Tim Kaine: “I rise in opposition to S.J. Res. 37, which we are now considering and which we will vote on at 5:30. This is a…”

“I rise in opposition to S.J. Res. 37, which we are now considering and which we will vote on at 5:30. This is a resolution that would use the CRA process to undo the CDC guidance requiring use of masks on transportation: planes, buses, trains, and some transportation hubs. I think this is an issue that should be discussed, and, possibly, to use a medical metaphor, a scalpel should be used to make it just right. Unfortunately, the CRA process is a meat cleaver, and this is not the kind of thing we should be using a meat cleaver against. If S.J. Res. 37 passes, it could lead us to be extremely vulnerable if there were a resurge in coronavirus cases, as we are seeing in other nations like Germany. Let me explain. The CDC imposed a mandate to wear masks on transportation in February of 2021--again, planes, buses, trains, and train and bus stations, as well as airports. We all know that the CDC has recently examined the caseload of COVID- 19 in the country and dropped their mask recommendations for most of the Nation. About 98 percent of the American population now live in communities where there is no mask recommendation, thank goodness--not even indoors. That is great. But in some parts of the country, some parts of my Commonwealth, infection rates are still so high that the mask recommendation for wearing indoors is still one that the CDC strongly recommends. The CDC mandate, with respect to masks on transportation, was set to expire on March 18, Friday.…”