Washington, D.C. – U.S. Representative Paul Gosar, D.D.S. (AZ-09) issued the following statement after joining U.S. Senator Roger Marshall (KS) in sending a bicameral letter to Joe Biden requesting an expenditure report on the extended COVID-19 national emergency declaration.
“By all accounts and by Joe Biden’s own words, the pandemic is over. However just days ago, Mr. Biden issued another continuation of the COVID-19 national emergency declaration. The truth is that COVID-19 no longer warrants treatment as a national emergency and the House of Representatives recently passed my resolution terminating the continued declaration with overwhelming bipartisan support.
Today, Senator Marshall and I sent a letter to Mr. Biden demanding he respond with a full expenditure report related to the COVID-19 national emergency declaration by February 17th, as required by Section 1641(c) of the National Emergencies Act (NEA). To date, Mr. Biden has refused to provide any such report.
I suspect Mr. Biden continues extending the declaration to launder the remaining COVID-19 money by failing to follow the law and submit the required expenditure report to Congress,” concluded Congressman Gosar.
United States Senator Marshall added “Members from both parties in the House and Senate agree: the pandemic is over. Despite uttering these same words, Joe Biden is dragging out the COVID-19 national emergency declaration to further push his COVID mandates and spending all while failing to meet requirements under the National Emergencies Act that say the President must provide a specified accounting to Congress of costs incurred and activities carried out under the emergency. For Joe Biden, the national emergency declaration was always about power and politics, not the pandemic, and his answers to our letter will prove that.”
Click here to read a copy of the bicameral letter.
Background:
Article I, Section 9, Clause 7 of the United States Constitution states: “No Money shall be drawn from the Treasury, but in Consequence of Appropriations made by Law; and a regular Statement and Account of the Receipts and Expenditures of all public Money shall be published from time to time.”
Further, 50 U.S.C. § 1641(c) requires the President to provide a specified accounting to Congress of all expenditures attributable to the exercise of powers and authorities conferred by a declaration of a national emergency within 90 days of the end of each six-month period following the declaration, and a final report within 90 days following the termination of the national emergency.
Supported by:
FreedomWorks, Club for Growth, Heritage Action, Competitive Enterprise Institute, Goldwater Institute, American Principles Project, Americans for Limited Government, Tea Party Patriots Action, Less Government
