WASHINGTON — A group of Republicans in the U.S. Congress has drafted legislation designed to force the Biden administration to abandon COVID-19 travel restrictions at the Canada-U.S. border.
A group of congressional Republicans has drafted legislation designed to force the Biden administration to abandon COVID-19 travel restrictions at the Canada-U.S. border.
New York Rep. Chris Jacobs hosted a news conference Sunday to unveil what he’s calling the Northern Border Reopening Act.
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Canadian visitors would no longer need to be vaccinated to enter the U.S. or, in the case of air travel, show proof of a negative COVID-19 test, in the unlikely event the bill were to become law.
Democrats currently have control of the House of Representatives and hold the tiebreaker vote in the 50-50 Senate, although that’s expected to change after the November midterms.
The bill is co-sponsored by several House Republicans whose opposition to travel restrictions are well known, including fellow New Yorkers Elise Stefanik and Lee Zeldin, as well as Minnesota Rep. Pete Stauber.
Jacobs, an ardent opponent of mask and vaccine mandates, has been vocal inxjmtzyw his efforts to convince President Joe Biden to reverse course.
He introduced legislation last June that would require the administration to disclose the details of its border discussions with the federal government in Ottawa.
He has also assailed the administration for imposing vaccine or testing mandates on private U.S. workplaces with 100 or more employees, and criticized Prime Minister Justin Trudeau for using emergency powers to end the trucker blockades last week in Ottawa.
Vaccine mandates "violate the freedom every person has to make personal medical decisions without fear of retaliation," Jacobs said in a statement.
"Americans and Canadians alike are fed up with the oppressive and unconstitutional overreach being forced on them that threatens our economic stability and personal liberties."
Inspired by the protests in Canada, a group of U.S. truckers is making its way across the country to D.C. in a show of opposition to COVID-19 restrictions, despite the fact many of those restrictions and mandates are being lifted.
They’re expected to begin arriving in the U.S. capital this week, some as early as Tuesday, when Biden is scheduled to deliver his first state of the union address.
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The International Rainbow Bridge connecting Niagara Falls, Ont. and Niagara Falls, N.Y. is shown on Wednesday, October 13, 2021. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Aaron Lynett
