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Washington, D.C. — U.S. Senator Marco (R-FL) joined Trey Gowdy on Fox News Primetime to discuss the need to reopen schools. See below for highlights and watch the video here.

On the need to reopen schools ASAP and the opposition of the Chicago teachers’ union: 
 
“Let me first say — like your wife and so many others including members of my own family — there are teachers working all across America. I don’t even blame many of the individual teachers… and I would imagine there are many who are members of that union who teach in that system in Chicago that do want to go back and understand it. I think obviously the union there has a different agenda. I think what is most concerning is leaders that aren’t willing to confront them like at the White House. 
 
“In the middle of a pandemic, like all public policy, we have to balance costs and we have to balance benefits, the costs and benefits of doing everything. At this point, all kinds of people are back to work, and you try to make it as safe as possible, and you try to mitigate as much as possible. But ultimately the science has now told us — and that’s what we’ve been told we need to listen to — for months that it’s safe to go back to school even if teachers haven’t been vaccinated. We also can see the societal impact that it’s having. You’re never going to make up for the loss of these learning gains… and not to mention the social impact that it is having on kids, in many cases isolated in their room for hours.
 
“That’s why I’m proposing an amendment — and the senate is voting here tonight — and I have an amendment that says, at this point, no federal dollars should be going to any district that isn’t offering some sort of in person learning option to their students… If a teacher has a pre-existing condition, that’s a different situation. But by and large we have got to begin to get kids back in classrooms everywhere in this country. You are never going to get back those years, and we are already seeing the impact it’s having on mental health, social well-being and the impact it’s having on families.” 
 
On President Joe Biden’s response to the unions’ refusal to return to school: 
 
“Look, here’s what it is. [President Biden] doesn’t want to line up against the teachers union. These are powerful unions that are a big part of the Democratic base, they were big supporters of his campaign, and he doesn’t want to go crossways with them. I mean, there’s politics involved here. He doesn’t want to get cross with this union that he considers to be a key part of his political support. And that’s what’s winning out at this moment, and that’s why he’s afraid to say it. But I mean, even the mayor of Chicago today called out the union. 
 
“And I would just say this — there are schools across this country that are open safely. Are the incidences of cases zero? No, of course not, that’s not true anywhere. But all across America, in every profession, from the cashier at the supermarket, the people picking up the garbage, the firefighters, police officers, nurses and doctors — everyone is back to work… And we want absolutely to make schools as safe as possible in terms of how we reopen them. But what we can’t do is go another year, or even another month — in my opinion, another week! — without kids being able to have some in-classroom, in-person instruction, or you are going to see thousands, maybe millions, of young Americans in this generation who are going to be damaged in terms of their learning and their social development in ways that may be irreversible.”