“We are pleased to announce that on Monday, March 28, 2022, public tours of the Capitol will resume with a limited number of Member-led, staff-led tours and school groups,” they wrote.
“Since March 2020, the U.S. Capitol and the Capitol Visitor Center (CVC) has been closed to tours. The decision to reinstate limited tours has been made in coordination with Congressional Leadership, the U.S. Capitol Police Board, the Attending Physician, Capitol Visitor Services, and the U.S. Capitol Police.
“We appreciate your continued patience and cooperation as we work together to resume public tours of the Capitol for the American people in a way that protects the health and safety of visitors and institutional staff alike.”
Monahan and Walker wrote that when the Capitol reopens, access will be granted using a “phased approach.”
During the first phase, “tours to the Capitol will be monitored by Visitor Services so that modifications can be made if recommended by the Attending Physician.”
They said that although the Capitol will reopen, it could be closed again because of “COVID-19 conditions,” and that same-day negative CCP virus tests are “recommended for all visitors.”
The Capitol was originally closed to the public in March 2020. Although initially intended to reopen on April 1, 2020, the public closure has continued for more than two years.
In the past, Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) has evaded questions about reopening the Capitol, saying she deferred to the Capitol physician on the matter.
“I appreciate today’s announcement that the Capitol will reopen to a limited number of tours,” she said. “Capitol tours are particularly useful as educational tools, and prior to the pandemic, schools in D.C. and throughout the country wisely took advantage of them often.
“However, since the Capitol was first closed to the public because of the pandemic, vaccines have proven effective at preventing severe symptoms, hospitalization, and death.
“America’s symbols of democracy should be accessible to the people we serve. Already, the distance between government and the people has grown, with trust in government at historic lows. We should not entrench that distance further or longer by delaying the reopening of the Capitol, especially when the tools exist to prevent serious illness and death from COVID-19.”
Pelosi’s House mask mandate was lifted only a week before President Joe Biden’s State of the Union address, after two years of stiff Republican resistance from staunch opponents of the mask mandate, such as Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.).
McCarthy, joined by lawmakers including Rep. Chip Roy (R-Calif.), has pushed for an end to all COVID-19 restrictions and has said that if the GOP takes back the majority, any remaining restrictions in the House will be reversed.