IV 

116TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. RES. 1026 

Expressing the sense of Congress that responses to the COVID–19 pandemic 

by the education system must be narrowly tailored to protect the wellbeing of children in different parts of the country. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JUNE 26, 2020 

Mr. GRIFFITH (for himself, Mr. HARRIS, Mr. BIGGS, Mr. GUTHRIE, Mr. 

CLINE, Mr. DESJARLAIS, Mr. GOSAR, Mr. BROOKS of Alabama, Mr. 

DUNCAN, Mr. GOHMERT, Mr. WEBER of Texas, and Mr. BUDD) submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on 

Education and Labor 

RESOLUTION 

Expressing the sense of Congress that responses to the 

COVID–19 pandemic by the education system must be 

narrowly tailored to protect the well-being of children 

in different parts of the country. 

Whereas, on June 23, 2020, Drs. Anthony Fauci and Robert 

Redfield testified before the House Committee on Energy 

& Commerce in a hearing entitled ‘‘Oversight of the 

Trump Administration’s Response to the COVID–19 

Pandemic’’; 

Whereas Dr. Fauci is a Doctor of Medicine and has served 

as Director of the National Institute for Allergy and InVerDate Sep 11 2014 01:12 Jun 27, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6300 E:\BILLS\HR1026.IH HR1026

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•HRES 1026 IH 

fectious Diseases at the National Institutes of Health 

since 1984; 

Whereas Dr. Redfield is a Doctor of Medicine and serves as 

Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; 

Whereas, during the hearing on June 23, Representative 

Brett Guthrie (R–KY) asked whether children would be 

able to physically return to schools in August 2020, and 

Dr. Fauci responded by saying it is, ‘‘different whether 

you’re in a New York metropolitan area or Casper, Wyoming. So when you’re asking about schools, you have to 

say ‘where are you talking about?’ because we have different regions, different States, different cities . . . some 

counties may have such a low level of infection that 

schools can open in a way that’s exactly like normal. Others . . . might want to make some modifications . . . You 

want to tailor it, to the degree of viral dynamics in the 

particular location that you’re talking about’’; 

Whereas, during the hearing on June 23, Representative H. 

Morgan Griffith (R–VA) expressed concerns over recommendations related to schools, and Dr. Fauci replied, 

‘‘It’s not one size fits all . . . We often say, ‘in America, 

should you or should you not be open.’ That’s almost a 

non-question, because we’re such a large country and so 

heterogeneous and [are experiencing] such a range of involvement of this virus in different parts of the country’’; 

Whereas, during the hearing on June 23, Dr. Fauci agreed 

with statements made by Representative Kurt Schrader 

(D–OR) that a COVID–19 vaccine is ‘‘one of many tools 

in the toolbox’’ and it would be ‘‘a terrible miscalculation 

on the part of many Americans’’ to believe it is best that 


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•HRES 1026 IH 

everyone ‘‘stay home, not go to work, not send [kids] to 

school’’; 

Whereas the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention 

never made a widespread recommendation that all school 

districts across the country should close due to concerns 

about COVID–19; 

Whereas, during the hearing on June 23, Dr. Redfield agreed 

with Representative Schrader’s assessment of the ‘‘reality’’ that children are unlikely to maintain distancing of 

6 feet at school and that transporting children to schools 

while allowing only one child to sit in each row on buses 

is impossible for most jurisdictions; 

Whereas Representative Schrader labeled CDC recommendations pertaining to the opening of schools ‘‘pie in the sky 

perfection recommendations that have no chance in hell 

of actually happening at the local level’’ due to lack of 

funding and human nature, and indicated a need for 

more realistic recommendations; 

Whereas, in the hearing on June 23, witnesses and Members 

of the Committee agreed that, ‘‘If we have kids not going 

to school, we run the huge risk of the wealthy kids getting a great education online . . . and the lower income 

kids get[ting] no education’’; 

Whereas, at the hearing on June 23, Dr. Redfield testified 

schools should be closed ‘‘jurisdiction by jurisdiction, 

when we see issues in the schools’’ and the focus in the 

fall must be ‘‘the consequences of this virus,’’ which are 

‘‘mortality, hospitalization, the economy’’; and 

Whereas, at the hearing on June 23, Dr. Redfield testified 

‘‘we need to open our schools’’ under realistic recommendations addressing ‘‘how we expect those schools 


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•HRES 1026 IH 

to act based on the consequences of what we think this 

virus is going to pay for those individuals in schools. It 

doesn’t mean we don’t have to be vigilant about protecting the vulnerable . . . But no longer does that mean 

we have to shut down schools, shut down the economy’’: 

Now, therefore, be it 

1 Resolved, 

2 (1) That the consequences of remaining out of 

3 school are different for children of varying geo4 graphic regions or economic status; and 

5 (2) that because of the size and the hetero6 geneity of the United States, and of various regions 

7 within individual states, decisions related to the 

8 opening and operations of school districts are best 

9 made at the local level, informed by contempora10 neous expert opinion and data. 

Æ 


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