Washington, D.C.-Today, Energy and Commerce Committee Republican Leader Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-WA) released the following statement about the Centers of Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) updated COVID-19 guidelines:
“The CDC’s new guidance continues to ignore the science that cloth masks in schools don’t work and children are at low risk from COVID-19. Any sort of masking requirements shouldn’t be a condition of in-person learning. What will it take for the CDC to take children’s overall wellbeing and development into account for public health guidance? Doing so would go a long way in rebuilding trust and confidence in their work.
“At this point in the pandemic, as it should have been all along, the American people should be trusted to make the best decisions for themselves and their families. Yet, the CDC has repeatedly hidden data and selectively released information. To repair its broken credibility, the CDC needs to be honest and fully transparent. Along with these new guidelines, I urge Director Walensky to open her agency up and produce all the COVID-19 data she has that informs her decision making. That includes the underlying data of the notorious and discredited Arizona study that she is still relying on to force children to wear masks. Withholding data is more than just unscientific-it’s an abuse of power.
“Governors like Jay Inslee must also stop the madness of relying on CDC guidelines to bully schools, override local decisions, and keep masks on kids. Leaders must listen to the parents and students who are saying enough.
“Finally, I continue to urge President Biden to provide a plan to unwind his administration’s public health emergency powers. It’s time to unwind this pandemic of bureaucracy, get government out of the way, and give Americans their freedom back."
