Congressman Thornberry's Statement on Partisan COVID-19 Legislation

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

CONTACT: Jessica Graff

Date Published May 15, 2020

(202) 225-3706

Congressman Thornberry’s Statement on Partisan COVID-19 Legislation

WASHINGTON – Mac Thornberry (R-Clarendon) released the following statement after the House of Representatives voted on partisan COVID-19 relief legislation and on a change in House Rules to allow proxy voting:

“Fortunately for the country, the measures passed so far by Congress dealing with COVID-19 have been bipartisan and widely supported.

“Today that changed.

“Speaker Pelosi has written and passed a totally partisan bill – really a far-left wish list – that is admittedly ‘a messaging bill.’

“It is politics not substance, and the country needs substance to control this virus and to get the country open again.

“Going even further, Speaker Pelosi and the House Democratic majority have upended over 230 years of precedent and rammed through a change in House Rules to allow proxy voting. That means duly-elected Members of Congress do not have to be present in the Capitol to vote but can ask another Member of Congress representing some other district to vote for them.

“Allowing any Member to turn over his or her sacred responsibility on behalf of their constituents undermines the very basis of representative democracy. It is a clear power grab by the House Democratic Leadership in a time of crisis. All voters, whatever their party affiliation, should make clear to their Member of Congress that they will not stand for it.”

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