On the recordFebruary 4, 2021
In the course of the last year, more than 425,000 Americans died. We all know the story, and we know it personally. Elected officials at every level have been called on to respond to this pandemic. Mayors and Governors have had to make critical public health choices they didn't believe they would ever face in their professional lives. They had to decide whether certain businesses would be opened or closed, when to open and close schools, whether or not they would have churches that would be open. It was a myriad of opportunities to make the right decision or the wrong decision. Some of them learned the hard way. Some were courageous; some were not. Some listened to the scientific community and some ignored it. But I believe most of them tried to do their best. Sadly, when it was all said and done, many made wrong decisions in terms of when to open and how many people to allow in certain places. It was just a fact of life--a novel coronavirus--and they were trying to respond to infection and death. Sadly, what the Senator from Oklahoma is charging is if there was a discrimination against a church in the process-- The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator's time has expired.
