Latest from Lamar, Notes from the Senate Desk

*Important news from
this week:*

-
Though we may all be celebrating Independence Day
a little differently this year, today, we honor the brave men and
women who have fought and sacrificed for the freedoms that define our way
of life and those who are currently serving to keep us safe and
free.

-
This week, I chaired [link 1] a Senate health committee hearing
with Dr. Anthony Fauci and other Trump Administration officials to
get an update on our progress towards safely getting back to work and
back to school. You can watch here [link 2].

-
The U.S. Department
of Education approved Tennessee's plan on how to spend the over $25
million a year Tennessee receives for high school and college students
to learn more skilled trades so they can get even better jobs.

-

Beth Harwell and Brian Noland - President Trump's nominees to serve on
Tennessee Valley Authority's (TVA) Board of Directors -came one step
closer [link 3] this week to being confirmed. These are two of our
state's most distinguished citizens and they understand TVA's mission is
to continue to provide cheap, clean, reliable electricity throughout
the Tennessee Valley.

-
The Federal Aviation Administration
announced that the Nashville International Airport is receiving a $10.6
million grant to help pay for the airport's runway reconstruction project.
This grant will help the Nashville International Airport continue to
be one of the fastest growing airports in the country.

-
The U.S.
Senate confirmed Tyreece Miller to serve as the United States Marshal
for the Western District of Tennessee. Deputy Chief Miller has served
in the Jackson Police Department for more than 20 years, overseeing
law enforcement operations and conducting criminal investigations
involving both violent crimes and drug cases.
He knows how to get results
and how to get local, state and federal agencies to work
together.
West Tennesseans will be well-served by Deputy Chief Miller, and I am
glad the Senate confirmed his nomination.



*The stakes are too
high for the political debate around wearing a mask to continue*

The
United States is in the middle of a very concerning rise in COVID-19
cases and hospitalizations in many states, and the experts have told us
that washing our hands, staying six feet apart, and wearing a mask
are three of the most important ways to slow the spread of the virus.
Unfortunately, this simple lifesaving practice has become part of a
political debate that says: If you're for Trump, you don't wear a mask. If
you're against Trump, you do. That is why this week, in the Senate
health committee hearing I chaired, I suggested the president should
occasionally wear a mask even though there are not many occasions when it
is necessary for him to do so. The president has millions of
admirers. They would follow his lead.

I also spoke at the hearing about the
need for students to return to school in the fall. Among the
casualties of COVID-19 are the 75 million students who were sent home from
schools and colleges in March. Add to the casualties the teachers who
weren't prepared to teach remotely and the working parents who suddenly
had school children at home and who weren't prepared to home school.
The question before the country today is not about whether to go back to
school or college or child care or work, but how to do it safely.
Even though COVID-19 has not, in general, hurt young children and
college-age students nearly as much as older or more vulnerable Americans,
there is some health risk.
But in my view the greater risk is not going
back to school.



*Trump Administration aims to have enough
COVID-19 tests to let sports resume in the fall *

University of
Tennessee Athletics Director, Phillip Fulmer, has told Tennesseans that if
"you really, really want to see some football, wear a mask." I agree.
But, in addition to wearing masks to contain the disease, it looks to
me like we're going to need a lot more tests to find out who has the
disease if we want to see some football this fall, or basketball this
winter.

I participated this week in a Senate hearing on COVID-19 to
discuss a competitive effort nicknamed the "shark tank [link 4]," which
I worked to include funding for earlier this year to accelerate
development of new COVID-19 tests. Dr. Francis Collins of the National
Institutes of Health, who is leading this initiative, was a witness at the
hearing. The Trump Administration says that 40-50 million tests per
month will be available by September. That should be enough to do
widespread testing as Americans go back to school and go back to work.
Whether there will be enough tests for teams to play sports or for
spectators to watch those sports may depend upon breakthrough concepts being
developed at this "shark tank" to increase and develop new COVID-19
tests.

In short, the more tests, the more sports.

Every road back
to school, back to work, and back to a football or basketball game
leads through testing, and what Dr. Collins told me that is that the
administration's goal is to have millions of tests testing available by
the fall.



[image =
[link removed]] [link 5]

I spoke this week on the United
States' Senate floor about our nation's COVID-19 response. You can watch
my remarks here [link 6].



*Speaking to Memphis Rotary Club
about race relations in our country*

I enjoyed speaking to the Memphis
Rotary Club this week and discussing several important issues,
including the Great American Outdoors Act the Senate passed last week and
the United States' response to the COVID-19 pandemic. We also talked
about race relations, and the movements we are seeing take place across
the country for racial justice.

I think we should recognize our
history, learn from it and build a better future. Benjamin Hooks, the
late president of the NAACP from Memphis, said, "America is a work in
progress. We've come a long way, and we have a long way to go." That long
way to go, I would say, will not be as easy as just passing laws. It
will take changing behavior.



*Below are a few articles from
this week I thought you might enjoy:*

*The Tennessean: Tennessee
Voices, Episode 59: US Sen. Lamar Alexander [link 7]*

*Memphis Flyer:
Alexander Says Trump Should Wear Mask, Addresses Other Controversies in
Chat with Rotary [link 8]*

*WBIR-NBC Knoxville News Channel 10:
"It would be a sign of strength": Sen. Alexander calls on President
Trump to wear mask to end political stigma* [link 9]



"If you want
to enjoy the game, sit in the stands, not in the president's
box."

*#251 in Lamar Alexander's Little Plaid Book*




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