Rep. Chip Roy (R-Texas) is taking issue with the House’s newly reinstated mask mandate.
In a speech on the House floor on Wednesday, the Texas Congressman said, “Here on the People’s House…We can’t come to the floor, I can’t execute my Constitutional duty, unless I wear a mask.”
“Well, which is it? Vaccines or masks? Do the vaccines work, or they don’t work? Do the masks work, or they don’t work? I’d like to know which it is. I’d like Dr. Fauci to come down and answer a single question about natural immunity. If you’ve been infected with the virus, do you have immunity? Or are they just gonna go around poking people, saying you must take a vaccine. ‘Oh, but sorry, the vaccine doesn’t work, you must wear a mask,'” he continued.
Finally, Roy said, “This institution is a sham! And we should adjourn and shut this place down.”
His comments won a smattering of applause.
However, his call for the House to adjourn was rejected in a voice vote.
Watch the video below:
“Which is it, vaccines or masks?” — Rep. Chip Roy (R-TX) throws a tantrum on the House floor, protesting the reimposed House mask requirement.
— The Recount (@therecount) July 28, 2021
The House is now voting on Roy’s motion to adjourn in protest. pic.twitter.com/kx6cTrNm4U
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) announced on Wednesday morning that the chamber would once again require lawmakers to wear masks.
The new mask mandate comes as COVID-19 cases are on the rise again, with the number of daily new infections reaching numbers not seen since February. On Tuesday, the country recorded over 108,000 new infections.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) announced new guidelines that recommend that vaccinated people wear masks in certain situations.
During an interview on CNN on Wednesday morning, CDC Director Rochelle Walensky explained the new guidance as she said, “With the delta variant, we now see in our outbreak investigations that have been occurring over the last couple of weeks, in those outbreak investigations, we have been seeing that if you happen to have one of those breakthrough infections, that you can actually now pass it to somebody else.”