on the democrat's bill. a final passage of the bill is expected on c-span. are debatinghey the defense program bill. chinapan3 at 9:30 a.m., positivist national security law in hong kong -- there is a hearing on china's national security law in hong kong. live on c-span.org, the how small business committee holds a hearing on the economic injury disaster loan program, which provides an advance of up to $10,000 for small businesses who have lost income due to the pandemic. eastern, the house select committee on intelligence except u.s. china relations and the impact on national security and intelligence. in one hour, michigan

representative debbie dingell discusses the latest on the u.s. response to the coronavirus pandemic. at 8:30, more on the federal response to the coronavirus pandemic with indiana congressman larry bushong. shon.rry buc ♪ morning.d it is wednesday, july 1, 2020. the senate is set to return at 9:30 a.m. eastern and the house at 9:00 a.m., joins we will be with you for the next two hours on "washington journal." we begin with the question on what schools will look like this fall. with some universities and k-12 districts beginning to roll out reopening plans, we want to hear what you think. how should schools reopen? full lines are different this morning. parents can call (202)-748-8000. teachers, (202)-748-8001. a line for school administrators, (202)-748-8002.

all others can call in at (202)-748-8003. you can also send a text to that number also, (202)-748-8003. social media, you can catch us on twitter at --@cspanwj and on facebook at facebook.com/c-span. morning.od wednesday you can go ahead and start calling in now as we begin with some of yesterday's hearing before the senate health education, labor and pension committee. senator lamar alexander the chairman of the committee convening a hearing yesterday on school reopening's. this is what he had to say about the disruption that has been caused by school closures around the country. [video clip] alexander: among the casualties of this dangerous and very sneaky covid-19 virus other 75 million students who were sent home from school and college in march. add to the casualties the

teachers who were not prepared to teach remotely and the working parents who suddenly had children at home and who were not prepared to homeschool, add the lost sports seasons and the once-in-a-lifetime graduation opportunities, than there were unprecedented dilemmas for administrators in inadequate school budgets. being sent home from school does not rank with the sickness and the death that the virus has caused. the united states has over 2.5 million cases of the virus and over 125,000 deaths, according to johns hopkins. while states and communities continue to take action to keep people safe, nothing was more , andptive to american life nothing would headed back toward normalcy more rapidly, then for those 135,000 public and private schools and 6000 colleges to reopen this fall. host: senator lamar alexander yesterday morning. among those who testified that

yesterday's hearing, dr. anthony fauci, the director at the national institute of allergy and infectious diseases. this is part of what he had to say to senators about his advice on how schools should be inking about reopening. [video clip] what would your advice be to a school superintendent about what he or she should be thinking about as children go back to school in a few weeks to keep them safe? mr.fauci: thank you, chairman. it is an important question i think we need to point out that it really will depend on the dynamics of the outbreak and the particular location where the school is, and one of the things we want to emphasize and have been emphasizing is to take a look at where you are in the particular area of the so-called opening america again. are you at the gateway phase one, phase two, phase three? the cdc has guidelines about the

opening of schools in various stages of those checkpoints. the basic fundamental goal would can to getossibly the children back to school and to use the public health efforts as a tool to help get children back to school. let me explain what i mean. in other words, if we adhere to guidelines of what we have heard in many of these presentations you just heard about the physical distance in the community, the use of masks, things like that, that will help to keep the level of infection in the community down, which will then make it easy to get the children back to school. if you are in an area where you have a certain amount of infection dynamics, there are things that can creatively be done about modifying things like the school schedule, alternate days, morning versus evening,

allowing under certain circumstances online, virtual lessons. those are the kinds of things we , but alsonsider importantly, also make the call that it is very important to get the children back to school for the unintended negative consequences that occur when we keep them out of school. dr. anthony fauci before laborlp senate -- health pensions committee. we will show you more clips in the first hour of "washington journal," as we ask and hear from you on how schools should reopen in the fall. we are talking about colleges and universities, as well as k-12. phone lines split up differently. parents (202)-748-8000. teachers, (202)-748-8001. administrators, (202)-748-8002. all others, (202)-748-8003.

brian is on the line for administrators, woodbridge, virginia. what kind of school are you an administrator at? caller: it is a private school. a tutor in anthropological science. you talk about school reopening's, how do we do this? caller: first of all, this virus is very sneaky. when we come to the first door, there have to be washing stations right at the front door, or they are escorted to the restrooms and disinfect their hands before they get to touch any surfaces in the school. that has to be supervised by all .evels teenagers and colleges have to do the same. the classroomse

eachielded, after classroom is empty, they have to have professional cleaners disinfect those areas through the day. then after the school is closed and everybody declares it is over, they have to go in and do that, as well, and social distance and mask wearing through the day. 50%the population has to be capacity or less, which means you have to alternate days. that is the only way to defeat the virus because a study mutated it. after we get it back soon, the covid virus is attaining faster than the regular influenza virus. host: with all of those things you are talking about, schools needing to do, how do they pay for this? how much do you think it is going to cost to institute all of those things and get it ready by the fall? caller: of course, the cost will there, but it is kind of like

the cost of repairing the roof on your house. it is really not an option. you best start looking creatively at how to finance. as they come up with aggressively creative ways to finance rich people and corporations, when they don't even have to do anything with it.ayer money when they get you subsidize it with an open check in then we complain about people subsidizing their businesses, but at least the other subsidies and other international people so you have got to do this for your taxpayer money.if you do not do this, you do not get the taxpayer money. host: thanks for the call from woodbridge, virginia. some estimates on what it might cost to reopen schools under new guidelines and restrictions, new safety measures, this from early last month projection by the american federation of teachers. they estimated that america's k-12 schools will be an average

of $1.2 million each to reopen. $116stimate totaling over billion. that number lower than a separate projection that came out from the school superintendent association, the association of school business officials, international. that put the cost at closer to $1.8 million for the average sized school in this country. taking your phone calls, asking you what you think school reopening would look like. what should it look like in your mind? lacey, bristol, tennessee, you are next. caller: good morning. day,ten to c-span every and i respect c-span a lot because they are about the only neutral news media that i know of. while i think about the schools, i think they should reopen as soon as possible. if you might allow me to get out subject. host: let's stick on this

subject. why's it so important to open as soon as possible? there are more people calling for homeschooling. perhaps until there is a vaccine is out there. caller: i agree with that, too, but the thing of it is, we really -- the reason i say possibly as i do not know what will happen between now and the first of september or last august. i do not know what might happen. i agree with homeschooling part. i say as quickly as possible. host: thanks for the call from bristol, tennessee. a few comments from facebook from viewers. saying, when the numbers go down, school should reopen, but since people are opposed to doing anything to get those numbers down, home school. this from kimber, saying they should not reopen in the fall. doug saying, they should reopen carefully with an abundance of common sense.

safety measures should not be dramatized or a source of stress but rather portrayed as routine and the common sense caution approach for the situation. stephanie same, elementary school children should definitely have the least impact. i am ok with no masks, but keep teachers screened and home of sick. increase handwashing. i really do not want my first grader wear a mask and stay awake from his friends. that is unnatural and damaging, and children run a low risk. a few comments. you can join us via social media or call in on the different phone lines. parents, (202)-748-8000. teachers, (202)-748-8001. administrators, (202)-748-8002. all others, (202)-748-8003. one article in "the new york times," on the topic, noting the differing opinions out there. the centers for disease control and prevention has advised that

remote learning is the safest option. but the american academy of pediatrics guidelines strongly recommend that students be physically present in school as much as possible and emphasize there are major health and social education risks to keeping children at home. "the new york times" interview dr. sean o'leary, a pediatrics infectious disease specialist, who helped write the american academy of pediatrics guidelines. manyys, "as pediatricians, of us recognize the impact of having schools closed even for a couple of months had on children. at the same time, a lot of us are parents and we experience our kids doing online learning. there was not really a lot of learning happening. now we are seeing studies documenting this, schools being home led to increases in behavioral health problems, increased rates of abuse. this virus is different from most of the respiratory viruses we deal with every year. school aged kids clearly play a role in driving influenza rates and communities. that does not seem to be the

case with covid-19, and it seems like in counties where they have a reopen of schools plays a much smaller role in driving the spread of disease that we would expect." if you want to read more of the interview about the american academy of pediatrics recommendations, today's "new york times." on the line for parents, denise, oakdale, california. thanks for getting up early. caller: first about, i would like to say that just about every parent i talked to is not about to send their kids to school with all the masks and everything else they want them to do, ok? are the parents you talk to willing to do? ok, well, second of all, i don't know what any parent would want to send their kids back to school after seeing what the democrats have done to all of these college kids, having them terrorize the whole country. they are training them to be communist nazis.

you know? i would not trust him with my kids at all. host: denise in california. this is daniel in arlington, virginia, also on the line for parents. how old are your kids? caller: i have three daughters, four, three, and two. they are not really old enough to go to school, but i am a parent, so i can give a little context here. i personally do not see an issue with kids going back to school. i am young enough to know what it is like to grow up with the internet, and i know what it is like to stay-at-home too much. i just do not see the value in kids getting their schooling from a computer. i understand it can work, but there are a million different ways to cheat school when you are at home and no one is watching you. you can look up all the answers online, and no kids are going to learn anything.

host: does your four-year-old go to preschool? caller: not yet. we keep him at home, but it has nothing to do with covid-19. to speak of the virus, i will say this, we are starting to learn a lot more about the virus. the cdc, i think they recently came out and said there may be 10 times as many people out there who have the virus. really what that tells you is a mortality rate is lower than what we realize. that the virus is actually not as dangerous as you think, and that there are a lot more people, the way they are counting the deaths -- are you aware of how they are considering a cobra death? -- a covid death? host: it is something we have talked about and there are concerns on what counts and what does not. caller: they are counting every death, anybody who has covid-19 when they die, regardless of the cause of death, they are counting that as a covid death, and that is fishy to me.they are also doing presumed

covid deaths. so they don't have to test them. if they think they died of covid-19, the market as a covid death. so we don't really know how many are out there, real numbers. there are also false positives with the tests out there. somewhere around 50% of the positive tests that come out could be false, so it was recommended anyone with a positive test should take another one to make sure they are actually positive for covid. host: which do you believe from what you just spoke about? the fact that there could be 10 times as many people infected as we have confirmed or that confirmed cases may not be believable? caller: i do not really know. that is the thing. but i will say this, if there are 10 times as many people with covid-19, then it really is not as bad as we think. many people are not showing symptoms. i think some of -- and i will say it is hysteria at the worst.

some of the issues with covid-19's we are so tapped into each other's social lives on the internet, and everyone has access to everything at the drop of a hat. it really just fed into this feverish scare of the virus. there is a lot of mis- information out there and countries who wish harm, like russia. how do we know what we are reading on the internet is not some guy in russia trying to stir us up and take our economy further? these are all things we need to pay attention to. in that regard, we cannot lock our kids up in our houses constantly. host: that is daniel in arlington, virginia. this is jay in woodbridge, virginia, also on the line for parents. help old are your children? caller: 13 and 12. as a parent and health care provider, my kids will not attend any of the openings of the school. it is too soon. being a parent and a health care, i have seen what it causes

on the people affected with this virus. it is devastating. we do not even know what would be the side effect. what would be the aftermath after they recover if you get infected with this virus. three years from now, what will be the complications that may arise from this virus? we need to take our time to protect our kids, our communities from this virus. host: when will you be ready to send your kids back, after they get a vaccine? caller: most likely next year. host: you are talking about fall of 2021? caller: correct. host: that is jay in which bird, virginia -- woodbridge, virginia. on the line for teachers, francis, virginia. what grade do you teach? ander: i teach as a tutor

all grade levels, but i have been a teacher for 40 years. i am really concerned when we go back to school because when we left in spring break, the children at my school did not even know americans hated each other. and now the press has pushed it usest until -- pushed it on until i'm concerned the kids and ho they would feel about each other when they get back to school. host: yesterday's hearing before laboralth, education, and pensions committee held a hearing on how to get kids back to school. we are showing you some clips. one more, senator rand paul about what we should think about when it comes to getting kids back to school. [video clip] sen. paul: i think government health experts during the pandemic need to show caution in their prognostications. it is important to realize that

a society meekly submits to an expert and that expert is wrong and a great deal of harm may when we allow one man's policy or one group of small men and women to be voicing it on an entire nation. take for example government experts to continue to call for schools and daycare to stay closed, or they recommend restrictions that make it impossible for a school to function. for a time, there may not have been enough formation on coronavirus and children, but now there is. acrossre examples from the united states and across the world that show that young children rarely spread the virus. let's start in europe. 22 countries have reopened their schools and have seen no discernible increases in cases. these graphs behind me show no search warrant schools open. the redline is where the schools open. there is data from austria, belgium, france, germany,

netherlands, no spike when schools are opened. contact tracing studies in china, iceland, britain, and the netherlands failed to find a single case of child to adult infection. here at home, child care for essential workers continues to be available in some states through the pandemic. brown university researchers collected data on daycare that remained open during the pandemic. over 25,000 kids in their study and found only .16 percent got covid. when you looked at the confirmed cases for staff, there was about 1% of more than 9000 staff. the ymca also has put forth statistics. 40,000 kids at 1100 sites and there were no reports of coronavirus outbreaks or clusters. a doctor of johns hopkins writes "there was converging evidence that the coronavirus does not

transmit among children like the flu, that it is a lower risk." the american academy of pediatrics said yesterday that we have got to get kids back in school. we want them physically present in school. they even cite mounting evidence that children are less likely to contract the virus. ultimately, this all comes down to the fatal conceit that theral planners have knowledge to come out and tell a nation what they can and cannot do. host: senator rand paul, republican of kentucky, yesterday on capitol hill. here is the news out of arizona when it comes to scullery openings. "his in today's "usa today. untila will delay schools august 17, according to the governor. the governor announced extra funding for k-12 schools last week to help with the pandemic related issues, but other school leaders criticized the move

because it prevented schools from delaying the start dates yonder early august. many schools -- dates beyond early august. lookingools are still at the proposals for opening and the option of online and in person or some combination of the two. with more and more school districts in the country rolling out reopening plans with college students looking at what education will look like on campuses in the fall, asking this morning what you think and how should schools reopen in the fall? charles is on the line for parents in spring hill, tennessee. good morning. you are next. caller: i think that every parent should listen to the experts, not listen to rand paul. rand paul, that was just up again to. rand paul -- rand paul, that was just propaganda. rand paul does not want the experts to warn us of the possibilities based on science. it is a disgrace that some of

educatede need to be withe need to battle foolishlyeople and educated people who are trying to tell us cannot listen to the media telling us the truth, not listen to the scientists. this really is not a debate we should be having. my children will never go back to school until the scientists, doctors, and experts say we think it is ok. there is no debate. this is disheartening to hear people who are supposed to be educated come on air and say silly things based on their beliefs. host: to a topic we brought up already, the centers for disease control and prevention, the experts advised that remote learning is the safest option. but the american academy of pediatricians guidelines strongly recommend students be physically present in the classroom.

so what happens when experts disagree? where do you fall? caller: there are politics behind those two groups. the one to me, the pediatricians, to me, they are not the experts i don't think. i think they are doctors. i notice there are a lot of doctors who are republican. the center for disease me, is far more reputable than pediatricians. that is another common sense call. thank you. host: that was charles in tennessee. this is lupe out of california. good morning. caller: hi, good morning. yeah, i am a mother. my daughter is a schoolteacher and a ymca caretaker, also, after school. they have been going for active seeing and what they are supposed to be doing and

everything -- they are going for practicing and what they are supposed to be doing and everything. she said it is kind of silly right now that they are trying to keep these children in the ymca afterschool. they do not want to wash their hands. they want to play and see their friends. problems witht her kidneys and liver, so she has got to where that mask -- wear that mass, the heavy-duty one. she says, mom, it is so hard and what they are putting together right now is ridiculous because there is no way you can keep these children away from each other. from what she can see in tennessee where she is from, she says that there are no children there that are ill at all, and some around where she lives still play together and they get along just fine. so the children are fine according to the sciences of what they are saying and

everything. there are programs where i live where children are playing together and they are ok, so i do not think it is anything wrong as long as they wear their masks. they make cute masks for the mandel. they washed -- asks for them and i'll. they wash their hands, so let's not fight the children. host: this is cheryl out of nash, texas. caller: good morning, sir. how are you? host: i'm doing well, go ahead. caller: yes, i believe some kids are learning online and i believe some kids are not learning. i do believe that this will give administrators a chance to have small classrooms. also i believe it gives the governors to look at their state and maybe some schools that closed down in small towns, maybe they should look to

opening back up because i believe in small towns, small schools. i believe it would give them a chance to open back up some schools in small towns, where children do not have to be on a bus for more than 10 minutes to get to a larger school. i do believe that the schools should open up, and i believe the governors should look within their state as soon as possible to open up schools that have been closed down to allow parents to let children to go to schools in their small town. host: from small towns to big cities, this is billy in brooklyn. a teacher. what grade do you teach? caller: i am a college professor at a small, private college. host: what is the plan at your college for the fall? caller: well, we are reopening,

, with verynservative conservative and safe social distancing protocols in place. half of the 25 students will be present and gathering in there will and then be final tasks for the other students who will remain at home. oronly half of the students the maximum number of students will not be in place at a given time in a classroom. host: are you comfortable with that? caller: yeah, i think it sounds very safe, actually. and with all the social distancing protocols, it is the primary reason why we failed to mitigate the virus in this country because of the anti-mask thing, it has a strong libertarian that i do not care

about your safety and they are trends ofwith conservative thought in this country. 95% of people around here are wearing masks. it is just a sign of common courtesy that a lot of people do have in their pride or morality to show that basic courtesy. host: billy, thanks from the call from brooklyn. we showed you that clip a couple of minutes ago of rand paul talking about infection and transmission rates among children. senator doug jones of alabama, democratic senator, followed up on rand paul's comments and questioned the panel of the president's coronavirus task force about some of the statistics that rand paul brought up. [video clip] state schoolur superintendent said it would cost about $1.8 million for the

average school system to do the things necessary to protect kids on the faculty. i heard senator paul in his comments and discussing a number of things to where you would get the impression that we could just open schools backup without spending any of that money. so my question primarily to dr. fauci and dr. redfield, could you comment on some of the statistics and things you have heard about children transmitting the disease and whether or not we need to spend expositional moneys for our schools to do things like have hiringpe, potentially additional health officers, temperature screenings and those kind of things? are those going to be necessary based on what i have heard from senator paul and what happened on his charts and other countries? -- ouchi and dr. redfield? dr. fauci and dr. redfield? giveauci: i will quickly

it a shot and handed over to dr. redfield. he don't know -- i think it was showedting mr. paul of not seeing a surgeon cases is important, but we don't really know exactly what that efficiency of spread is. first of all, how many children get infected? that was the reason why my opening statement i mentioned the study that we are doing at lookingof 6000 families at children and the rate of their infection and how often they infect their families. because if it is true that the rate is down, we know that they do not get seriously ill with hospitalizations when they get affected. if the rate of infection is down and they do not readily transmit to their parents and family members, that is going to be very important in the decision-making process of opening schools. hopefully, we are going to find that out reasonably soon by the study we are doing. host: dr. anthony fauci yesterday at that hearing before the senate health, education, labor and pensions committee.

you can keep calling in on the phone lines differently as we ask how school reopening to look in the fall. parents can call in at (202)-748-8000. teachers, (202)-748-8001. administrators, (202)-748-8002. all others, (202)-748-8003. 7:30 on thefter east coast. we are giving you an update on other stories we are tracking, including continued primaries taking place in the country and some news out of colorado of a member of congress who will not be returning in january after losing his primary. congressman scott tipton of colorado, a republican, defeated in his primary by a conservative restaurant tour and gun rights activists. -- the owner of a restaurant in colorado that publicly said they carry

weapons. led in the race and when it was called, the congressman was first elected in 2010 for the rural district. tipton the fourth incumbent to fail to earn renomination, joining a democrat of illinois, steve king of iowa, and the republican of virginia. jamaal bowman was also trailed by eliot engel, and bowman declared victory. also out of colorado, we know who will take on senator cory gardner and the colorado senate race this fall. one of the closely watched races and race that the democrats are targeting. governorr colorado easily dispatching a challenge the left and the left and willn

cory gardner. taken looper leading -- hickenl ooper is leading and the race was called last night and he into the senate race after unsuccessfully running for president. he was endorsed by the democratic senatorial campaign committee. and into the senate was declared the victor. other stories you bill tuesday, abandoning the state flag and stripping the bill tuesday, abandoning the state flag and stripping the confederate battle flag symbol from it, capping a remarkable turnaround on a banner that flew over the state for more than a century. with the move, mississippi will take down one of the most prominent confederate tributes, which is the flight that only bears the emblem, and lawmakers have barred it from including the most recognizable icon of

confederacy. that out of mississippi. and then back up here on capitol other stories you have been following around the country. this from the state of mississippi. governor reeves signed ahill, ta surprise last minute deal late yesterday to extend the small business. program wasection extended until august 8. prospects for the legislation in the house uncertain and they are said to jennifer 82 week recess by weeks end. the short-term agreement came together -- said to adjourn. short-term agreement came top democrats and republicans, among others. the house is set to come in at 9:00 a.m. eastern this morning. we will take you there for live gavel-to-gavel coverage. they are not expected to reconvene for boats until july until july 20. the senate reconvenes at 9:30.

riya is a teacher in washington, d.c., what grade do you teach? caller: i am a special-education education teacher and teach many grades. is not even the best laid out plan can take into account the discontinuity of children. good luck getting them to social distance and keeping them from playing. also, someone mentioned the pediatrician academy comments versus the cdc. here's the thing, children alone will not be going to school. there will be teachers and staff, as well. ptomatic casesm that can spread the virus? until a vaccine is available, stain remote is the safest option. host: before you go, we have talked about essential workers and the people who have been working throughout the pandemic. do you think teachers should be essential workers?

caller: if we talk about reopening in person, absolutely. if we talk about reopening in person. mm-hmm. host: maria, a special education teacher here in washington, d.c.. clay, you are next. caller: thank you for taking my call. yes, i think the schools should reopen on a lower level with small kids. some of them, the only decent meal they get is at school. both parents in many cases are working, so who will mind the kids at home? also, they're going to be running around in the streets, exposed to the virus. as far as the older kids, the college aged and high school kids, if i were in that situation, i would be determined to go back. virusget exposed to the and have symptoms much like the

flu and i would be down for a day or two and then pursue my education. i think it is ridiculous these kids running around. they are going to be exposed to the virus even more so outside of school, which is a much more controlled environment. thank you for taking my call. host: a few more comments from social media and our text messaging service. this is donnie out of louisville , schools should be open like normal. if all these students can get next to each other to protest, they can attend school together. and this from harry in pennsylvania, children could attend in shifts, two weeks on, two weeks off to reduce the burden and allow for additional jobs for teachers and illuminate the extracurricular nonsense and concentrate solely on education and indoctrination is how harry puts it out of mount lebanon, pennsylvania. one story from "the wall street journal" in the opinion pages wo provost and presidents,

respectively of cornell university, and they write about their plans for reopening. this is what they have to say, at colleges, where many students live off compass and leased it off-campus, students are likely to return to the college town even if it is fully online. our surveys indicate as many as 50% of graduates plan to return to ithaca this fall, whether or not cornell is open for residential instruction. if we are full online, they will interact free from virus screenings or behavioral requirements that would be an effective the university were reopened. students who do not live in dormitories are likely beyond the reach of campus regulations. they say universities like cornell make difficult decisions about the fall and it is important to consider the risk of not reopening alongside the opening. studies suggest

that every university is prepared to put in place a comprehensive virus screening program, following quarantine, isolation, and other public health measures, reopening may be the more responsible option." that is from today's "washer journal." danny from farmington, missouri, you are next. caller:. great to hear from you love your show. i am worried about the consciousness of these youngsters. they do not get the experience of what we did. it troubles me. fabric of our constitution. i would love to hear your comments. have a great day. host: we would love to hear comments from viewers around the country. that is what we do on this program every day, keeping calls on phone lines, split up by parents, (202)-748-8000. teachers, (202)-748-8001. administrators, (202)-748-8002.

all others, (202)-748-8003. that is how we will split them up in this hour of caller." charles ndc, -- this hour of "washington journal." charles, a parent in d.c. how are your kids doing? on.er: they are holding it has been tough for my son, who was in the seventh grade and promoted today. i don't think he will be ready. he feels uncomfortable, so it worries me some. however, i think unless there is a really comprehensive plan and how to face the kids because we are social beings, remote would be best. you have a lot of children who live with grandparents, so that would ache them possible carriers -- that would make them possible carriers and you have a lot of seniors in the district. there is so much unknown end treatment or cure, it would be hard to throw them back in there until things improve. host: his remote learning

working well for all three of your children or one or two better than the other? caller: surprisingly, for my daughter, i definitely leave that girls mature rate much faster than boys. host: rich great is she in? the third grader -- which grade is she in, the third-grader? caller: she would be in pre-k three. placementt guaranteed but some parents are able to get their kids in. she loves it. she has not missed a day of school. my son, i can see the difference. i think they know that they are not learning. i think in class, other students asked questions.

you are more responsive and you are able to learn off one another. it is totally different. it is really everything just being placed and i think he is concerned about that. host: good luck to you and your kids. ricky, muskegon michigan. how old are your kids? caller: hello. how are you doing? host: i'm doing well. caller: i have an 11th grader. when this thing happened, she started doing schooling online. she tells me she is doing good. with the kids going back to kids that pass, then the ones who should go back to school, but the kids who pass, they should stay doing school online. distancef you social these kids, it will be a problem. and you are going to have to suremore staff to make

that elementary kids in the junior high kids are washing their hands. because i worked in a school before, too. host: what do you think about the concept of pass and fail in an educational system that has been turned upside down amid the coronavirus of failing a kid who it is not working for online working for them or online learning for them? or concerns from them about access to having a computer to be able to participate in classroom activities? do you think we need to rethink or go easier on the concept of feeling kids right now amid the pandemic? caller: right now, they need to get these kids that are failing back in school. michigan. is ricky in

kevin is next out of ohio. a parent. go ahead. caller: good morning. i would like to just comment that, yeah, we need to get the kids back in school full-time. i do not know about the social distancing and all of that because they are the least effective, but they affect every aspect of everybody's lives, parents and grandparents. if they are not in school, they will possibly be passing the virus. this is not the only virus that we are going to face or have faced in our lifetime. this is the united states of america. we have the best medical technology there is, and they are even confused about what is going on. asymp the population is tomatic. we are so afraid of dying now that we are free to live. i am ashamed of what we are teaching these young people, sitting, cowering in our houses

and closets, while life is passing us by an them, and economically, the whole system is failing. i am all for getting them back and get these kids back and where they are learning and experiencing life. we are so afraid of dying that we are not living anymore. host: susan, a teacher in indiana, pennsylvania. what grade do you teach? caller: social studies high school and junior high. host: how are the kids doing? caller: well, i don't know. i think they respond more to online. it depends on the student. it is individualistic. some students can respond online, especially if their parents are technologically astute. but i worry as a teacher going back to school because we say that the virus transmits more readily inside rather than outside.

in a school situation, you are definitely inside. that is scary to me. i read the statistics. in new york, at least 200 teachers died. they are not putting statistics and on what teachers died in the pandemic or before it, and many did. i think there has to be protections for all teachers, as well as for students. it is very worrisome. host: what protections do you need to walk back into the classroom? caller: cleanliness, masks, possible testing, either random testing or every student testing. distancing,ocial maybe every other day, partly online, partly off-line. definitely to take precautions. host: if your school district did that, you would be ok with going back? caller: i would feel better if school district did that and if i taught the older students, if they would abide by that. sometimes there are behavioral problems where they could use

unmasking, so not every student will abide by that. host: how close is your school district to the plan that you just described to me that would make you feel comfortable? i'm not sure yet because it is still in the works. . i really don't know.i know nurses who go without masks. they were icu nurses. host: susan, thanks for the call. is morgan on twitter saying, school districts are not prepared to open in the fall. the funding has not been appropriated, and we are still in the first wave of covid-19. on the issue of funding, senator yesterdayay tweeting afternoon, while families, schools and students are suffering, republicans want to wait and see before taking action but we do not want to wait and see. we know we need to provide

relief immediately, and she has a new bill on funding, calling it an important first step. my bill would create a fund to support childcare providers and working families and provide k-12 schools with desperately needed funding, providing investments in our higher education system. she said it would also reverse the divorce' attempt to block certain individuals from receiving relief. that was in a series of twe ets. same, evengressman before, they were endangering millions of students and teachers. it is time to modernize our schools and he cites the moving forward act, saying it would make critical investments in making classroom safer. arizona, andy biggs of saying yesterday's announcement that arizona would postponing the fall school semester and it

produced anxiety on whether students would return to school and if so, when? having our children in school is vital for the development. new content from a few members of congress. this is joe out of charleston, south carolina. good morning. you are next. caller: hey, john, how are you doing? john, we have to error on the side of caution. i have an eight-year-old grandson who is brilliant. his grandmother and i are active in his life, and my son and daughter-in-law live close by, and he has been homeschooled since this started. host: eight years old the second grade? caller: yes, he would be going to third. he is performing at the fourth grade level. i'm not too concerned about his education. by the way, his mother is working from home and he is there with her now. there is no issue there now. i went to share a brief story. in response to people who say the call of death statistics are skewed to make it look worse,

which contributes to the hoax, i had a first cousin who was my age who died recently from organ failure. he developed esophageal cancer about 15 years ago. he asked his doctor -- he is a lawyer, very smart, and he was a smoker. he said, does smoking because my cancer? the doctor said i cannot tell you that but i can tell you 90% of the people develop this cancer are smokers. he quit smoking but too late. his cause of death was not cancer. the muscles around his throat quit working, and he could not digest food properly. so for you people who just want to say, hey, this is a hoax. people are not dying from covid-19, they are dying from pneumonia. yet, will let me tell you, you want your child to be the test case? my eight-year-old grandson has asthma and will not be going to school in the fall. his parents are not willing for him to be the test case. are you going to let your precious it'll grow to go to the

hospital and fail to breathe? the experts say, well, she has covid-19. are you going to say, if she dies, well, she did not really dive covid-19, she died of pneumonia? just think about it for a minute. host: sorry for your loss. steve, springfield, new jersey. a teacher. what grade do you teach? caller: good morning, john. being a public school teacher in a different district, we talked about doing alternate great plans with some students going one day and another group going another day and try the virtual learning. one other concern that a lot of people talk about is a lot of teachers in one district may have children that go to another district. their own children may go to another district, so now you have to try and coordinate how your child is going to go and how you are going to teach because teachers are going to have to work every day regardless. like i have a child.

she goes to a school in a different district and i teach in. -- than i teach in. what are her district plans? because every district will have a different plan. host: what has the communication been like from the administration? do you feel comfortable with where they are right now or how they have been communicating with you about the fall? caller: right now, governor murphy gave a blanket plan to all the districts. so the school, you know, we did a survey before we left. we will hear something probably at the end of july, and of august. host: what was the takeaway of the survey? teacher, i said alternate, and as a parent, i say alternate stages. just because i think children do need some socialization. that is a big part of school, socialization. online, it is what it is.

for this school year, it is going to be different. [inaudible] [no audio] caller: some go in the afternoon. maybe a longer day for them if they have to have every other -- [no audio] seat,rson sitting in a and then next to them, they cannot have anybody sitting in the other seat. that is what i feel. host: we had some people call in earlier or one caller say, my kids want to play with their friends.

they will not stay away from each other and they are not wearing masks. do kick kids out of school for not wearing their mask? caller: yes. with grocery stores, my wife works in a grocery store. if a person comes in and is not have a mask on, they will tell them they have to wear a mask. if they do not have one, they give them a mask. host: david in new york. this is bill and college park, maryland, a parent. good morning. caller: good morning. i am a parent of two young ones, not in school but daycare. we pull them out immediately and are fortunate enough to hire a full-time nanny. but i think about all of those parents who have to choose which parent is going to keep their job or not. i am not advocating for reopening the school to early, but i think about a lot of the inequality that can come between people of different means who have access to good internet and

the remote learning opportunities and acquiring computers and a quiet environment and that will create more inequality in society. i don't know. it is a tough spot, but i am grateful to hear about the various stimulus plans for caregivers and for parents who i outk should have been left appropriately because you want to take care of essential workers first, but there are a lot of parents in tough situations because they want to keep their children safe but they also need to work. host: that is bill in college park, maryland.a couple of minutes left in the segment.i didn't want to touch base on other stories this morning. first, the president tweeting several tweets, including focusing on the russian bounties inry on u.s. troops in afghanistan, saying that the russian bounties story is another made up story by the fake news, a tale told only to

damage me in the republican party. thepresident tweeting secret source probably does not exist, just like the story itself. if the discredited "new york times" has a source, the president says, revealed that. just another hoax. times" followed up on the story on the topic, today, focusing on joe biden's speech yesterday in which he story, same this president trump surrender to the coronavirus, as well, and also talking about u.s. troops in afghanistan. that story from "the new york times." we have also tracked the final days of this term of the supreme court. belooks like decisions will handed down in july, something that has not happened a couple of decades. eight more cases left. one came out yesterday, the supreme court delivering what is called a major victory. the parents seeking state aid for their children's religious

school education, the story from richard wolf and "usa today." the conservative majority rolling 5-4 that states offer scholarships to students in private schools cannot exclude religious schools from such programs. the decision written by justice roberts and it stops short of requiring states to fund religious education, rolling programs cannot differentiate between images and secular private schools. it was a decision richard wolf writes that was long sought by proponents of school choice and vehemently opposed by teacher unions who fear it -- time for one or two more phone calls, this is joe, in illinois, a parent, held your kids? caller: good morning. my kids are 15, my daughter is 12 and my son is going into high school from eighth grade and he special needs. it was hard, with everything

going on, he loves scheduling and school and my daughter is in student council. it was really difficult with e-learning for them. not so much for my daughter, but my son, because the scheduling -- everything was turned around, why can't i go here, why can't i do this? and the kids have been pent up for more than five months and it's difficult. i think they should have the , with alternating days like you said, i think that's a good idea. will e-learning be better in the fall? our kids use to it? caller: i think so, they have a handle on it now, but i think it can take a little more. i believe that kids from being in pre-k all the ray -- all the

way to 12th grade, they should have some kind of access to a tablet or chromebook. that should be the mandate throughout the country. that's my comment. host: thank you, we are with you for another hour this morning, coming up, two perspectives on the federal response to the joinedirus, we will be by congresswoman debbie dingell, a democrat of michigan, and ,ater larry bush on -- buschon republican of indiana. we will be back. >> during the summer months, reach out to your elected officials with our congressional dreck -- directory. it contains the contact information you need to stay in touch with contact -- congress,

federal agencies, and governors. order your online copy today. the presidents, from public affairs, available now in paperback and e-book. of everyts biographies president, organized by their ranking from best to worst. and it features perspectives into the lives of our nation's chief executives and leadership styles. visit our website to learn more about each president and order your copy today. wherever books and e-books are sold. washington journal continues. michigan democratic congresswoman, debbie dingell, joins us now. she serves on the health subcommittee of the commerce panel. and when the task force members

came to capitol hill to testify you focus your questions on that -- on vaccine development. can you ask plain what it means to be in phase three -- can you explain what it means to be in phase three? guest: as you go through the development of any medicine, the vaccine is extremely important and it goes through different trials. we see what happens in a , frequently they try , and thene on animals a small human trial and a larger human trial. you want to see how effective it normally you have 70 to 80,000 people in the third phase and we are seeing this and there aredly

8000 and one trial and 30,000 in another. it's not as large a sample as you would like to see. for almostdr. fauci 40 years. and they assured that they were going to make vaccines were safe. and yesterday they released a thatline for the safety they would use before they release it. and we are very anxious for this we get abecause before vaccine our lives will not be normal. host: the leading vaccine contenders, one from astrazeneca is in phase three. one from moderna is set to start

facer trials this month. i want to focus on the information i came out and their guidance, outlining the conditions for approval of a covid-19 vaccination at the wall street journal -- as the wall street journal points out, any vaccine has to be 50% more effective than a placebo in preventing the disease. stephen hahn stressing that the fda would not approve any vaccine without clinical evidence that they are safe and effective. are you ok with those guidelines and rules? i trust the doctors, i don't trust the politics involved in vaccine development and i think it's important because we are all desperate, to get a vaccine. but we don't want something that's not safe. i am not an anti-and i want to

anti-vax clear -- an but after the swine flu shot i did get a case. so i would pay more attention to the development of flu shots and vaccines. you just want to make sure that it is as safe as possible and that enough people have been tested so that we know that they work and that not a lot of people are suffering from side effects. host: congresswoman debbie dingell is joining us and the phone lines are open if you want to join the conversation. for democrats (202) 748-8000. for republicans (202) 748-8001. for independents (202) 748-8002. the congresswoman is joining us from her office on capitol hill, though with a lovely background from michigan behind her in her

screen as we continue these zoom interviews. congresswoman, nursing homes in michigan are accounting for one in four covid-19 related deaths and i know you are working on several pieces of legislation that would impact nursing homes, specifically what are they? guest: one of the things that i'm very worried about, long-term care is something that i care deeply about. i love my husband very much -- i love my husband very much and we were lucky to have five special years together. he needed intensive care and right after he passed his last vote. and i knew immediately how broken the long-term care structure is in this country. and how seniors really have to fight to be able to get medical

care. lucky, he was alert the , we livede he died together and there were not problems. [indiscernible] as a source of real contamination. people did not have ppe , in long-term care facilities people are living close to each other. toy are in close proximity their care workers. i have nursing homes in my districts that were using garbage bags for gallons. people were not being test -- for hounds -- gowns. people were not being tested. i pay a fair wage, which is what , but manyall be doing

people working in nursing homes work in multiple nursing homes and are cross contaminating those homes. so we are addressing a number of things. to try to let people to be able to stay in their home if they are able to and in nursing homes if they have access to tests and state we aren our also struggling with the issue of if someone has covid, where do they get released back to. it's become controversial, do we send them back to the long-term care facility? are they still contagious? a couple to tell you of stories. at the beginning of this, i checked on a neighbor and she told me she cannot afford to get covid. she was not talking to anyone or , she felt thatr

her life was not worth it and she would be left to die. people deserve to be treated with dignity and we need to figure this out. i got desperate phone calls from a nursing home in ann arbor that an older couple had developed a serious case of covid and we had people in nursing homes that could not find caregivers to take care of them. a number of bad and desperate situations and we cannot let that happen. our seniors matter. they need to make sure that they know that they are valued. guest: congresswoman -- host: congressman debbie dingell, we have aired several hearings in recent weeks, we are here to take your phone calls. monroe is in clinton, maryland,

and independent --an independent. caller: here's my biggest fear and concern, how inequitable it's going to be and the flaws. let's say a brand-new model of a car came out, the first model in that first year always has issues. if brand-new electronics came out the first release always has issues. same thing with the drug industry. the first release to the public will have issues and we know this. after your two or three, maybe the issues are resolved. here's the problem. there are people like me, already at the federal level have been declared essential. we are going to have no choice but to take a vaccine that we don't even want to take, but because we have been declared essential workers frost to go back to work we will have to take that vaccine, where there are millions of all who have the ability to work from home, they

will have the luxury of being able to wait to take that vaccine until it's right. so i feel like a guinea pig here, when these vaccines come out. and i don't want that. be would an essential worker able to opt out of being able to take this vaccine and still be able to go back to work? host: congresswoman? guest: i'm glad that you have raised that question. i've not thought of that but i'm glad that you mention it. i am already worried about if i take this vaccine or do i not and mi invaccine danger of getting this again? i know and hospital settings they tell essential workers that they have to have the flu shot. i think we need to raise the that you have to accept

the liability that these could that -- that people could get covid. one of the -- [indiscernible] i hope that this country realizes that we are dependent on a civil society on essential workers. we need to value essential workers, we need to know how important they are. they are the glue of our community and we need to appreciate them every day. i think we need to have a discussion. i have been thinking about what to people like me do, because -vaxxer, but ii know something could happen. and if there are people who are essential workers but are afraid we need to have longer conversations about this.

maybe a hearing, and you've got me thinking. i am worried about the safety of these vaccines, that's why i asked the questions, and we have to think a lot of questions through. but i can promise you this, there will be a lot of people fighting to get that vaccine, impact.on't want this in my state of michigan, 14% of our population of african americans and 43% of the deaths of covid have happened in the african american community. we know the virus is having a great impact on black americans and we have to speak to these issues as we take a look at how these vaccines are done and we are worried about them being fair and equitably. host: gloria, out of florida, on the democratic line. caller: good morning. i would like to know why they

are not using copper in hospitals? host: using copper for what? caller: for the coronavirus. it's known to kill the virus. i'm not well versed on copper, congresswoman? guest: i'm not well-versed either. that the scientist in the medical community are studying everything that they think could potentially work, there are things that people have said will work that have not worked as for seen. we are seeing some drugs that , and we arefective pharmaceutical companies charging an exorbitant amount of money. copper, iow about

will go study it after this. and i will tell you that you need to be worried about some of --se drugs that everybody that everybody says were going to be the absolute answer. i have people in my family that took the drug and have been in and out of the hospital three times for covid. developing obligations and were on incubators and now are in nursing homes. not all drugs are miracle drugs and it's complicated. we have physicians from around the world studying this issue, some work, some aren't. we will make very sure that we are getting information to protect patients and getting affordable medicine to people that work. smithsonian magazine back on april 4, a story by jim

morrison taking a look at copper's potential killing power when it comes to viruses. perhaps that's what the viewer was referring to, one source out there, the smithsonian mag.com. indiana,, in wabash, on the republican line. caller: good morning, thank you for taking my call. i tried to get in an hour before this, but when the person answered the phone, she said to ask the congresswoman. i was born and raised in michigan, i live in indiana now. i noticed that you talked about school starting in the fall. the newspapers, everybody is talking about school starting in the fall, and they have set dates for august 8. i'm thinking and i wonder what the congresswoman thinks, maybe if they wait a month, until

after labor day, which is still not fall, they will know a little bit more about how to protect these children, because we are learning something new every day. i would like her opinion on that . i'm wondering why you say fall when it's not fall yet. thank you. i will get off and listen. host: thank you for the question and thank you for sticking with us and calling back. congresswoman? guest: thank you martha. i think school is a complicated issue. i spend a lot of time talking about it. the government came out with its initial recommendations yesterday for who should be in school. in conversation with my local school superintendent, the county superintendent and the state superintendent. i love kids.

i could play with kids all the time, i'm not allowed to be anywhere near them right now, but kindergartners and first-graders, how can they wear that mask all day and maintain physical distance? the classrooms will have to be redesigned, with fewer children in the classrooms to keep them safe. my school systems are looking at five to $6 million a month for ppe equipment. there will be extra people on school buses, because the school bus driver cannot drive and make sure that the kids can be apart part. they will either need to have school buses or staggered hours to clean the buses. they can't move the same number of people. how are you going to make sure that kids and restrooms or on brakes are doing what they have to do?

it's a real challenge and everybody wants to keep our to educate ournd children. we are worried about the socialization of our children. and even children, babies, we are seeing the impact on them. it's not easy. it's a serious challenge. teachers are worried about being safe area childcare has become a broader issue. people are afraid to go back in the classrooms. i think we have to work through the issues of education carefully and slowly. we passed the heroes act in the house a month ago to get more

money to state and local .overnments it is a very complicated issue. host: less than 10 minutes left with debbie dingell, taking her phone calls, and the numbers are as usual. for democrats (202) 748-8000. for republicans (202) 748-8001. for independents (202) 748-8002. back to the independent line, mike, and harrisburg, pennsylvania. caller: hello. is an ignorant conspiracy theory based on debunked research by a single doctor in england years ago that just hangs around and hangs around on the internet. i don't understand why politicians and doctors don't take a stand on this idiotic

anti-vaccine situation. these people have never heard of the polio vaccine or the human stopsoma vaccine that nine different types of cancer or measles and mumps. why can't you another people set the record straight on this idiotic anti-vaccine situation? thank you for that question. i will be blunt. i will talk about my own human --erience because i know when you look at what happened with measles, look at how measles are coming back because people are not immunizing their children against measles and they are putting other children in danger. they are putting pregnant women in danger. vaccine as apolio child and i got the next generation vaccine that was developed.

i unfortunately have the mumps and the measles because those two were more recent developments. the good of vaccines far outweigh the risks and we really need to understand. people were afraid of polio like what we are experiencing now. and look at how the world has been turned upside down. we are not socializing. we cannot go to work or we have physical and social isolation. vaccines keep us from being in that situation. they make a difference. i'm able to say that as a person who had a flu shot and had a -- i was paralyzed for a short period of time and

couldn't lift my legs. i'm not sure i want to go out and get the swine pollution shot again, -- get the swine shot again. i look at vaccines in them is it -- muniz asian probably much more closely. but vaccines and immunizations are real. if you don't want to live the way we are living now, you can go out and announce them but i will stand with you, mike, and say they make a difference and let us live our lives area -- lives. york, on theom new democratic line. guest: congresswoman -- caller: congressman do you think that it is important to address the pandemic globally and do so in the budget? host: she was discussing more money in the international affairs budget to fight the pandemic globally as a way to

keep us safe in the u.s.. guest: i don't agree with withdrawing from the world health organization and we are howg to have to figure out we ensure that everybody is able to get vaccinated in the world. because if we don't it will keep spreading. do this inneed to cooperation with world powers. but if we are really going to eliminate covid, which may or may not ever totally be possible but we will try to manage it as we have managed polio and other diseases like smallpox. we need to make sure that everybody is vaccinated. bedford, maine, joe is an independent.

caller: good morning representative, you said the last caller's question. let me ask you this way. can you tell us how much you are getting paid per year? and you are sitting here on this tv show? hundred $74,000? -- $174,000? $500,000, where you going next week? are you taking the summer break while we approach 130,000 dead americans? and you are going on vacation? host: lets at the congresswoman talk about what's happening in the recess. guest: let me be really clear joe, i have a facebook posting every single morning on my facebook and you will see that i am not at home. i'm on the:00 and phone from 5:30 until 8:00 every night.

i have a great team working seven days a week because i have a lot of people that are scared to death. ppe, atrying to find number of my constituents [indiscernible] there are students in other countries and i'm working on higher education in my school systems, my teachers, my doctors, my nurses we get a call every week. i meet with mares on mondays and thursdays in my state representatives in my county commissioners, asking what do we need? where's the trouble? i'm doing all of this work andar in virtual hearings i'm talking to my leadership regularly. i work seven days a week. my job is to try to help my constituents and they are

worried. i have testing centers set up in my district so that we are testing 752,000 people week. i have machines for first responders who have been dramatically impacted. i could go through each day and tell you what i'm doing. that's my job. and quite friendly want to do that. these are the people i love. i hate where we are now. me, you would know i'm a people person. i like talking to people. i want to know what's on their mind and what they need. i cannot stand not being able to be out with them. i will say the last two weeks, i've been to 17 community gatherings, marshes, visuals -- vigils, i have worn my mask. they call me mama dingle because i'm trying to make sure

everybody is keeping their physical distance. we are at home working and i'm not stop. i know my work is not going to be done for a long time. i want the people in my district to feel safe and i want to keep them safe and i want to get them what they need, and right now is a scary time and i don't want them to have to worry about their mortgage payments, their risk payments, and what do we need to do so that if they are sick they can go to the doctor, what can we do about kids in childcare and staying together. i'm working really hard. host: i should know that the dingle daily update is available on her website. thank you, we appreciate your time this morning congresswoman. i will let you get to work on capitol hill and i will see you down the road. guest: thank you. host: up next on the washington journal we are joined by congressman larry buschon a

republican of indiana and a medical doctor as we continue our discussion on the federal response to the pandemic. we will be back. ♪ >> first ladies, influence and damage on american history tv, examining the private lives and public roles of the ladies first nation -- of the nation's first ladies through interviews with top historians. we will look at grace coolidge and lou hoover tonight, grace coolidge was the first first lady to speak in movie newsreels and lou hoover spoke chinese fluently and was the first first lady to speak on the radio. watch first ladies, influence and image, on american history tv on c-span3. ♪ >> c-span has unfiltered

coverage of congress, the white house, the supreme court, and public policy events. you can watch all of c-span's public affairs programming on television, online, or listen on our free radio app and be part of the national conversation through c-span daily washington journal programs, or through our social media feed. the americansd by people television company as a public service and brought to you today by your television provider. washington journal continues. host: congresswoman -- congressman and dr. larry buschon. we want to start with the concerns that you brought up at yesterday's hearing on mental health during the coronavirus pandemic regarding the lack of mental health services available for college students right now. now that they have been sent

home from campus. can you talk about the scope of that problem? host: i have had 3 -- guest: i have had three kids i go through college and i know what has happened on campuses in recent years. there's more kids that come into college that need on-campus counseling than i think the american public understands for a variety of reasons. there are kids with substance abuse issues, long-standing mental health issues, things like depression and other issues . on-campus services have become really prominent across the country. i spoke with the president of the university and my district in southwest indiana and he brought up this issue, when everybody is at home and they have students in all 50 states and a number of countries, how do we continue with counseling? there are challenges based on state lines and practices of health care with reimbursement, liability, and ongoing counseling. this is a issue that was brought

to me by a university president and i heard this from other members of congress. host: what can congress be doing? should congress be pushing for reopening on-campus for schools in the fall to get students back physically? guest: that's a complicated and regional issue and i will leave that to the educators to make that decision. that would help on a mental health and counseling side but we want to make sure that students are safe. i think a lot of universities are going to have a hybrid version where they have students on campus having remote classes for some of their classes, like a big lecture versus being in a lecture hall with 500 people. versus the laboratory segment which might have 20 people and you can socially distance and protect students, doing the things the cdc is recommending. it's a compliment -- complicated issue but the services are real and we need to look into

reimbursement, licensing issues and how we can make reciprocity among all 50 states more commonplace so people can practice across state lines. and we need to look at how providers are reimbursed when they don't physically see the client. that's true in regular health care and telemedicine has dramatically expanded during the covid-19 crisis. we want to maintain that because it has worked well. one thing you have been pushing for is to increase testing. a few bipartisan bills that you are working on includes diagnostic testing for public health labs. can you explain what throughput diagnostic testing platforms are? ,uest: that means hyper put testing thousands of samples at one time. the volumes of samples that you can bring through your lab are much higher and there are platforms that can do that for a variety of rings.

we -- of things. we need to make that true for covid. right now about 45 to 46% of our nation's public health labs don't have a way to throughput tests in this volume and we need to do that. and you need to go to your doctor and get a laboratory test like you can for the flu and for covid. we are working on another bill that will help accomplish that. it's going to require federal dollars because these things are expensive. and -- andgette diana degette and i from colorado have been working on a more comprehensive bill for last three years and this was a natural area for us to go into. host: congressman larry buschon is a member of the health committee on the energy and commerce panel. our phone lines are as usual, for democrats (202) 748-8000. for republicans (202) 748-8001.

for independents (202) 748-8002. he will be with us for about the next 25 minutes, until the house gavels and to begin -- gavels in to begin their workday. in,ressman, as viewers call when it comes to federal dollars do you think there is reason for more federal dollars to go out in the form of another round of stimulus for americans? guest: there are number of areas we need to work on. states and local governments have substantial shortfalls of resources based on covid. les tests were -- tax revenue going in. ,he federal gas tax, sales tax that's one area we need to address in the budget shortfalls on the state and local level. i do thinkhing is some of the american people who have not gotten back to work could benefit from another round of direct stimulus payments. the white house has been talking

about that and so have people on the republican and democratic side. the other area to address, especially for republicans, is the liability issue. if we want to get the economy going we want to make sure we don't have massive amounts of lawsuits against universities, high schools, restaurants, and other businesses related to covid. i think a lot of people see that happening unless we put in some sort of safe harbor. if you're following the cdc guidelines or the state guidelines and doing all the right things you should be shielded in some manner from liability. if you're doing the wrong things and you put people at risk you shouldn't be. those of the big issues that will be addressed i think, i think congress will do that. the senate just passed a bill to extend the deadline for the ppp program. that's about to come up. but there's over $130 billion available for small and large businesses to get assistance. i do think that congress is

probably going to need to address further levels of federal support. host: on extending ppp, that deal came together late yesterday and the senate, what happens in the house? how soon could see a vote? guest: i'm hopeful there will be a discussion about it, and it ofld see a vote at the end july, because after the fourth of july holiday we will be in session for the last two weeks of the month, all five days. it could be addressed then so that small and large businesses have access to that money. and it has been a success, i don't think you'll see any member of congress say there was not some initial difficulties getting it up and running, but it has been a success and we want to make sure that if there's anyone out there who still needs money going forward it's available. iowa,fort madison, rodney, a republican, europe first. caller: good morning

congressman. my question is, i have a neurological disease, i'm on a lot of medications. every single medication i'm on comes with a warning of possible side effects. how come the vaccine industry is immune from having to put possible side effects? is only one of two answers, either they don't know or they don't want us to know. it could clear up a lot of these conspiracy theories that i heard with debbie dingell just before you. could you respond? guest: first, i'm a big supporter of vaccines. if you look through history, without vaccines the number one cause of death in children was infectious diseases. childhood infectious diseases was at the top of the list. is everything perfect? no. are there side effects? yes.

but vaccines causing things like autism has been debunked for years. so i'm not aware that the package insert, the description of the product from a pharmaceutical company is not of aded in the packaging vaccine. i would have to confirm that, but there's no medicine in the united states that's distributed that does not have an online or as a co-package and third -- or package insert to describe the possible side effects. everything in our bot -- we put into our body has a side effects pray the package insert for aspirin is surprising. i think will are aware of possible side effects, allergic reactions that are local or systemic, some people can get a mild version of the flu with the flu vaccine. all vaccines are different. most of the ones today are not as risky as the ones from decades ago because most are not partially what was called and attenuated virus -- an

attenuated virus. i'm not aware that you cannot get information about vaccines if you want to. host: and you are a doctor as well, can your mind is about your medical career? guest: i was a cardiovascular and thoracic surgeon for 15 years. i did open heart surgery and vascular surgery. in my training i did a lot of general surgery. i have had 15 years of experience taking care of patients and i still miss it, but i look forward to trying to help on a larger scale at the federal level. host: elected in 2010 and in your fifth term, 10 years on capitol hill. this is joseph, in pineville, -- naana, and independent -- an independent. caller: earlier we were talking

about ppe for teachers, if we sent teachers and rules looking like doctors won't that scare certain kids? certain kids have phobias and other things about doctors, if we send teachers and looking like doctors, has anybody considered that? point.that's a fair it's why i think you will see most schools having a hybrid situation and they will assess their student population. student populations already have kids with shall needs -- with special needs that must be accommodated in that circumstance when parents and students have concerns and the school is accommodative to those concerns. one of the big issues getting back to school is that the students don't go back to school and you have a family with working parents, that can be difficult. what will happen during the day when students are no longer in school? going back to school is very complicated. i think people are going through

very thoughtful process to protect students. it's a big part of the economy. a lot of families have both parents working more single fair -- single-parent families and without a place for kids to go the cost of childcare is significant and this could cause economic problems. i think they will be accommodating and to your point, making an assessment as to whether a student has issues that need to be addressed, they have worries when they go back. marion, in grovetown, georgia, a democrat. caller: good morning, thank you for taking my call. in february i knew this was coming, i had stopped up, i went to the store even when the republican party was saying it's no big deal and it's just like the flu. didn't, if president trump

and your party was serious about the economy, why didn't you locked down the country for 30 days early on? we could've stopped this and our economy would've been so much better. right now, i would like you to say to all of the republican what do you think of president trump going to mount rushmore and the governor saying we are not going to social distance if you don't want to end you can wear a mask, it optional. i want you to tell the american people that it's ridiculous. rand paul the other day said don't listen to the expert. -- the experts. guest: let me say first that i don't speak for the president and his team or the governor of south dakota. i will say this, if you refer back to a c-span segment that i did on february 28 this year,

that day we had the first person-to-person transmission of covid-19 in the united states out in sacramento, california. there were no confirmed cases of direct transmission. i would also refer you to speaker pelosi's trip to chinatown in san francisco on five euro 24th trying to prove -- on federal 24th trying to prove that the president was wrong, and then to the leadership in new york city, and then everybody saying people should go to new york city for tourism. i don't want to be critical of any of these people or of republicans because nobody knew exactly what was going to happen with this. the president put in a travel ban from china and joe biden called him a racist and everything you can imagine when he put in a travel ban in late

january. i think there's culpability to go around and i would not my finger on anyone party. an unfairk it's statement to say that republicans particularly did not pay attention. the risk at that time, up until this started in mid march to , andmarch were very low most public health problems could be solved by social distancing. they know when you sneeze and covering your mouth. -- by covering your mouth when you sneeze. it was monday morning quarterbacking and both sides of the aisle can look back and say maybe we should have done something differently. host: all of congressman buschon's appearances on the house floor, 203 total in our c-span video library and you can watch any and all of them, including a february 20 interview when you are back on

the washington journal. indiana, an independent. caller: good morning congressman. i appreciate you being on the show. guest: good morning from indiana. noticed that as indiana's opening up and we go thatgh the governors steps there are increasingly people saying that this is a hoax, that it's not real, it's never been real, what would you say to this people? guest: i would say directly that they are wrong. this is not a hoax. it's a worldwide pandemic. it's real. if you look at right now with what's happening with resurgent numbers in certain states, a lot of that is in the 18 to 35 age group because they have done what you said, many people have not taken as seriously as they should have. i would say is a medical

professional this is a serious issue. it's a worldwide pandemic. they need to do the things that were recommended by the cdc. question, onimilar our twitter feed, there are many people out there, mainly young and under 35 who refuse to wear a mask or social distance. they feel like they do not need to do these things read what can be done? guest: there has been a nationwide public relations output over the last week, for sure, that everyone one of them should have heard which is recommending they follow cdc guidelines. socially distance, and when they cannot do that they should have masks on. even social distancing, i would recommend mask wearing in larger groups. mask wearing has been controversial and from a medical standpoint it would be nice if everybody had an n95 mass.

the best we have are the masks that people are wearing. and if you are sick, you should not be in public, with or without a mask. i recommend they follow the guidelines that they are being given by the federal government. this is a real issue. it's the 18 to 35 age group which has large numbers of people testing positive. host: to karen, in columbus, north carolina. caller: good morning, i was not planning on calling and but a previous caller mentioned the republican party. , i can't blamee the republicans, because as is member of congress said, you have democrats going to chinatown and going there and it all comes down to it being china's fault. they covered it up and this is

how i feel we are still beholden to china for everything. president trump was correct about that, we need our own prescriptions and everything we need that we are beholden to china, we need to get it here. that's all of my comment. have a great morning. guest: if i can comment briefly on that, we do need to reassess our supply chain issues with china, particularly in the pharmaceutical space. active pharmaceutical ingredients have a large number produced in china and india. active 25% of our pharmaceutical greeny -- ingredients in the united states are produced here. i think there will be a reassessment of that and we need to do it in a logical way. and i would agree with your caller that there was substantial evidence that the chinese covered up the initial infection in wuhan. that's part of an ongoing investigation that i think the world is doing as it relates to that.

this is david, also in carolina, a democrat. caller: good morning. you made the comment a few minutes ago about how we need to have public schools reopened so that children could have a place to go so their parents can go back to work, correct? isst: what i said actually that if student -- if schools cannot open it will cause a problem with working parents not having a place for their student to go. whether individual schools should open is a local or state decision, not mine. that's what i said, if there is a situation where schools cannot open, it will cause problems for working parents. host: did you have a question? caller: what i'm getting at, given the level of communications and technology that we have today, there really

is not a need for physical schools anymore. we cannot create -- we can educate children just fine from home and i don't understand why you guys seem to think it's the government's job to effectively babysit the children of america so their parents can go back to work. guest: i recommend you talk to working parents who are worried about this in your area of the country. i hear this all the time in indiana and other members of congress in both parties hear this from across the country, that this is a substantial issue. it's not babysitting, it's the practical reality of having a working emily. my wife is an anesthesiologist. we both worked and fortunately we had in-laws in town and we had a backstop but not everybody has that and we were blessed with the financial resources that if we had to we could hire

a nanny but not everyone can do that. if schools cannot reopen it will cause a substantial problem for working families that will have to be addressed. and let me also say that there are a lot of kids on free and reduced lunches that are dependent on the school system for a couple of their meals every day. i have had that happen in rural america, my district. it happens in urban america, if you don't have schools you have kids who may not have access to food and there are food challenges. it's hard to imagine an america that it's true but i can tell you firsthand by talking to very true. there are a lot of issues we need to address. host: we are gaveling in with the house in just a few minutes. the senate is coming in today at 9:30, one of the issues that they will be working on is the national defense authorization

act, president trump tweeting about the senate work late last night a few minutes before midnight saying he would veto the defense authorization ill if the elizabeth pocahontas warren amendment which leads to the renaming of fort bragg, fort robert e lee and other military won twoom which we world wars are renamed. congressman, what are your thoughts? guest: the decision on whether we rename bases or not is a complicated one and it's not my decision and i won't comment on that. i understand the concerns people have. no doubt. but the ndaa is almost always at the end of the day bipartisan. when things are working through the process on capitol hill, i don't get riled up until i see the final version. i think the president feels strongly about this, it's his

view that it should not be in the national defense authorization act. i would agree with that, but i want to see the final version before i make any comments about the national defense authorization act as a whole. it's usually a bipartisan issue at the end of the day. ont: gary, from michigan, the republican line. caller: this must be my lucky day, you don't know how many times i've tried to get the show. let me speak a minute before you cut me short. i'm a retired coalminer, right at the tip of the spear on this. 75 years old, anyway. this country has to pass through this virus. let me say this strongly. until there is a vaccine, you are all fooling around. i told someone last night if texas caught this en masse tomorrow it would be over in two weeks one way or the other. some of us would be gone. but you cannot ruin this economy

and go down this path with schools opening up. they have to expose everyone to this sooner or later barring a vaccine. you and i cannot hide forever. guest: lenny comment on that. first, my -- let me comment on that. my father was a retired mine worker and he worked in a coal company in central illinois. i have a great deal of respect for what you did in your life. thank you for your hard work. we do need to develop heard immunity or a vaccine. the reality is that in the meantime before we have a vaccine we have to protect our vulnerable population. we have people in nursing homes and other people with pre-existing medical conditions who are at substantial risk. while i agree that ultimately it's either a vaccine or heard immunity, i'm optimistic about a vaccine. in the meantime we need to do everything we can to prevent

people who are at risk from getting this. i have had a couple of nursing homes in my district to have had a substantial number of deaths and we want to prevent that. ont: northeast pennsylvania, the democratic line. good morning. caller: good morning, thank you for taking my call. another caller said something about the virus and you said i will not talk for the president but you've talked about nancy pelosi and joe biden. can you town me, and why don't you tell the president not to wear a mask? he tells everyone else to wear a mask but he won't. he's endangering himself another people. guest: i don't speak for the president at all. i didn't comment on any of his rallies and those decisions either, but the previous caller was trying to say that it was a republican party only across the

country from a political standpoint that didn't react to the virus. i was trying to doubt that it was pot -- to point out that politicians on both sides gently didn't know what was happening and neither did health expert. people working on both sides of the island good faith when mr. losey went to san francisco, she was working in good faith -- when miss pelosi went to san francisco she was working in good faith. i can tell you i'm a medical doctor and i don't think anyone anticipated this pandemic to be like it is. when people on either side want to go back and look historically about what people have done, what's good for the goose is good for the gander. people can look in both sides and say in retrospect we should have moved more quickly. that's in retrospect. i wished that the bears had one on sunday and on monday morning i can talk about why they didn't

but it doesn't change the outcome of the game. host: commerce min as we wait for the house to gavel in -- congressman, as we wait for the house to gavel in, after their work today they will not come back until july 20, how are you using your time? guest: i go back to my district, i will be in indiana for most of that time, i will take a few days off over the fourth of july holiday, like everyone in america should do to honor the holiday and the american flag and what our country stands for. but i will be back in indiana, most of the time talking to constituents about all of these issues that we have discussed, and touring around the district and speaking to a variety of different people. i will be speaking more with law enforcement about what's happening in that area, hospitals, and being in my community and getting a feel for what's happening in my district. guest: congressman, safe travels