Providing for Consideration of H.J. Res. Relating to A National Emergency Declared By the President on March Providing for Consideration of H.R. Stopping Home Office Work's Unproductive Problems Act of Providing for Consideration of H.R. Pandemic is Over Act; and Providing for Consideration of H.R. Freedom for Health Care Workers Act

Floor Speech

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Mr. GOSAR. Madam Speaker, I rise in support of my own bill, H.J. Res. 7, terminating the COVID national emergency declaration.

It is the same bill text that I sponsored in the 117th Congress and the same bill text that passed the Senate twice last year, most recently in November with the bipartisan support of all Republican Senators and 12 Democratic Senators.

Emergency powers were created to give the executive branch flexibility to respond to a range of crises facing the United States, and the National Emergencies Act was passed in 1974 to rein in the Presidential emergency powers that are activated when a formal emergency is declared.

As I have said before, good process builds good policies builds good politics. So, let's look at the timeline. On March 13, 2020, President Trump rightfully declared a national emergency concerning COVID-19. Mr. Biden has since abused Presidential authorities by repeatedly extending pandemic powers beyond their timeline and scope.

Section 202 of the National Emergencies Act requires Congress to review termination of all national emergencies, stating that 6 months after declaration, and every 6 months after the emergency continues, Congress must--must--meet to consider a resolution of termination.

Sadly, rather than debate and vote on terminating the emergency declaration, the former Speaker changed the rules of the entire House of Representatives and handicapped Congress' ability to perform its most basic constitutional duty: check the powers of the executive branch and the power of the purse.

As a result, Mr. Biden continues to extend the COVID national emergency into perpetuity. Until now, there has been zero oversight from the House, even though Federal law requires congressional review.

By now, and by any measure, the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States has ended, but Biden has dubiously continued to extend his pandemic power. Why? Under the continued COVID national emergency extension, more than 120 special statutory powers only meant for times of actual emergency continue to be available to Mr. Biden, including the power to draft Americans without consent, barricade the United States Capitol, place the Public Health Service under military control, and, yes, even move money around.

Biden's unwillingness to let go of the temporary pandemic powers is tyranny, and the former Speaker is complicit.

Thankfully, with our new Republican majority and restored House rules, Members of Congress and millions of Americans that they represent are finally able to weigh in on their concerns with continued pandemic powers.

The COVID pandemic emergency in the U.S. has ended, and most Americans have returned to prepandemic normalcy. Biden himself stated: ``The pandemic is over.''

So, why does Biden continue to extend the COVID national emergency? The answer is simple: To force Americans to live under extreme measures that deprive us of our freedoms.

It is sad to hear the other side talk about all this lack of tyranny and not following the rules. We were forbidden to do our job.

The National Emergencies Act requires, demands, that Congress, every 6 months, look at this national emergency and decide whether to go up or down. That is all it did.

In the 2 years since he has been President, we have done neither. It is high time that we answer that call and do our job. At least the Senate has done it twice.

I think we need to get back to getting back the power of the purse and holding this administration accountable. Time is up. I ask that everybody vote for these bills.

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