GOP lawmaker escorted out of the chamber for refusing to take COVID-19 test [Video]

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW:

• Congressman David Clark (R-GA.) was escorted out of the chamber on Tuesday after declining to get a COVID-19 test in accordance with House’s safety protocol.
• The guidelines require all legislators and staff members to undergo testing twice weekly; Clark has not taken any test in three weeks.
• Clark said that he would continue to show up in Congress and was planning to seek legal action.

GOP Rep. David Clark (GA.) was removed from the legislative chamber on Tuesday after refusing to follow the House’s guidelines on COVID-19 precautionary measures that compel all legislators and staff to undergo testing.

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported that when Clark objected to leaving the floor after being asked by Speaker David Ralston (R-GA.), he got escorted out by a state trooper.

Per guidelines, lawmakers and their staff are required to take mandatory COVID-19 testing two times a week. According to the Journal-Constitution, Clark has not taken any test in almost three weeks since the session resumed this month.

Ralson made the announcement on Tuesday morning, asking the colleague whom he did not name, to leave the chambers for violating their health policy.

“We have a member of this body who has deliberately failed at all to be tested as we begin session, clearly in violation of our testing policy, jeopardizing the health of other members of this chamber,” Ralston said, per the Journal-Constitution.

He then asked the member to leave the chambers in a discreet manner. As Clark refused to do so, Ralston called an officer to take action.

“The member will be allowed to return upon complying with the policy for the safety of all those who have to come to the Capitol… This is about preventing the spread of a disease that has killed more than 12,000 Georgians,” Ralston’s office said in a statement following the scene.

Speaking to the media after the incident, Clark said that first responders and teachers should get tested first.

Journal-Constitution’s Greg Bluestein said that Clark would pursue legal action and vowed to continue showing up in the House.

In a December 30 memo, Ralston announced the covid safety protocols that include the testing requirements. The mandated testing would be saliva-based PCR tests only and not swab tests through the nasal. The memo also states that masks should be worn at all times except when a lawmaker is making an address on the House floor.

Both congressmen did not yet respond to a request for comment.

Source: The Hill