The House of Representatives has been out of regular operation for about six weeks, and Washington County’s representatives say it’s time to get back to Washington.
“It is past time for Nancy Pelosi to get Congress back to work on the business of American taxpayers, especially at a time when health care workers, grocery store employees and countless others are going to work every day,” said Congressman James Comer of Kentucky’s District 1. “While I have done all I can to communicate with my staff, constituents and colleagues remotely, it is now time for the House of Representatives to return to Washington and vote on important issues in person. There is urgent business at stake, including holding China accountable for spreading COVID-19 and taking the next steps in the fight against this virus, and Congress should not sit on the sidelines any longer.”
Congressman Brett Guthrie of Kentucky’s District 2 echoes Comer on this issue.
“I agree that we need to get back to DC to do our work on behalf of the American people,” he said. “I’ve been able to work with my colleagues on many different issues from afar, but Speaker Pelosi needs to bring the House back so that we can keep doing our jobs.”
Comer’s office said congressional representatives have been working from home for the last month and a half, flying to Washington to vote on big bills such as the CARE package and then going back home.
Comer has recently taken on more national interviews and recently appeared on Fox News Channel's Fox and Friends First to discuss the need for Nancy Pelosi to bring Congress back to work.
During that interview, Comer criticized Nancy Pelosi’s handling of the crisis and her decision to keep the House of Representatives from meeting.
"Pelosi has politicized this from the start. Instead of trying to unify our country, Pelosi’s tried to divide our country. She’s tried to take advantage of this process. She’s held up critical funding for our front-line health care workers and for our struggling small businesses to try to enact legislation to fund her Green New Deal wish list,” Comer said to Fox News. “Our Speaker of the House is saying, ‘oh it’s too dangerous for members of Congress to go back to Washington to work,’ when we’re asking doctors and nurses and front-line healthcare workers to work every day. We’re asking truckers to continue to operate the supply chains. Grocers are stocking the shelves. But members of Congress are hiding at home, and I think that’s very unfortunate. The Republicans are clear—we want to go back to work—but Nancy Pelosi for whatever reason wants to stay holed up in her million-dollar mansion, and many members of Congress like myself want to get back to work,” he said.
Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi joined David Westin on Bloomberg News’ Balance of Power to discuss the ongoing response to the coronavirus pandemic and her decision to close Congress.
“I am very concerned about the safety of the Members, but not only the Members, the custodians of the building, the staffing of the Congress, in terms of the Congress. I’m not talking individual Members’ staffing, though that too. There are thousands of people who make Congress work. And it is not just about us. It is about them,” Pelosi said.
“We have come back twice for a voice vote one day and another day for a couple of recorded votes. And we had a regimen that was established by the Sergeant-at-Arms and the Capitol Physician, and those are the terms under which we will come back again,” she continued.
“We were going to come this week and they informed us that it is better next week because of what is happening in the District of Columbia. So, that is when we will come back,” she said.
“We want to move voting by proxy, remote voting by proxy, so those people who should not come back, who we don't want to come back, you know, if they have a fever or something in their home, they can be registered in the voting by voting by proxy in a very limited way for a very limited time. So, we’ll probably be back next week,” she concluded.