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 well- 
being 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) sub-
mitted 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 In-
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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 Preven-
tion; 
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, Wyo-
ming. So when you’re asking about schools, you have to 
say ‘where are you talking about?’ because we have dif-
ferent 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. Oth-
ers . . . 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 rec-
ommendations 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 in-
volvement 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 ‘‘re-
ality’’ 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 recommenda-
tions 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 get-
ting 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 rec-
ommendations addressing ‘‘how we expect those schools 
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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 pro-
tecting the vulnerable . . . But no longer does that mean 
we have to shut down schools, shut down the economy’’: 
Now, therefore, be it 
Resolved, 
(1) That the consequences of remaining out of 
school are different for children of varying geo-
graphic regions or economic status; and 
(2) that because of the size and the hetero-
geneity 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 contempora-
neous expert opinion and data. 
Æ 
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