Open access to the U.S. House of Representatives must be given to the American public, urged U.S. Rep. Kelly Armstrong (R-ND) last week.
“It’s been 722 days since the House Sergeant-at-Arms (SAA) barred open access to House Office Buildings on March 12, 2020,” Rep. Armstrong wrote in a March 4 letter sent to House Administration Committee Chair Zoe Lofgren (D-CA).
The congressman also pointed out that it has taken almost a year after the initial building closure on April 29, 2021, that the SAA lifted the complete restriction on visitor access to House Office Buildings and began to allow a small stream of Official Business Visitors (OBV) to enter the buildings, although their admission “remains slow and cumbersome,” he wrote.
“The result is a massive disruption to constituents and members due to lines that routinely stretch well beyond building entry points,” Rep. Armstrong wrote, noting additional challenges that have complicated matters, such as U.S. Capitol Police staffing shortages.
“The OBV process, combined with the inability of the Majority to successfully keep to a timely schedule on the floor and a proxy voting system that unnecessarily extends vote times, has caused me to miss numerous meetings with constituents,” added the congressman.
Rep. Armstrong also is concerned about transparency and posed several questions to Lofgren about the OBV system.
For instance, Rep. Armstrong asked why the SAA is compiling a list of individuals who are meeting with members of Congress, where such meeting data is stored, and who has access to it. He also wants to know whether such data will be maintained indefinitely, and, if not, how long it will remain within the House network.
“The OBV system undeniably violates the historical norms of a free and accessible legislative branch,” he wrote. “It must be completely abandoned in favor of the open access to House Office Buildings that constituents enjoyed prior to the overly restrictive visitor policies of the last two years.”