Title: 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.
Policy area: Education

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.

[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Res. 1026 Introduced in House (IH)]

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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) 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 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?' 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 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 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
    Resolved,
            (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.
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