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 Infectious 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? 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. 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 a terrible miscalculation on the part of many Americans 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 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 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 the consequences of this virus, mortality, hospitalization, the economy Whereas, at the hearing on June 23, Dr. Redfield testified we need to open our schools how we expect those schools 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 (1) That the consequences of remaining out of school are different for children of varying geographic regions or economic status; and (2) that because of the size and the heterogeneity of the United States, and of various regions within individual states, decisions related to the opening and operations of school districts are best made at the local level, informed by contemporaneous expert opinion and data.

Summary: This resolution states that the (1) consequences of remaining out of school are different for children of varying geographic regions or economic status, and (2) decisions related to opening and operating school districts should be made at the local level and be informed by expert opinion and data.