Political Quotes

“Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding. I rise in strong support of this resolution and commend Chairman McGovern for overseeing this deliberative and well thought-out process. The proposed changes to the House rules are absolutely necessary to ensure that Members of Congress can continue our vital legislative and oversight functions while protecting public health. Now, I strongly believe that we need a more comprehensive, full e- Congress capability to be developed for conducting congressional business in the future only in times of emergency if we are unable to meet in Washington, D.C. However, I also believe that there are very real cybersecurity concerns that must be addressed before such a system will go live. In the meantime, this resolution appropriately allows for in-person proxy voting during the duration of this public health emergency, and it holds open the possibility of remote voting if a secure system can be developed and verified for full House floor proceedings. In the meantime, this step, of course, cannot be the end of our conversations on continuity of Congress. We do need a permanent framework that will account for remote congressional operations in the event or possibility of death or incapacitation of a significant number of representatives. This is the 21st century. We should be able to do this in the future. I look forward to continuing to work with Chairman McGovern to address this issue going forward.”