Skip to main content

The US Congress may break the "rule of the two centuries" because of the dangers of Corona




Dozens of American parliamentarians on Monday supported the idea of ​​amending the internal system of Congress to allow remote voting, in a measure that contradicts the rule followed two centuries ago.

The measure aims to enable parliamentarians to continue their legislative work in light of the quarantine restrictions and the risks posed by the outbreak of the Corona virus emerging in the United States.



In the House of Representatives, 67 democratic representatives signed a petition demanding that during the national emergency be allowed to suspend the legal rule that has been in effect for nearly 200 years, which requires deputies to personally come to the Chamber of Deputies so that they can participate in any voting process.

"Congress must be allowed to vote remotely so that we can quickly and safely pass laws to combat the Corona virus, and provide support to those who need it," said Representative Kathleen Rice, one of the signers of the petition.



As for the owner of this initiative, Representative Eric Swallowell, he stressed the health risks that members of Congress will face if they are forced to constantly move between Washington and their constituencies every time they need to vote, in light of the pandemic prevailing in the country.

Republicans in the House and Senate have backed this initiative since at least three parliamentarians announced they had the Covid-19 virus, and others announced that they had placed themselves in house isolation as a precaution.



Congress is also considering imposing new restrictions on rallies in the Capitol building, according to "AFP."
"I fully support the idea of ​​voting remotely to preserve the work of the Senate during this crisis," wrote Senator Lindsey Graham, in a tweet on Twitter, on Monday.
This issue is most important in the Senate, where Republicans have a very slim majority (48 seats versus 47 for Democrats) and where five senators have put themselves in voluntary isolation.
President Donald Trump, in turn, said he "fully supports" the voting for a "limited time" vote in Congress.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

A 5.7-magnitude earthquake hits Utah, cuts the power to tens of thousands, and stops flights

A 5.7-magnitude earthquake struck the Salt Lake City area on Wednesday morning, cutting tens of thousands of electricity and suspending work at a Utah public health laboratory in the midst of the Corona virus pandemic. The airport said that flights to Salt Lake International Airport were diverted, departure was delayed, and terminals and terminals cleared so that engineers could inspect the facilities. The US Geological Survey said the quake was centered about 10 miles west of Salt Lake City, near Magna, starting at 7:09 am (9:09 am ET). People gathered in Salt Lake City city center after they left their buildings due to shaking and stayed outside. This is the state's strongest earthquake since 1992, when a 5.9-magnitude earthquake struck the St. George region, Utah's emergency management department said. The state’s Ministry of Health said that operations at the state’s public health laboratory were halted as the building was evaluated for damage. Th...

Panic in stores and markets on toilet paper and canned food

With the spread of the Corona virus around the world, shoppers are running around the markets, supermarkets and pharmacies either to fight the Corona virus or to prepare for possible quarantine. Early popular products were Clorox wipes and hand sanitizer. As with the spread of the virus in a large way, the demand has become steadily on toilet paper. Because of the panic, fear of the people, and the high turnout in stores, most stores have restricted what people can buy, as shoppers cannot purchase more than six antiseptic wipes, hand sanitizers, and hard wipes. But why is the toilet paper the last purchase without others? The behavior of people and their high demand for toilet paper has been explained by the fact that since people do not know how to interpret the virus, it raises the need to prepare in any way possible. Something they can buy they know they might need ... is toilet paper. With the spread of the epidemic around the world, people were seen rushing t...

A solar storm hits the earth on the first day of spring

Space weather forecasters have noticed a stream of solar winds coming toward us, which could hit Earth on March 19, the first day of spring. Scientists said that the solar wind could lead to the aurora borealis in the northern hemisphere. The stream of particles stems from the sun from a small hole on the surface of the sun, allowing winds to penetrate the solar system and move to its depths. The Space Weather website reported global predictions: "A small current from the solar wind is expected to hit the Earth's magnetic field on March 19, which may cause the twilight to occur around the Arctic Circle. The gaseous material flows from a newly opened hole in the sun's atmosphere." The aurora borealis occurs when solar particles strike the atmosphere, and when charged particles from the sun strike atoms in the Earth's atmosphere, which consists of different gases such as oxygen and nitrogen, those atoms are excited to give different colors with diffe...