CPAC Pennsylvania - The Unspoken Side Effects of COVID-19

Thank you everyone. Now this is the most important panel of the day because we stand between these hungry people and lunch. Okay. So we promise that we will be respectful of your hunger pangs. Okay. Thank you all for joining us. Thank you all for being at CPAC. We're going to start with the Congressman. We've all had our own special challenges in the era of, I'm not calling it COVID just so you guys know, I call it Chinese Corona. We've all had our special challenges. Here you are in Congress where Nancy Pelosi used this epidemic as a chance to get proxy voting and to basically tell folks that it was unhealthy for Congress to operate. What's been your response at this time? Matt, it's been certainly an interesting time, you know, and this China virus, you know, some people call it the Wu flu. Yeah, there's any number of names for it, especially as we've lived through it. And you know what, and I don't contest the fact that it's highly contagious, but I got to tell you what's more harming, what's more damaging has been how folks like Nancy Pelosi, like Tom Wolf has chose to manage their aspect. They're part of government in response. You know, they've taken every opportunity to take control. And I think that's what socialists do, right? They look for the opportunity where they can seize onto something and control. And it's not like our country hasn't gone through things like this in the past, but in the past in America, we always approach things with a culture of courage and caution. They're managing it completely with a culture of fear. That's impacting how Congress works. You know, we have probably upwards of 40 members of Congress, Democrats, they just don't show up to work. They phone it in. I don't think it's constitutional. It's not, and we've joined the lawsuit against this idea of proxy voting because you can literally pass a bill now with what? It's four, she can take up to four votes for a proxy? Yeah. So you don't have to have very many Congressmen to literally change the law of the land. Yeah. And then, and just the whole, all parts of it, you know, when it comes to education, you know, education is a pathway to opportunity. And we have been just short-changing our kids. Well, what I saw here in the spring, probably from about February, March on, it just, and all the studies show it, we're not doing justice to our children. So we, our kids, and I support tele-education. I think that's a good thing, but I see it as something that, that adds to the classroom. You know, it can make education more efficient and more effective, but you need that classroom experience. So, you know. Well, keep fighting, Congressman. We appreciate your words so much. Mary Beth, I'm the father of five kids. I have a sweet eight-year-old who literally, by the end of the day, last year, I mean, she wasn't the same child. Her Catholic school in Virginia is open all day long. So thank you to the pastor of that school and the principal and our bishop for being brave, because I'm sure they'll get sued and everything else for simply operating a school. Can you imagine? And then my number two, who's in high school, she can't sleep anymore. She's a great, relaxed kid. All of a sudden, she can't sleep. What's going on here locally? Well, excuse me. Here, Governor Wolf tries to tell everybody that it's up to your school boards what happens to your children, but that's not the reality. The reality is he likes to blame us, but he puts so many restrictions on us that we can't open the schools, because he puts mandates on us that say you have to have your kids sit six feet apart, and they have to wear a mask, and you have to do this. And it's been so stressful for our poor administrators to try to come up with the school reopening plan that he's told us that we have to do, when every week or two, he changes the rules and he moves the goalposts. And I saw these ads that your governor's wife, maybe the first lady of Pennsylvania, is doing on television. I don't know how effective those are, by the way. I wouldn't poll test that very high. I think trying to instill panic is a big mistake. Joanne, you're somebody who understands the mental stress people go through. What are you seeing, and what's your opinion? Obviously, we want to be healthy. We want to live responsibly. We're sitting like a mile away from each other. I can barely, you know, my eyes are going. I can barely see you way over there. That's how careful, smart Americans are being. What do we need to know? Keep talking. We need that mic on, folks, backstage. Here you go. The CDC director, Dr. Robert Redfield, July 7, 2020, the greater risk to our society is to have schools closed. The American Academy of Pediatrics, the principal medical society representing 67,000 pediatricians, concluded that it was not safe for children to be denied full-time classroom instruction. This is science. I've been working in mental health. I put my business as what I'm representing because I work for two agencies, and I'm not representing them. This is, you know, I can't do that. Speak your mind. Right. So, but the one thing I can tell you is since this whole COVID thing started, every single one of my patients has been worse. It has been very difficult to treat them. There are more people on more medication, needing more therapy, coming back into more intensive treatment. The elderly people who are, quote, being protected from everybody are very lonely. Their depression is loneliness. There isn't a pill for that. You can't do anything for that. The thing I object to most about this whole thing is that, you know, when a crisis happens, a medical crisis, or, you know, we're usually society gathers together and figures out a way how to help each other, hold each other, pray for each other. But this whole thing is based on fear. Now, there are a lot of people dying and at a certain age group and with a certain comorbidity, it's true. But there are some things that I'm really concerned about. Number one, there's kids that anxiety disorders show up in young kids. Guess what the symptom is for that? School phobia is one of the greatest symptoms for anxiety disorders. Now, how will we know that they have school phobia? Because everybody's afraid of everything. I think the inconsistency with kids, you know, playing games and being on baseball teams and gathering together. And then the one thing that's really more important is that they get an education and they're going there and not being able to even. And can you imagine a school without sports and without plays and without dances, no recitals? It's incredible. Senator, you know, you've lived and served the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania for a long time. Give me an idea of how common sense voters out there across the state, how is this changing things as they see two very different visions? I saw the ads on your television last night. I got to see a lot of Joe Biden ads. And he's quoting John Paul II, who's a saint and which is I can't believe it. But anyway, he's quoting him and he's saying, be not afraid, as it seems to me, with every speech he's sowing that fear in everybody's head. What's your reaction? Hold on. Keep those mics on, folks. Biden's still doing a big ad buy here and Trump's holding his own. So wait till Trump starts to spend money and then we're going to be in good shape. But I think what people see is I remember when Mike Pence announced at the at the convention and did interviews after that, one of the things he talked about was people see things for their own with their own eyes and they know what's going on. And the Democrats are trying to tell them something totally different than that. And they're smart enough to know the difference between what's really happening and what they see for themselves and what their family's going through and how the Democrats are trying to spin it and make it something else. So I think voters are sharp. They're going to be fine. I think we're going to have a good, good turnout. We're going to have people go to the polls and vote and which is different. And then we're going to we're going to have a lot of victories across this economy. Mary Beth, working moms who face this trauma of trying to figure out how they go to work and care for their young kids who are stuck in a house without adult supervision because they might not have the resources just to bring in people they have to pay. Are women rethinking why people have gone crazy in government? Well, you know, when I was coming... By the way, I wasn't talking about you because I know you're in government. You're like good crazy. You are kind of crazy. I'm really crazy because I run for school board. I take abuse as the only conservative school board president in a Democrat town. So I get a lot of abuse. But the bottom line is that even in a Democrat town, I'm digressing from your question, even in a Democrat town, there's a lot of conservative Democrats and they appreciate common sense. So it's very important if you are a conservative that you run for school board because you need to be in there and you need to see what your kids are learning and you need to be the one that's getting the emails from the parents saying I don't like what my teacher said and I don't like what they're teaching and I don't like this and I don't like that because that's where you make a difference. So when I came on here today, I put out a request on my school board social media page to ask parents what message they wanted me to bring today. And the overwhelming response was from mothers who said that we feel like failures because I cannot be a mom. I cannot do my job and I cannot be a teacher all at the same time. I'm crying, my kids are crying, and I'm failing. And that's how they feel. And they say please, please put my kids back in school. Yes, that's right. That's how I feel. We have, as I told you, we have seven of us in our family and my oldest daughter who's a little bit of a smart aleck decided she would rank us emotionally depending on how we were handling all this. And just so you know, I was constantly number seven. And they did this secretively, they didn't tell me. And then eventually they told me one day, Dad, you're you're really bringing up the bottom of the Schlatt family. And I said, sorry, I refuse to be in a good mood as they are destroying the country. I'm going to be really crabby until we save the country. Congressman, the president announced the other day that we're going to get rid of this rot that's in the curriculum that says there's institutional racism. America is a terrible place. The 1619 project, which tells us that because slavery was ever legal, that there's no way to overcome it. He's going to take this head on. What are Republicans going to do in Congress to help? We're going to be right behind him and support him all the way. We've, you know, we, the force that's out, United States of America has always been a force for good, right? We're a nation that has always been perfecting. And we we keep working moving forward. But what we have done, the country that we have, you know, it's the greatest experiment in terms of the outcome that was ever put together. And so it is a shame the whole erasing culture and, you know, and the redefining culture of who we are. It's important to know who you are to know where you're going to go. And the fact is, this nation, we have so much that we should be proud of. And we're not teaching it today. Now, part of that was some, you know, some things in the past where we, I think a lot of that got crowded out a few decades ago, when we were, you know, we were, you know, they were teaching to a test. And the only things that were that they got taught were the things that were on the test. Unfortunately, it wasn't about the true history of this nation, the good things that it's done, the contribution that is made to the world. It's the template that has been for those seeking liberty and freedom around the world. And so I'm, it is time to restore our proper history within the classroom. Amen. Joanne, you said something about science. And it's particularly galling to be lectured to by people who say we need to listen to the science when they literally have a close sign on science class. Help us understand practically, where do we go for information to help our kids? If we're feeling stressed, as I have clearly as because I'm the last one in the Schlaff family, right, so I get it. It's very easy to get stressed out these days. Since we can't listen to all these smart people who are supposed to know everything who is supposed to listen to? Well, I'll tell you what happened. And I can answer that question directly. I have been able to talk to patients, and they have been so fearful and so anxious. And I've said, just go to the CDC website. The CDC website is so encouraging. The politicians are creating panic. And what really hurts me is as a medical professional, professional that treats patients, it upsets me that we are not trying to comfort them at the same time. You know, like, for instance, let's talk about hydrochloroquine. So hydrochloroquine may help, we know, in early disease, right? So I'm in, so I'm in my work. And I, the doctor mentions to me, we're talking about, I don't think he's conservative, but he's Jewish, a man of faith. So we were having this conversation. And I said, when in science, do we decide that medicine can't, medicine can't be talked about? Like, it can't be brought up? Like, for instance, the side effect for hydrochloroquine was an arrhythmia, cardiac arrhythmia. I give many antipsychotic drugs that can cause an arrhythmia, and patients are told about it. So can watching CNN. I can speak from personal experience. I often have to drug after those episodes. No, I didn't mean to cut you off. I just, I couldn't resist. I'm sorry. That's okay. I do want to say one more thing. I'm really concerned about the mental health of our kids and what they're watching happen in our streets. We're not even considering all the violence and all the anger, the suppression, the forcing people to kneel down, this, you know, psychologists normally are on the liberal side, so they're not speaking up about it. But it's something we really should, I think Republicans and conservatives should be taking up now. So I was recently, had the honor to go to the White House to hear the president give his acceptance speech, and I had to go to a restaurant across from the Trump Hotel, and some of these Black Lives Matter instigators were there. And I had that moment, like if they come over and demand that I put my hand in my fist, and I said to myself, you know, I think it's what we should all do. We should stand up and sing our national anthem at the top of our lungs. I've seen some kids do this. We got to teach our kids to be proud and to have a tactic. I think we actually need practical tactics when they come to a senator. I was very heartened to know, you know, President Trump has picked obviously two, I mean almost three, Supreme Court justices and hundreds of judges, and including this great Judge Stickman, who is a young man who stood up and said to your governor, no, no. He stood up for the Constitution, which was awesome. Yeah. So, Senator, what does that practically mean? Can we get more of Pennsylvania open? Well, I think so. I mean, the governor's going to try to do a stay and ask for an appeal and work his way through the process, but, you know, the Republicans, I think, oftentimes just sit back a little bit and wait. We need to be more aggressive, much more aggressive. I think we need to have more schools make their own decisions. I mean, after there was recommendations made by the Secretary of Ed and the Secretary of Health, they clarified the next day and said, these are simply recommendations. School boards can do whatever they want. I think school boards need to start doing whatever they feel is best for their communities and their kids. You know, if we put the kids first, we'd be miles ahead in Pennsylvania. But we're always worried about protecting the system, protecting the people in the system, and we just don't get there. We need more opportunities for these kids. And now's an opportunity for people to take a look at doing something else with your child. If your school's closed or you're not happy with the curriculum they have or other things they have, take a look at a cyber charter program. Take a look at a Catholic school or a private school or homeschooling is growing dramatically in our country. There's lots of opportunities for people to do things. If public school is the best place for your child, that's great. Go ahead and do that and be part of the process. But make sure your voice is heard with school board members and administrators that you aren't going to tolerate some of the things that go on in our schools. Not everybody can afford to send their kid or their grandkid to a parochial school or a private school. So we have to fight back with the public schools. But I also just what my kids came to me and they said, Dad, what's wrong if our school doesn't open like the high school my kids are in, which is kind of mostly virtual? What does that tell us about the adults in charge? And I told them it's a great question. So is there a growing movement in Pennsylvania to give parents the ability to take that money? We all pay taxes. Why can't they take that money and send that money to the school they want to go to? Isn't that what we need to do? I can't answer that question in less than three hours. So my other day job is working for a state legislature. So I spend my days helping him fight the edicts of Governor Wolf. And the other thing that we need here is cyber charter reform. I'm sorry. You guys really need to get that done because there's no way I should be sending $15,000 to $20,000 to a cyber school when my school can educate kids in our cyber program for $5,000. So we do need cyber charter reform in Pennsylvania and we need it now. And they've been talking a lot about changing the way we fund schools, but they can't seem to agree on it. So I don't have a quick answer to that question on how to fix that problem. Well, my view is that when it comes to education and health, we're so stressed out about what's happening in our country. It's having an effect on our mental health, our physical health. But the one thing I think we should understand in America is our founders were innovators and they took on big challenges and they created this great country. And if it means the education system is going to come falling down and how we deliver healthcare is going to come falling down, it's scary to think about. But the positive of that is the great reforms that can come out of it. Congressman, Donald Trump has tried to do everything he can in his power without a functional Congress under Nancy Pelosi and with those terrible senators over there like Charles Schumer. You're supposed to hiss or something, I think. But he's done everything he can to claw back on Obamacare. 50% of Obamacare was federal regulations anyway and Alex Azar and all these great people at HHS, they're clawing back, they're clawing back. The federal government doesn't have much it can do on education, but still there's still a lot of federal money that's in the system. Do you agree with me that there's some optimism that this is a moment to actually have real reform and empower individuals? Yeah, I think this is a transformational. There are a few times in our country where really transformational milestones and this is one of them. This is one of them. The things that we've experienced and looking how those who would choose to seize control over people's lives, really it's an attack on personal liberties and freedom, the very foundation of the Constitution. And when it comes to education, I think there's a lot of lessons to be learned, Matt. First of all, I love the classroom. I think because of all the things, it's just not the wisdom and the knowledge, but it's the interactions, the personal developments, the real relationships that you need to survive in life. You get that in the classroom, you get that on the playing field, you get that in the band room, in different places. But you know what? We know that connectivity is important this country. It's important because of health care, because of commerce, because of education. To me, it's to supplement the classroom. I think that's a lesson learned. I know that's something that's a priority of mine as I hopefully move into a leadership position with the Agriculture Committee, hoping to make a little history, be the first member of Congress in 202 years from Pennsylvania to become the chairman of the full Agriculture Committee. Last time it happened, it was a Federalist, so it was long before the Republican Party. But it's also, you look, what a shame that these kids that were in career and technical education training, and these are the jobs that we just so desperately need to fill. I mean, they're everywhere, every community, almost every employer. But our illustrious governor, you know, that dictates, they wouldn't let those kids go to school here. And they're even holding them back in some schools now. Now, these are kids that actually will be technically life essential employees. And we're cheating them in their education. So there's so many different aspects. And, you know, children with special needs, it takes a lot of resources. And it is very difficult for those kids to be able to, depending on their situation, to learn online. So we can do better. And we just need to really base this on science and not based on politics. Yeah, amen. Joanne, we got less than a minute. Just very quickly, tell us why it's important to monitor what our kids are reading and watching. We have this disgusting new movie, Cuties. We have all of these predators that are trying to get inside our kids' brains. What do parents need to be aware of? Well, I think Christian parents and conservative parents have been way too lax in their, you know, they're in school to educate people about it. I think with our kids, I think we have to teach them our values. And then I think we have to insist that they're able to play out those values in their public school or their Christian school. I think that I actually think that children are hungry for that. I think they're afraid. And, you know, one of the things I was talking to Mary Beth about was resilience is the very trait that gets kids through tough times. For instance, that's what they study. They study resilience. They said, what makes some kids grow up in horrible homes and others and why does one make it and why doesn't another one? And the answer is resilience. Now, are we doing that? No, we're just fear mongering. We're not doing that. We should be talking about COVID or Chinese virus or whatever we call it. And we should be saying this to our children, but we should be telling our children, you know, children aren't really getting ill. They're not dying at a high rate. And so, but we're not allowed to do that. You said go to the CDC website. As you all know, last week in the CDC actually confirmed 10,000 COVID deaths, people who simply died because they and that is terrible tragedy. But of course, that is much different from what fake news and these other people who are politicizing the virus. Tell us, look, I think there are, I want to summarize this panel, open up the economy, right? If big companies, if big companies and Amazon and Target and all these big companies can be open, small companies, mom and pops can be open. Open up the schools. If somebody has a health risk, allow them to do online schooling. Let people, let parents have more choices, but open up those schools. Quit taking this politics out on our kids. And then finally, don't politicize science. Don't try to panic us. Don't try to scare us. Just give us the straight facts and let the American people take it from there. I want to thank all of our great panelists. Thank you all for coming here. And next is lunch.