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Paul Vs. Fauci, Teachers Conferences Focus On Race, Infrastructure Talks Wrap
Up


1. Paul Vs. Fauci

“…it is a crime to lie to Congress.” — Senator Rand Paul (R-KY)

 

On Tuesday, Dr. Anthony Fauci and Senator Rand Paul clashed over American
funding of “gain of function” research in China, and how this may relate to
COVID-19. The senator is also calling for Dr. Fauci to face legal consequences. 

 

The feud between Fauci and Paul has been going on for months, with the latest
move happening during a Senate Hearing on Tuesday regarding the federal
government’s COVID-19 response, with Senator Paul implying that Dr. Fauci broke
the law.

 

Paul said, “Dr. Fauci, as you are aware, it is a crime to lie to Congress.
Section 1.0.0.1 of the US Criminal Code creates a felony and a five-year
penalty for lying to Congress.”

 

As Daily Wire’s Ian Haworth explained to Morning Wire, Paul said
<[link removed]>
later that evening that he would be sending a letter to the DOJ asking for a
“criminal referral.”

What Is “Gain Of Function”?

As Haworth described, the meaning behind “gain of function” is a point of
debate. 

 

“There is some disagreement over what ‘gain of function’ means. It’s usually
defined as a type of medical research which deliberately changes an organism or
disease to increase various factors, like transmissibility or the types of
hosts it can infect. Scientists acting in good faith usually carry out this
research to better understand new infectious diseases in order to prevent or
treat them in the future,” Haworth said.  
 
Stefani Reynolds-Pool/Getty Images


Paul Accuses Fauci 

Senator Paul’s accusations tie into the broader “lab leak” theory, where
COVID-19 was thought to have been released, whether intentionally or by
accident, from a Chinese lab — specifically, the Wuhan Institute of Virology.

 

Paul has pushed Dr. Fauci on the notion of “gain of function” research carried
out at this lab and whether funding for this type of research was provided
through various grant systems by America’s medical research agency, the
National Institutes of Health (NIH). The National Institute of Allergy and
Infectious Diseases has denied this accusation. 

 

During the hearing, Senator Paul discussed a Wuhan Institute researcher named
Dr. Shi, who wrote a paper titled, “Discovery of a Rich Gene Pool of Bat SARS
Related Coronaviruses.” Senator Paul said that Dr Shi credited the NIH,
provided the number of the grant she was given, and explained the research she
carried out.

 

“In this paper, she took two bat coronavirus genes, spike genes, and combined
them with a SARS related backbone to create new viruses that are not found in
nature. These lab created viruses were then to shown to replicate in humans,”
Paulsaid
<[link removed]>
. “These experiments combined genetic information from different coronaviruses
that infect animals, but not humans, to create novel artificial viruses able to
infect human cells. Viruses that in nature only infect animals were manipulated
in the Wu Han lab to gain the function of infecting humans.”

 

According to Senator Paul, this appears to fit the definition of the “gain of
function” research the NIH said it paused between 2014 and 2017. In May, Dr.
Fauci denied that the NIH had ever funded “gain of function” research in Wuhan,
so this led Senator Paul to accuse him of lying to Congress.

The Back-And-Forth

“Dr. Fauci, knowing that it is a crime to lie to Congress, do you wish to
retract your statement of May 11th, where you claimed that the NIH never funded
gains of function research in Wuhan?” Paul asked. 

 

Fauci answered, “Senator Paul, I have never lied before the Congress, and I do
not retract that statement. This paper that you were referring to was judged by
qualified staff up and down the chain as not being gain of function.  What was
… let me finish!”

 

Paul said, “You take an animal virus and you increase its transmissibility to
humans. You’re saying that’s not gain of function?”

 

Fauci said, “Yeah, that is correct. And Senator Paul, you do not know what you
are talking about, quite frankly. And I want to say that officially, you do not
know what you are talking about, okay? You get one person … can I answer?”

 

Paul pressed, “This is your definition that you guys wrote. It says that
scientific research that increases the transmissibility among animals is gain
of function. They took animal viruses that only occur in animals, and they
increased their transmissibility to humans. How you can say that is not gain
[of] function –”

 

Fauci said, “It is not.”

 

Paul fired back, saying, “It’s a dance, and you’re dancing around this because
you’re trying to obscure responsibility for 4 million people dying around the
world from a pandemic.”

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2. Teachers Conferences Focus On Race

In recent months, parents have begun pushing back on how race and identity are
being taught in public schools. With the national debate over Critical Race
Theory ramping up, some parents are speaking out over what they say is
politicized messaging from teachers. 

 

As parent and first black president-elect of the Parent Teachers Association
Harry Jacksontold <[link removed]>
CNN, “Advocates for critical race theory are even arguing that merit is even
racist. They have argued that math is even racist.”

 

He added, “…I am worried about the dumbing down of the curriculum. I am
worried about forced equality. ...I think we're going into Marxism.”

 

In a recent report
<[link removed]>
on the topic, Daily Wire’s Investigative Reporter Luke Rosiak dug into the
issue and joined Morning Wire to discuss. 
 
Ricky Carioti/The Washington Post via Getty Images


Report On Teachers Conferences

Professional groups like the National Council of Teachers of English and the
National Council of Teachers of Mathematics set the direction for how those
subjects are taught in K-12 schools with most of them holding an annual
conference each summer. 

 

Rosiak went through the agendas for each group’s conference and found that
“race is clearly dominating the discussion. In fact, the groups for every
single subject have made race the focus this year.”

 

For example, the National Science Teaching Association is having a conference
titled “What IS Social Justice Teaching in the Science Classroom?” It begins by
racially segregating the attendees, with white attendees going into one room
and minority teachers going into another, Rosiak pointed out.

 

Rosiak also found that the mathematics conference is oriented around sessions
such as “Social Justice in Mathematics Teaching and Learning” and “How Do You
Purposefully Advocate with Your Mathematical Curriculum?“ He noted that nearly
all the other sessions focused on race or advocacy in some form.

Academic Argument For Focusing On Race, Social Justice

From an academic standpoint, the argument for focusing on social justice and
race is that schools can improve outcomes for students of minority backgrounds
if they focus on eliminating the hidden forms of racism, which they claim have
been holding those students back.

Does It Work?

Rosiak said that they don’t have data about these specific trainings, but they
know that reading and math scores have been falling since 2013. In 2019, only
24% of all 12th graders were proficient in math, and 22% in science — and that
data was from before coronavirus and remote learning, which set students
further back. 

What Do Teachers Think?

It’s hard to know for sure what most teachers think, Rosiak noted, but the
agenda is being set by national teacher councils and unions. Those who disagree
with the organizations might be reluctant to push back, at least publicly.

3. Infrastructure Talks Wrap Up

The Senate is nearing a bipartisan agreement on a $1.2 trillion infrastructure
package. 

The Infrastructure Bill

The bill allocates most of the money to what Americans traditionally think of
when they hear the word “infrastructure” like roads, bridges and public
transportation. Democrats and Republican negotiators, Senators Mitt Romney and
Susan Collins, have also agreed to spend an additional $15 billion specifically
on “green infrastructure,” such as electric vehicle charging stations and
electric school buses. 

 

However, not everything in the bill is considered infrastructure. Democrats
also want to add a pathway to citizenship for illegal immigrants.

 

Daily Wire’s Chrissy Clark told the Morning Wire how this bipartisan bill is
different from the one President Biden proposed.

 

Clark noted that one main difference is the cost. Biden proposed $2 trillion
in spending, which included a proposal to spend $400 billion on “caregiving”
and expanding access to Medicaid. The caregiving proposal won’t make it into
this bill, but Democrats are moving it into their $3.5 trillion reconciliation
bill, which has zero Republican support. Some of the spending, therefore, is
being shifted to the other bill.
 
Alex Wong/Getty Images


What Happens Next?

Clark told Morning Wire that Democrats tried to pass the bill yesterday, but
Senate Republicans delayed it in hopes of extending negotiations to Monday.
When the Senate voted yesterday, the text of the bill was not finalized. 

 

Democrats are arguing that Republicans are obstructing this process by
delaying, but Republicans, like Senator Rob Portman,say
<[link removed]> they are willing to
move forward with a vote on Monday.

 

“We just want time to get it right. It’s too important, you know, for us to
rush a vote here for an arbitrary deadline,” Portmantold
<[link removed]> CNBC Squawk Box.
“So today, we’re not going to be able to support moving forward. We will be
able to on Monday.”

Republicans’ Focus

Transit is a major focus for Republicans in this bill. They are hesitant to
spend $48.5 billion because $70 billion in COVID-19 relief funds already went
to transit. Aside from this bill, Congress invests $12 billion each year.

 

However, Republicans aren’t the only ones who could stall the bill.
Progressive Democrats in the House have indicated that they want to add more
climate change provisions to the legislation. Speaker Nancy Pelosi is urging
progressives to take the bipartisan win and add those provisions to the
Democrats’ reconciliation bill. 

How Will Congress Pay For It?

According to Senator Portman, this bill has no new tax increases, but
Americans have yet to see it in its entirety. Other plans include using unspent
funds from prior COVID-19 packages and using revenue from selling off oil
reserves.  

 

When asked if both parties are generally satisfied with the bill, Clark told
Morning Wire, "Moderate Republicans are excited to get an infrastructure bill
passed, though many feel that the price tag is steep. Republicans are now far
more worried about the Democrats’ reconciliation bill, which they argue will
worsen existing inflation, whereas Democrats are arguing that infrastructure
and spending bills will help the economy.”

At least 25 people have been killed in massive seasonal flooding in central
China, with thousands more trapped in schools, homes, and businesses. At least
100,000 people have been evacuated.

 

About half of Australia's population is again under lockdown in an attempt to
curb the spread of the Delta variant. The state of South Australia has
initiated a 7-day lockdown after recording 5 cases, and the state of Victoria
has extended its lockdown another week after cases exceeded 100. The country’s
largest city, Sydney, with a population of over 5 million, is in its 4th week
of lockdown, reporting over 1,000 cases. 
 
Igor Golovniov/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images


Visitors to museums, theaters, and swimming pools in France will now be
required to show a “health pass” proving they have been vaccinated for
Covid-19, or that they have had a recent negative test. In August, the health
pass will be required to enter restaurants, bars, some trains, and airplanes.
This past weekend, over 100,000 people took to the streets in France to protest
government overreach. 

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