Congressman Bob Good (R-Virginia-05) is one of several Republican representatives who refused to wear a mask in the House this week, leading to warnings and fines.
“I’ve received a warning and a $500 fine for my effort to stand up against Speaker Pelosi’s anti-science rule, which is clearly just for political theater. Speaker Pelosi’s mask mandate on the House floor is not about science, it’s about control and virtue signaling for the TV cameras. This week, I stood my ground, and refused to dignify this ridiculous rule by continuing to comply,” Good said in a statement to The Virgina Star Thursday.
On Wednesday, Good tweeted a video showing his warning being shredded.
Today, I was served my official 'warning' from House Democrat leadership regarding my non-compliance to their anti-science rule.
Enough is enough.
It’s time for House Democrats to put an end to their political theater.
Follow the science. Remove the masks. pic.twitter.com/EiwLRtmayU
— Congressman Bob Good (@RepBobGood) May 19, 2021
According to Politico, legislators are fined $500 for the first offense and $2,500 for the second offense, which is automatically deducted from their salary. On Wednesday, House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-California-23 introduced a resolution to force an update to the mask rules to match Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) guidelines, but the resolution was tabled Thursday in a party-line vote.
A Wednesday update to the guidelines from the House of Representatives Attending Physician Brian Monahan says that regardless of individual vaccination status, members must wear masks. The guidelines say that extra precautions are needed because many people are vaccinated, partially vaccinated or “vaccine–indeterminate.”
“The present mask requirement and other guidelines remain unchanged until all Members and floor staff are fully vaccinated,” the guidelines state.
Good did not tell The Virginia Star if he was vaccinated. He said, “Medical records should stay between the patient and their doctor, any deviation of this would be a dangerous precedent and a threat to the freedom and privacy that is important to us as Americans. No one should be forced or shamed into being vaccinated, disclosing whether or not they have been vaccinated, or wearing a mask that has not been demonstrated to make any measurable difference in virus or respiratory transmission.”
In a media briefing Thursday, Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-California-12) said the House will follow Monahan’s guidelines.
“It is unfortunate that a large number of people in the Congress have refused to be vaccinated or – I don’t know what it is. I don’t know if refused or have been vaccinated and don’t want to admit. I don’t know what it is. I shouldn’t know. It’s their personal business. But until they – as the doctor said, until they’re vaccinated, we cannot have meetings without masks,” Pelosi said.
“You have to wait for them to be vaccinated because they are, selfishly, a danger to people, including staff people here,” she said. “What is this, the honor system? The honor system as to whether people have been vaccinated? Do you want them breathing in your face on the strength of their honor?”
On Thursday, Good, along with Congressmen Rob Wittman (R-Virginia-01), Morgan Griffith (R-Virginia-09) and Ben Cline (R-Virginia-06), sent a letter to Virginia Governor Ralph Northam asking him to remove mask mandates for schools, citing low risk of COVID-19 transmission among children.
“Over the past 14 months, our state and our country have made tremendous progress fighting this virus,” the letter states. “Sadly, many misguided policies came at the expense of our liberties. It is past time to defend the freedom of each Virginian to choose whether or not to wear a mask.”
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Eric Burk is a reporter at The Virginia Star and the Star News Digital Network. Email tips to [email protected].
