Providing for Consideration of H.R. Guard and Reserve Gi Bill Parity Act of Providing for Consideration of H.R. Ensuring Veterans' Smooth Transition Act; and for Other Purposes

Floor Speech

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Mr. TIFFANY. Madam Speaker, I want to say thank you to the gentleman from Pennsylvania for a few minutes here. I appreciate it.

Madam Speaker, I rise to oppose the previous question and in support of the Reopen Schools Act. We are hearing today that, in terms of priorities here, what could be more important than schools and getting our schools open with the damage that has been done over the last couple years?

During the early days of the pandemic many schools across the country were shuttered. But now some 2 years in, I believe we have the tools and resources to keep our schools open--something we all know is in the best interest of our kids.

Since March of 2020, the Federal Government has provided $190 billion in pandemic aid to schools to upgrade their mitigation systems and get kids back in the classrooms safely. Unfortunately, last week the teachers union in Chicago decided to walk out on their students. The standoff has kept 340,000 students--the third largest school system in the United States--out of the classroom. Worryingly, we are now seeing other teachers unions across the country looking to follow their lead and pushing for a return to remote learning.

So our colleague across the aisle here asked: What are we railing against?

Aren't we in support of local control?

Of course we are. But what we are seeing in the State of Wisconsin now is that the Department of Health Services, at the behest of the Governor, is pushing for more restrictions. A letter just went out today to all school districts across the State of Wisconsin: You should be putting more restrictions in place.

It is very similar to what the Centers for Disease Control has done. It is extremely hard for someone at the local level to simply stand up against this onslaught of regulations and suggestions that you have to do this otherwise children are going to be damaged.

How are you going to stand up against that when you are just a small, local school district?

Even the Education Secretary, Miguel Cardona, took a stand by saying that students have suffered enough and schools should stay open. I agree.

Last year's school closures were extremely hard on parents and students leading to significant learning loss. That is a scenario we cannot afford to repeat this academic year. We owe it to our kids to get back to in-person instruction. H.R. 682 ensures that the additional $190 billion in pandemic aid actually goes towards what it was intended: getting kids back in the classroom.

Madam Speaker, I just want to close by saying this: I remember back in April of 2020, a couple weeks into the shutdowns and lockdowns, we knew whom this was going to affect the most, and we knew that children are at very low risk.

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Mr. TIFFANY. In fact, the head of the CDC at that time, Dr. Redfield, said that kids should be back in school. They are at less risk than the cold and flu with COVID. Kids should be back in school.

Madam Speaker, I urge defeat of the previous question so we can consider this critical piece of legislation put forward by the gentlewoman from Iowa.

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