Political Quotes

“Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.J. Res. 7, legislation I introduced requiring the Biden administration to finally end the outdated and abusive COVID national emergency declaration. Nearly 3 years have passed since President Trump rightfully declared a national emergency concerning the COVID pandemic. The factual basis for this declaration was apparent then. As time has progressed and as we have learned about this virus, we know that it is no longer a national emergency. Since President Trump's initial declaration, the House of Representatives has not once voted, let alone debated, whether to terminate this national emergency or keep it as required--let me repeat that--required under the National Emergencies Act. The National Emergencies Act requires Congress to review termination or continuation of a national emergency no later than 6 months after its implementation and at least every 6 months thereafter. Yet, former Speaker Pelosi repeatedly blocked my attempts to simply debate about the merits of extending or terminating the COVID national emergency declaration, despite the law requiring its review. That would make it almost four to six times we should have had this debate during that time. What type of representative body cannot even discuss a national emergency? Until now, the House of Representatives has failed to perform its most basic constitutional duty: checking the powers of the executive branch and the power of the purse.…”