Political Quotes

“I thank the gentleman for yielding, and I thank the gentleman for his leadership on this important issue. I think it is something that America needs to talk about, and I am glad we are talking about it on the floor of the people's House. During the COVID shutdowns, more than 600,000 businesses shut their doors. This is 200,000 more businesses than typically close in a year due to natural market influences. Unsurprisingly, many of these most severe lockdowns across the country were implemented by liberal Governors who caved to fearmongering and hostility to former President Trump. To be clear, I recognize the dangers posed by this virus. However, reactionary and overreaching shutdowns significantly worsened the impacts of COVID on our Nation. One of the most glaring examples of these negative impacts has been on our children who missed a year or more of in-person education because their schools were closed. The resilience and creativity of many teachers to adjust to these tragic circumstances are admirable. However, the reality is that these closures resulted in deteriorating mental health among students and less effective educational environments for children across America. Importantly, these shutdowns disproportionately affected children with disabilities, minority students, and students facing economic hardships. America is beyond ready to reopen.…”