PASSED: Lankford, Colleagues Secure Re-opening of the US Capitol

PASSED: Lankford, Colleagues Secure Re-opening of the US Capitol

WASHINGTON, DC – Senators James Lankford (R-OK), Bill Hagerty (R-TN) and several of their colleagues secured support for re-opening of the US Capitol and Senate office buildings to the public after passing their resolution—a victory for access to American democracy and a return to normal life.

“This is a big victory for the American people,” said Lankford. “We are a government for the people, and the people should be able to access the offices of those they have elected to serve them. The rest of America has reopened, it’s time for America’s government to do the same.”

The resolution, which was introduced last month and is co-sponsored by more than half of the Senate Republican Conference, calls for reopening the U.S. Capitol and Senate office buildings to the American people and supports returning to the pre-COVID visitor policies for areas within Senate jurisdiction after nearly two years of closure. The Senators’ resolution was blocked from passage by Democrats two weeks ago, suggesting the only science that changed is political science.

A copy of the resolution can be found here. 

More than half of the Senate Republican Conference is sponsoring the resolution, including Senators John Thune (R-SD), Jerry Moran (R-KS), Marco Rubio (R-FL), Rick Scott (R-FL), Jim Inhofe (R-OK), Mike Braun (R-IN), Thom Tillis (R-NC), Kevin Cramer (R-ND), Roger Wicker (R-MS), Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-MS), John Cornyn (R-TX), Tommy Tuberville (R-AL), Cynthia Lummis (R-WY), Rand Paul (R-KY), John Hoeven (R-ND), Chuck Grassley (R-IA), John Kennedy (R-LA), Josh Hawley (R-MO), Ron Johnson (R-WI), John Boozman (R-AR), Roger Marshall (R-KS), Marsha Blackburn (R-TN), Mike Crapo (R-ID), and Jim Risch (R-ID).