House Speaker Nancy Pelosi needs to reopen the House of Representatives and show the country that as other businesses are back open and working, lawmakers are as well, Rep. Steve Scalise told Newsmax TV Monday.
"(You have) hospital workers and doctors out there," the Louisiana Republican told Newsmax TV's "Spicer & Co." "You've got people out in grocery stores that are taking safety precautions to open up and serve the public. Congress ought to be on the front lines of getting back to work and showing the country how to do it safely."
The House was in session about a week-and-a-half ago to vote on extending the Paycheck Protection Program money, and the procedure went "very smoothly."
"You had 385 members that showed up in Washington and we had social distancing and we were able to do our business and pass legislation to continue helping small businesses," said Scalise. "There's no reason we shouldn't be having, at a minimum, hearings in some of these larger rooms where you can be socially distant but doing things like holding China accountable (for coronavirus)," said Scalise.
Meanwhile, serious problems are already occurring in states where lockdowns are continuing, including increases in heart disease, depression, and more from people being out of work and "losing everything they build their entire lives on," said Scalise, adding that the lockdowns need to end soon.
Meanwhile, there are ways for people to get out and still remain safe, he said. For others they may need to remain home and get better but we have to do this without shutting everything down, Scalise said.
"If (your temperature) is over 100, stay at home and get better, but for everybody else, go out and still keep your social distance," said Scalise. "Congress needs to lead on that level again...it needs to happen soon."
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