The House established a Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic. After two years of work, 25 hearings, and 38 interviews, the committee released a 520-page report in December 2024 titled "After Action Review of the COVID Pandemic: The Lessons”.
Review the 11-page table of contents for a summary of the committee's key conclusions on topics like lockdowns, masking policies, school closures, virus origins, New York nursing home policies, taxpayer funds, COVID mandates, WHO failures, document tampering, evidence concealment, and congressional obstruction. Each item highlights important issues in public health and policy dialogue. Here are key takeaways relevant to our mission.
U.S. COVID-19 policies harmed Children
Americans voiced concerns early on about the harm done to children by U.S. policies like lockdowns, quarantines, masks, and school guidance. The committee highlighted three key findings about this harm:
Forcing children to wear masks “caused more harm than good.”
Lockdowns disrupted children’s development.
Unscientific school closures worsened physical health and increased mental and behavioral problems.
Mandates created more harm than advantages.
There is no true informed consent when Americans feel pressure from mandates related to jobs or society. It's encouraging that health freedom supporters now have a record in Congress to discuss with lawmakers about potential future mandates. The report recalls that President-elect Biden promised not to mandate COVID vaccines in December 2020, but broke that promise the following year. Mandates affected military personnel, federal employees, healthcare workers, and Head Start employees receiving federal funds, and were enforced by OSHA on private employers. This led to “vaccine passports” that effectively restricted movement. College mandates pushed many young Americans, who were at greater risk of Myocarditis, to get vaccinated. The economic impact was severe, as many lost jobs for refusing the vaccine, while others suffered injuries from it. Military mandates were especially damaging, causing thousands to leave service and a 25% decrease in recruitment.
The committee found that the mandates lacked scientific support and overlooked natural immunity. The vaccines did not stop the virus from spreading or prevent infections. The report highlighted how the mandates damaged public trust, increased vaccine hesitancy, led to job losses for thousands, and worsened political divides. It noted that many who lost their jobs likely had natural immunity from previous infections, which might have been stronger than vaccine immunity. The committee expressed concern for health care workers, who went from being deemed heroes to being jobless if they did not comply.
Experimental product mandates undermined informed consent.
The report says that mandatory vaccination policies hurt the relationship between doctors and patients. The committee notes that the vaccines were released under Emergency Use Authorization (EUA), which did not provide the same informed consent standards as fully approved drugs. Additionally, since the vaccines were not covered under the National Childhood Vaccine Injury Act, providers were not required to give Vaccine Information Statements.
Covering children's faces was harmful and extreme.
The committee confirmed that forcing masks on children aged two and older caused more harm than good. They criticized the CDC for ignoring WHO guidelines, which do not recommend masks for kids under five and noted that children aged 6-11 could face psychological and learning issues. The WHO also stated that masking during physical activities could be dangerous. The CDC knew early on that COVID posed less risk to children than to adults, yet many kids wore masks longer than necessary. The CDC did not consider speech or language issues as valid reasons for mask exemptions. Reports indicate that strict policies led to a sharp rise in young clients needing speech-language therapy. Additionally, isolation from peers further harmed children's speech and language development.
Lockdowns led to reduced IQ and speech delays.
Children born during the pandemic have lower IQs than those born before it. Reduced interactions with adults resulted in less language learning. Pandemic policies contributed to more language disorders, emotional and behavioral issues, and difficulties in social communication among children.
School closures were not needed and caused harm.
The committee found that the CDC was improperly influenced by the American Federation of Teachers on school closure policies, which lasted longer than necessary. They discovered that schools were not as dangerous for spreading infection as claimed, teachers did not have a higher risk of severe COVID illness, and children were generally less vulnerable to the virus. Countries that closed schools did not have lower transmission rates compared to those that stayed open.
The committee noted that the CDC ignored or distorted data, harming children's physical and mental health and academic performance. School closures had a severe impact, especially on already struggling schools, with a lasting effect and no recovery seen in students. Standardized test scores indicated that children lost significant academic progress. The less disruption children faced from school closures, the better their academic results. Low-income and minority communities were affected more severely, with about 230,000 students missing from public schools.
Increased isolation and loss of access to resources led to a rise in behavioral and mental health problems, including more suicide attempts. Children spent too much time on screens instead of engaging in sports and outdoor activities and missed school lunches. Consequently, childhood obesity rates doubled, and cases of Type 2 diabetes rose by 182%. The committee estimated that students affected by these closures could lose $70,000 in lifetime income, which could contribute to a downturn in state economies and a potential loss of $28 trillion to the U.S. economy over the century.
Masking policies were not based on science, and the Biden administration overstepped its authority with mandates.
The CDC's mask rule for public transport was ruled illegal because the agency lacked the power to enforce it. This rule avoided the legal steps needed for public feedback. A committee determined that the 15 studies the CDC used to justify its mask policy were flawed, lacking control groups and not considering all relevant factors. The conclusions drawn by the CDC from these studies were not backed by the evidence, which the media then repeated.
The 6-foot social distancing rule had no scientific basis.
