Emergency Security Supplemental to Respond to January 6th Appropriations Act, 2021

Floor Speech

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Mrs. BLACKBURN. Mr. President, I am pleased to come and join my colleagues on the floor today and have a discussion about what is taking place here in this Capitol Building.

Now, my colleague from Utah just mentioned something that I think is so important: being able to disagree agreeably, having a difference of opinion, and showing respect to other people.

This Nation has remained strong and vibrant and free because we believe in robust, respectful, bipartisan debate. We do not lock up or silence or push or disappear people who disagree with us and our beliefs--and what we see happening in the House, where the Capitol Police would have the ability to haul staffers and visitors to jail for their decision not to wear a mask.

Now, think about that. It would be not wearing a mask--a choice, making a choice to not wear a mask. So it is important for us to realize this is a difference of opinion.

We have told the American people: Get vaccinated. I have chosen to be vaccinated. So have most of my family. Get the vaccine. That is kind of like your ticket to freedom from wearing a mask, if you choose. You don't have to put that mask on if you get vaccinated.

But now what are we hearing? Masks are coming back. The science is very divided on the value of a mask. Is it just to protect you? Is it to protect others? Do masks serve as a disincentive for people to actually get the vaccine? Which is what we have encouraged people to do: Talk to your physician, make certain the vaccine is right for you, and get the vaccine so you don't have to wear the mask.

Now, one of the things that we know is this: COVID is here to stay. We are going to continue to have COVID-19 in our presence. We know that, but we also know that this that is happening today is not necessarily about masks. This is about continuing to perpetrate these lockdowns; that we have had a series of lockdowns and scares and things where we are pulling back on freedom and giving power to the government and lessening the ability for individual choices. That is what this is about.

There is no deliberation that appears to have gone into this newest mandate from the Speaker of the House, but you don't need deliberation when you have decided that you can just resort to threats such as this: locking up staffers and visitors if they do not wear a mask on the House side.

Just over the past few days, we have seen high-profile Democrats buying right into this new tactic. Here is some of what we have been hearing. And, you know, as a mom and a grandmom, I hear a lot from moms and grandmoms. And my text threads and email and phone calls--Mr. President, you just wouldn't even believe it. They feel like our colleagues across the aisle are just forgetting that science-- science--has weighed in on this issue.

And now they are hearing these threats, threatening to keep our children out of school, not letting them go back to school in September. We don't need to go to school. Teachers unions, not sure they want to go back to school in September. But, oh, by the way, if you do go back to school, they might want to put your children in masks.

Children, little kids in school, we have heard it from pediatricians, we have all read the articles--there are truly some adverse side effects to little children being told to wear a mask every day. There are physical, there are emotional, there are psychological adverse effects to these children--not mentioning some I have heard from pediatricians about the danger of children not knowing how to wear the mask. And they touch the mask, and then they put a dirty mask back up over their nose and their mouth and the concerns that that brings.

What we are hearing about our children in school is of tremendous concern to the moms who are out there. We are hearing they are threatening families and small businesses with yet another lockdown to come.

I have a lot of friends who are in the retail industry. And right now, you know what they are doing? They are beginning to get in merchandise for the fourth quarter. They have used their lines of credit to make certain there is merchandise in their stores.

These are mom-and-pop stores. These are small businesses. They are on Main Street in every small town in this country, just like they are in Tennessee. And the decisions that are being made here make them very nervous and very uncomfortable because they are thinking: All right. What if we go into a lockdown? What if people can't get into my store? And here I have finally made it through COVID and I am looking forward to a good fourth quarter, and now we are getting this kind of information out of Washington, DC.

All of this is not rational. There is no evidence--none--to suggest that yet another about-face on masking is going to keep people healthier, is going to make them healthier. There is no evidence for that.

So let's call it what it is. This is leftwing hysteria. This is hysteria. Frighten people. Make them think a lockdown is coming. Make them think things are worse than what they are.

No. This is the United States of America. We do not lock up people we disagree with. We don't push forward with this type of activity. We don't silence our opponents. We believe in free speech. We believe in individuals being able to make their choices.

And I think that it is fair to say what the Speaker of the House has done is not trusting the science that brought us this vaccine. And thank goodness President Donald Trump brought about Operation Warp Speed and issued a challenge to our Federal Agencies, issued a challenge to our pharmaceutical companies, and said: Let's see if we can find a way to defeat this virus.

There is a vaccine there. I think what you see happening with the Democrats and with the Speaker of the House is what we in Tennessee call having a good old-fashioned come-apart because they are not getting their way.

And the American people do not believe that they are getting serious about doing serious business that the American people want to see: addressing out-of-control spending, addressing the needs of this country

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