Local U.S. Reps. Robin Kelly (D-IL2) and Jonathan Jackson (D-IL1) voted no on the resolution President Joe Biden recently signed to end the COVID-19 national emergency declaration.
Of 212 House Democrats who voted, all but 11 opposed lifting the national emergency declaration. All Republicans who voted in both the House and Senate were in favor of lifting the emergency declaration first enacted on March 13, 2020. U.S. Rep. Paul Gosar (R-AZ) sponsored the resolution which passed the U.S. Senate on March 29. It passed the U.S. House on Feb. 1 on a vote of 229-197.
“Relating to a national emergency declared by the President on March 13, 2020,” the Joint Resolution reads. “Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That, pursuant to section 202 of the National Emergencies Act (50 U.S.C. 1622), the national emergency declared by the finding of the President on March 13, 2020, in Proclamation 9994 (85 Fed. Reg. 15337) is hereby terminated.”
H.J. Res. 7 passed the U.S. Senate with 68 yeas and 23 nays. Forty-five Republicans voted to lift the state of emergency and were joined by Independent U.S. Senators Kyrsten Sinema (I-AZ) and Angus King Jr. (I-ME), and 21 Democrats.
The resolution would officially end the Covid pandemic era that disrupted many businesses and jobs. An era where some have felt they have been restricted from living the way they want.
“My bill, H.J.Res.7, terminates the COVID-19 national emergency,” the congressman from Arizona tweeted. “It has passed the House & Senate with overwhelming bipartisan support and has been presented to Biden. I call on the President to immediately sign H.J.Res.7 & terminate the COVID-19 national emergency declaration.”
In a press release issued after Senate passage of the resolution, Gosar said the “long national nightmare is over.” The legislation would “end the more than 120 presidential authorities provided under the emergency declaration and safeguard our country from any further abuses by Mr. Biden.”
“Last September, Mr. Biden asserted ‘the pandemic is over,’ ‘cases are down,’ and America has opened back up,” Gosar’s press release reads. “Yet, Joe Biden nevertheless extended the COVID-19 national emergency declaration simply to force Americans to live under extreme measures that deprive us of our freedoms.”
The White House published a brief release on the resolution.
“On Monday, April 10, 2023, the President signed into law: H.J.Res. 7, which terminates the national emergency related to the COVID-19 pandemic.”
See how all the Illinois members of Congress voted on this resolution:
