Political Quotes

“the role of Federal funding to schools for COVID relief is to help support our schools in implementing public health protocols aligned with local public health guidance in order to safely reopen. The President has made clear that he would like the vast majority of K-8 schools to reopen in the next 100 days, but any amendment offered today attaching extraneous conditions to those funds is simply a political show. If we withhold funds and schools cannot implement health safety protocols, then we are acting counter to actually getting students back into the classroom. Making sure our Nation's educators receive a vaccine is an important step; however, vaccinations are just one piece of safely transitioning back. Safely reopening schools means providing schools the resources to implement public health protocols, physical distancing, consistent mask-wearing, ventilation, testing, and contact tracing. This amendment would prohibit schools from getting critical resources to implement those public health protocols, and, as a result, this amendment would make that much harder for schools to reopen for in-person instruction. The best way for our schools to reopen as soon as possible is to give schools the resources they need. I urge my colleagues to oppose this amendment.”