Reopen the Capitol

Floor Speech

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Mr. CRAWFORD. Madam Speaker, today, I am here to talk about reopening the very building in which we stand, the United States Capitol.

It has been 2\1/2\ years since Speaker Pelosi closed the people's House and told Americans it was part of our united effort to stop COVID-19. Over the last year, we have seen a sharp decline in hospitalizations and deaths from COVID. In fact, just 2 months ago, President Biden even declared the pandemic was over. Yet, certain protocols remain from the height of the pandemic.

Today, when constituents come to visit my office, they need to be personally escorted around by staff. They have to be a small group. They can't go to the House gallery to watch votes take place, and my staff is only allowed to give a tour once a week.

If the Speaker is really trying to prevent the spread of COVID, why is she forcing people to gather in large crowds around security checkpoints?

This is the people's House, yet we continue to deny access to the people, the very people who elected us to serve them, the very people whose taxes fund our operations.

Because of these regulations, I have had to turn several of my constituents away. Not only do these regulations make it difficult to welcome every group into my office, but it also affects the function of all House offices.

I have multiple visitors a day, and each time they come in, I have to send one of my staffers to find that visitor in a crowd of people, wait in a long security line, and then escort them through the House office buildings. It is inefficient and takes staff away from the valuable work they should be doing on behalf of the people of Arkansas.

To top it all off, none of this makes any sense. Why does one of my staffers need to escort someone who has already been cleared by security into the building? How does this protect against COVID-19? What is so dangerous about allowing visitors the ability to watch their government function? How can we claim to be a transparent government when we prohibit access to their elected officials?

It is far past time to truly open up the Capitol to the people and restore its operation to prepandemic times. We cannot afford to keep distance between the American people and their elected Representatives.

These regulations prevent constituents from freely visiting their Representatives and hinder productivity in our offices, and none of it makes us any safer.

The people are an important part of the legislative process. In fact, they are the reason for it. Madam Speaker, they should be welcomed here.

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