Pandemic is Over Act

Floor Speech

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Mr. OBERNOLTE. Mr. Speaker, in times of national crisis, our Constitution and our Federal laws empower our President to temporarily seize extraordinary power. This is necessary to allow him the authority to alter Federal law to meet the urgent needs of the emergency.

In this case, that declaration of emergency to meet the crisis of the coronavirus pandemic occurred almost 3 years ago. Mr. Speaker, also incumbent in that authority is the expectation that the executive branch will return that authority to the people when it is no longer needed. That is certainly the case today.

Congress has met hundreds and hundreds of times since the executive branch first declared the state of emergency. Congress has had abundant opportunity to pass Federal legislation codifying or rejecting the President's recommendations. Unfortunately, the Biden administration has recently renewed the state of emergency for a twelfth time. This is not what the Founding Fathers intended.

Mr. Speaker, the Founding Fathers intended the legislative branch of government, the people's elected Representatives, to be the ones that set laws for the United States of America, and it is past time that that authority be returned to the people.

Mr. Speaker, I urge support of this bill.

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