House leadership is weighing whether to shut down the U.S. Capitol to visitors during the peak tourism season amid the coronavirus outbreak.
“We haven’t yet come to grips with whether or not we ought to close down the Capitol in terms of visitors. But that’s certainly something that we have to consider, that may be a step we may need to take,” Majority Leader Steny Hoyer told reporters on Wednesday.
“It’s a step that we’d be reluctant to take, we’re very cognizant of the fact that this is the people’s Capitol,” he added. “On the other hand, what we’re doing is allowing for a more dangerous or more susceptible environment then we may need to do that.”
With the weather warming and cherry blossom season around the corner, tour groups are flooding the Capitol.
Meanwhile, the Attending Physicians Office warned lawmakers Wednesday about attending large gatherings and navigating large crowds. At a House Democrats’ briefing the day before, lawmakers were urged to limit shaking hands and screen visitors for potential symptoms of illness before allowing them into the office.
Mr. Hoyer stressed that leadership has not received advice to take any more drastic steps at this time, but are getting regular updates from health and security officials.
“We don’t want to panic nor do we want to give the impression that this is a major critical health challenge confronting us that we need to handle responsible,” he said.
In the House, lawmakers are trying to push ahead with leadership having no plans, as of yet, to change their scheduling either by canceling or extending next week’s recess.
“Neither the Speaker nor myself are of the belief that voting off-site is something we want to pursue. It sets a bad precedent and it creates all kinds of problems,” Mr. Hoyer said.
They are taking some steps, however, to try and mitigate the risk posed to members.
They’ve changed House rules to speed along the debate for coronavirus-related bills, in order to get the legislation enacted faster. Voting requires more than 400 members of the House to gather in the chamber.
Lawmakers are preparing their offices to work remotely, even if the members themselves need to stay on the hill to vote, which includes securing new laptops for staffers.
“We are advising in a bipartisan way that every single office needs to have a continutity of operations plan,” House Administration ranking member Rep. Rodney Davis, Illinois Republican, said. “We don’t want anybody to shut down their ability to serve their constituents in their offices be it here in DC or in their districts.”
The advisory comes after several lawmakers have chosen to self-quarantine after being potentially exposed to the virus last week. A handful, including most recently Democratic Rep. Don Beyer of Virginia, have closed their D.C. offices in the meantime.
Some members, however, have raised concerns about unnecessary travel as others begin to hold more tele-townhalls in their district.
“I think it’s time for us to take some steps to, you know, figure out other ways that we can get our business done here in the capital but also not be flying back and forth and not be introducing, you know not be conducting business as if it’s business as usual,” said Democratic Rep. Pramila Jayapal, who’s home sate of Washington has been hard hit by the virus.
Mr. Hoyer defended the decision to continue with next week’s recess, saying leadership across party lines agree that it’s vital for members to return to their districts to see what their needs are on the ground.
• Gabriella Muñoz can be reached at gmunoz@washingtontimes.com.
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