[Congressional Record Volume 168, Number 178 (Thursday, November 17, 2022)]
[House]
[Page H8547]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                           REOPEN THE CAPITOL

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from 
Arkansas (Mr. Crawford) for 5 minutes.
  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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