagues and I sent a letter to the Agency 
with this very question more than 2 months ago, on April 22, 2021. And 
now, more than 2 months later, we have yet to receive an answer. It is 
a very simple question, and we have yet to receive any shred, any 
semblance, any scintilla of an answer. I find that unacceptable.
  If the CDC actually believes its own research, then it should act 
like it. And if it believes in the vaccines, the very vaccines on which 
we have spent billions of taxpayer dollars, then it should act 
consistently and instill confidence in the American people, rather than 
fear.
  And with the vaccine now free and widely available, Americans should 
be able to weigh the cost of the options before them and choose for 
themselves whether to receive the vaccine, whether to wear a mask, or 
whether to take their own precautions free of any mandates imposed by 
their government.
  But if the Federal Government is going to have a say in whether or 
not there should be a mandate, it should be up to Congress, the sole 
branch of the Federal Government empowered to enact law and, not 
coincidentally, the branch elected by and held most accountable to the 
people at most regular intervals. It should be up to this branch of 
government, the legislative branch, to enact such a mandate.
  To the extent that the CDC issued this mandate, it did so using 
authority delegated to it from Congress. We, in Congress, did not pass 
the mask mandate, and we do not have to defer to those bureaucrats who 
did.
  The science--the science shows that wearing masks should not be 
Federal law, and we should act accordingly. We should, moreover, give 
Americans some reason to want to be vaccinated. When there is light at 
the end of the tunnel and when they can see there is some tangible, 
immediate benefit to them getting vaccinated, they are more likely to 
do it. If they can safely enter a place of mass transit without a mask, 
if they choose to do so, many more people will choose to get vaccinated 
if we give them that benefit or if we at least allow the operators of 
those modes of transportation to allow people to do that.
  We can assert our rightful authority and promote sound science and 
common sense by supporting the bill introduced by my friend and 
colleague, Senator Scott of Florida. We need this to pass. The American 
people have suffered through a very, very long COVID winter. It is time 
for them to be able to make their own choices. That is what we do best 
as Americans because we believe in freedom.
  We also believe that whenever the coercive power of government, 
especially the coercive power of the Federal Government is exercised, 
it must do so with the authority of Congress. We should never tacitly 
acquiesce to the authority of overlords within a bureaucratic Agency 
who are elected by no one and ultimately accountable only to 
themselves.
  We are in charge here. We make the law. We shouldn't blindly defer to 
anyone, certainly not the CDC when the CDC ignores its own science.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Florida.
  Mr. SCOTT of Florida. Mr. President, I thank my colleague from Utah 
for his comments. I want to thank his continued commitment always to 
make sure that we, Congress, handles everything we can. We don't defer 
constantly to the executive branch in making decisions that we should 
be making.
  This is a simple example of why we should be making this decision. 
This is following the science, and I am actually shocked that my 
colleague from the State of Washington does not want to follow the 
science.
  I don't understand why my colleague from the State of Washington 
wants government to be dictating things. Why do we want to dictate to 
Americans how to lead their lives? Why does she think that the 
government--why has the government lifted mandates in States all across 
the country but not--and why is the CDC fine with every place but 
public transportation? It just doesn't make any sense.
  Americans will do the right thing. It is not our job to dictate, to 
tell them how to lead their lives. If someone wants to wear a mask, so 
be it. They should do it, but the government has no right to tell them 
that they have to wear a mask. If an airline or another private company 
decides it wants to implement a mask policy, have at it. We shouldn't 
prohibit them from wanting to do that, but we should not be dictating 
this.
  So I am disappointed that my colleague from the State of Washington 
didn't go along, but I think it is important for us to always make sure 
we are doing the right thing for the American public and, right now, 
the right thing is eliminate the mask mandate on public transportation.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Michigan.