Further Additional Extending Government Funding Act

Floor Speech

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Mr. KAINE. Mr. President, I rise to speak in opposition to Senator Cruz's amendment, No. 4927.

Everyone in this body who attended school in the United States had to get vaccines to attend school--measles, mumps, rubella, polio, chickenpox. Everyone in this body who sent a child to school in the United States had to make sure that they got their children vaccinated.

Is that because of a big Federal mandate? No.

All 50 States--Utah, Texas, New York, Maine, Washington, Rhode Island, Wisconsin, Virginia--embraced their own vaccine mandates--all 50. There are some variations. Iowa doesn't mandate a mumps vaccine, and Virginia mandates a human papillomavirus vaccine, but we leave it up to local school boards and State superintendents of instruction to decide if a vaccine is warranted.

This is unprecedented in this body, an effort by the Federal Government to force local school boards and State superintendents of instruction to not have a vaccine mandate at the cost of taking money away from the students and the teachers and the parents.

In Virginia, parents very strongly support vaccination of children. Why would we not listen to parents? Why would we not listen to the local school boards that are hearing from parents about this?

I urge my colleagues to reject a massive Federal overreach that would disempower school boards and States and take funding away from their children's education.

Please vote no on the Cruz amendment.
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