Four members of Congress from Alabama on Friday wrote to Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) requesting that they reopen the U.S. Capitol Complex to visitors.
The letter was cosigned by more than 30 Republican representatives, including Congressmen Robert Aderholt (AL-04), Mo Brooks (AL-05), Jerry Carl (AL-01) and Barry Moore (AL-02).
This comes after the CDC released updated guidance that no longer calls upon fully vaccinated Americans to wear masks.
“With the pandemic coming to an end, it is time to open the United States Capitol Complex to the citizens it belongs to,” Aderholt said in a statement. “While those of us elected to Congress, and members of our staff all work in the Capitol, we should never come to believe that it is there stricly for our exclusive use. We are there because the people of this country elected us and they should be able to visit their elected leaders and take tours of their Capitol.”
The letter reads as follows:
We are writing to request that you lift COVID-19 restrictions limiting public access to the United States Capitol. With official business visits allowed at the U.S. Capitol as of April 26, 2021, and at the House Office Buildings on April 29, 2021, it seems only natural that the next step would be to open the Capitol. It is past time to return to pre-COVID normalcy and allow the public to enter the Capitol without being on a preapproved list.
We appreciate your consideration of this matter and urge you to reopen the Capitol soon.
“America has historically prided ourselves on transparency and easy citizens access to government institutions,” Brooks said in a statement. “It is shameful that Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer persist in keeping the law-abiding American citizens out of their own Capitol, especially when states are lifting restrictions and the CDC is recommending fully-vaccinated Americans return to pre-COVID normalcy. Nancy Pelosi said ‘about 75%’ of House members are vaccinated. That exceeds herd immunity requirements.”
He concluded, “The American people demand a return to pre-COVID normalcy. They should never have been denied their First Amendment Freedom of Speech rights nor the First Amendment right to petition their government for redress of grievances. As is often the way with Socialists, they don’t give a twit about denying citizens their First Amendment rights to make their voices heard. I, and the signers of this letter, demand Pelosi and Schumer protect and defend First Amendment rights by lifting Capitol access restrictions.”
Sean Ross is the editor of Yellowhammer News. You can follow him on Twitter @sean_yhn
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