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Republican senators are expressing mounting impatience with the federal mask mandate for travelers, arguing that the lifting of restrictions in most public places should extend to airplanes, rail and transit.

In a markup of rail and safety legislation on Wednesday, the Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee rejected along party lines an amendment introduced by Sen. Rick Scott, R-Fla., that would end the mandate, but not before Sen. Brian Schatz, D-Hawaii, acknowledged that he, too, was feeling impatient.

Schatz suggested that the Senate introduce a “sense of the Senate” resolution that would encourage the Biden administration to reconsider its rule, acknowledging that while the agencies are the experts on issues, they “are not infallible.”

“Sometimes they move slowly,” Schatz said. “Sometimes they’re a little too precautionary.”

Sen. Roger Wicker, R-Miss., backed the Scott amendment. “I think we should express the sense of this committee that what is being foisted on us now in the name of science is hogwash,” he said.

Hours later, Sen. Susan Collins of Maine, the ranking Republican on the Transportation-HUD Appropriations Subcommittee, asked Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg why travelers on airplanes were required to wear masks while those gathered in crowded airport bars were not.

She said she asked because of a recent conversation with two flight attendants who expressed concern about passengers who had become violent because of the mandate. The Federal Aviation Administration has received reports of about 2,500 unruly passengers this year.

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