Washington, DC - Energy and Commerce Committee Republican Leader Cathy Rodgers (R-WA) delivered remarks at the beginning of today’s House Committee on Energy and Commerce markup.
“Thank you, Mr. Chair. I’ll start with a reminder of why we came together last year in a bipartisan way for COVID relief.
“Five separate times, we upheld the rich history of bipartisan work on Energy and Commerce.
“We appealed to the better angels among us, and we plowed the hard ground to legislate and deliver relief to people in desperate need.
“Why? It was for families like Shannon’s in Spokane Valley.
“These are her three children. Two are homeschooled. One is in public school. Shannon says virtual school is nothing like homeschool. Her daughter is in hybrid learning. She’s falling behind.
“Shannon coaches young athletes too. She told me, “young people in our state have been neglected. They’ve been ignored. Told they aren’t important."
“Her daughter’s friend tried to end her own life.
“I’ve heard the same from a mental health therapist in Eastern Washington. Her caseload is up 75 percent. In 10 days, seven teens reported self harm and suicide attempts. All seven had zero history but the isolation took a severe toll.
“For the health of our kids, parents like Shannon are anxious for America to crush this pandemic. I am too. We all want it to end for the health and wellness of our communities-so our kids are back in school, people are back to work, and everyone who wants and needs a vaccine gets one.
“That’s why we worked together to spur the fastest possible development of vaccines. It’s why we came together 5 times to deliver the largest recovery package in American history.
“Unfortunately, the Majority today is moving forward with a hyper-partisan process. I’m disappointed.
‘I’m disappointed this was drafted in secret without us, disappointed it was released at 10 pm Tuesday, disappointed with headlines like this: ‘Inside Bidenworld’s plan to punish the GOP for opposing Covid relief.’
“Playing politics, scoring points when many are in despair… it’s unacceptable. It doesn’t help the recovery effort when accountability is lacking and when trust is broken.
“The Majority has shared no information about how many jobs this will create, how many vaccines it will get into people’s arms, or how quickly we can reopen schools.
“I’ve made it clear to Chair Pallone that we want to work with the Majority on more targeted relief. You told me you had every expectation Energy and Commerce would continue its strong bipartisan tradition.
“I’m disappointed this is not the case today. It’s a missed chance for this committee and all its duly elected members to lead for families like Shannon’s."
