List: Lawmakers backing travel ban
By The Hill staff
10/16/14 12:17 P.M. EDT
The Hill
Pressure is building on President Obama to ban flights to West African nations that are battling Ebola, as concerns mount about the disease spreading in the United States.
Administration officials have resisted a flight ban thus far, arguing it would make it harder to deliver relief supplies to the countries, where the virus is running rampant.
But lawmakers, in growing numbers, are pushing Obama to reverse course, and polls show the idea has strong public support.
Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) says a flight ban is something the president should consider, adding that he already has the authority he would need to put such restrictions in place.
“The president has the authority to take this action right now. The House will continue to conduct rigorous oversight, which, along with discussions with our members, will help inform our path forward as we continue to assess the administration’s response,” Boehner spokesman Kevin Smith said.
Here’s a look at where lawmakers stand on the travel ban. (Check back often, this list will be updated. Please send tips/feedback to klaing@thehill.com.)
This story was last updated at 6:09 p.m.
LAWMAKERS IN FAVOR OF TRAVEL BAN
House (59 total; 53 Republicans, six Democrats)
Rep. Lou Barletta (R-Pa.) — Barletta said Wednesday that the Obama administration should "enforce a ban on inbound travelers originating in countries affected by the growing Ebola outbreak."
Rep. Andy Barr (R-Ky.)
Rep. John Barrow (D-Ga.) — Barrow said Thursday a travel ban "is basic, with no real unmanageable consequences, and just makes too much common sense not to do." [In that case, it’ll never happen!]
Rep. Joe Barton (R-Texas)
Rep. Charles Boustany Jr. (R-La.) — Boustany said Thursday "all options must be on the table, including short-term limitations on flights into the United States from at-risk countries, until we can get the spread of this disease under control."
Rep. Susan Brooks (R-Ind.) — Brooks signed an Oct. 15 letter with other lawmakers on the House Homeland Security Committee.
Rep. Michael Burgess (R-Texas) — Burgess said Thursday he supports a floor vote on the issue.
Rep. Bradley Byrne (R-Ala.) — Byrne said Thursday "a travel ban would help to halt new cases of Ebola from entering our country and allow our medical community to focus on stopping the spread based on the current cases."
Rep. Mike Coffman (R-Colo.)
Rep. Tom Cole (R-Okla.)
Rep. Steve Daines (R-Mont.)
Rep. Jeff Duncan (R-S.C.) — Duncan signed an Oct. 15 letter with other lawmakers on the House Homeland Security Committee.
Rep. John Duncan Jr. (R-Tenn.) — Duncan said Tuesday, “[T]he president should immediately ban travelers who originated from countries where there is an Ebola outbreak from entering the United States until this threat has passed."
Rep. Stephen Fincher (R-Tenn.)
Rep. Randy Forbes (R-Va.) — Forbes said Thursday, "[T]he U.S. government needs to immediately implement temporary travel restrictions to and from the West African countries experiencing Ebola outbreaks."
Rep. Scott Garrett (R-N.J.)
Rep. Bob Gibbs (R-Ohio)
Rep. Louie Gohmert (R-Texas)
Rep. Paul Gosar (R-Ariz.)
Rep. Michael Grimm (R-N.Y.)
Rep. Alan Grayson (D-Fla.)
Rep. Gregg Harper (R-Miss.)
Rep. Andy Harris (R-Md.) — Harris said Thursday "[T]he Administration should impose some level of travel ban pending the creation of protocols that will protect healthcare workers and all Americans."
Rep. Richard Hudson (R-N.C.) - Hudson signed an Oct. 15 letter with other lawmakers on the House Homeland Security Committee.
Rep. Sam Johnson (R-Texas)
Rep. Walter Jones (R-N.C.) — Jones tweeted Oct. 3, "[T]here needs to be a travel ban on non-citizens [no, on anyone!] coming into the US from Ebola-stricken countries. It's common sense."
Rep. David Joyce (R-Ohio)
Rep. Mike Kelly (R-Pa.)
Rep. Pete King (R-N.Y.) — King signed an Oct. 15 letter with other lawmakers on the House Homeland Security Committee.
Rep. Doug Lamborn (R-Colo.) — Lamborn said Thursday he is in favor of a "temporary civilian travel ban" enforced by "revoking all visas for the countries currently struggling with Ebola."
Rep. Leonard Lance (R-N.J.)
Rep. Dave Loebsack (D-Iowa)
Rep. Kenny Marchant (R-Texas)
Rep. Tom Marino (R-Pa.)
Rep. Mark Meadows (R-N.C.)
Rep. Mike McCaul (R-Texas) — McCaul is chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee.
Rep. Candice Miller (R-Mich.) — Miller signed an Oct. 15 letter with other lawmakers on the House Homeland Security Committee.
Rep. Tim Murphy (R-Pa.) — Murphy said temperature checks at airports would not be enough to stop Ebola. [Correct!]
Rep. Steven Palazzo (R-Miss.)
Rep. Robert Pittenger (R-N.C.)
Rep. Bill Posey (R-Fla.)
Rep. Nick Rahall (D-W.Va.) — Rahall is one of the most endangered Democratic incumbents in the House.
Rep. Ed Royce (R-Calif.) — Royce said Thursday that Secretary of State John Kerry should suspend the issuance of visas to non-U.S. citizens who are attempting to travel from West African countries.
Rep. Tom Rooney (R-Fla.) — Rooney wrote a letter saying temperature checks at airports would not be enough to keep the virus out of the U.S.
Rep. Dennis Ross (R-Fla.) — Ross said Thursday he would file a bill.
Rep. Matt Salmon (R-Ariz.)
Rep. Steve Scalise (R-La.) - Scalise is the House Majority Whip. He said he supports a travel during a post-hearing press conference on Thursday.
Rep. David Scott (D-Ga.) — Scott said flights to West Africa should be banned “until we get our arms around the situation.”
Rep. Pete Sessions (R-Texas)
Rep. Bill Shuster (R-Pa.) — Shuster said a flight ban would be “reasonable and timely” in an Oct. 15 letter.
Rep. Kyrsten Sinema (D-Ariz.)
Rep. Adrian Smith (R-Neb.)
Rep. Lamar Smith (R-Texas)
Rep. Steve Stivers (R-Ohio)
Rep. Steve Stockman (R-Texas)
Rep. Greg Walden (R-Ore.)
Rep. Lynn Westmoreland (R-Ga.) — Westmoreland said Thursday he joins "many of my colleagues in requesting a travel ban that includes screening of visas from countries where the outbreak is occurring, specifically West Africa."
Rep. Roger Williams (R-Texas)
Rep. Ted Yoho (R-Fla.)
Senate (11 total; 10 Republicans, one Democrat)
Sen. Saxby Chambliss (R-Ga.)
Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) — Cruz said a travel ban is “common sense.”
Sen. James Inhofe (R-Okla.)
Sen. Johnny Isakson (R-Ga.)
Sen. Mike Johanns (R-Neb.)
Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) — McConnell, who is up for reelection, said Wednesday "it would be a good idea to discontinue flights from that part of the world.”
Sen. Bill Nelson (D-Fla.) — Nelson wrote a letter to Kerry calling for a temporary flight ban until the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) clears West African travel. [Since the DCDC is corrupt, it can’t be relied on to give the all-clear.]
Sen. Pat Roberts (R-Kan.) — Roberts called Tuesday for "an immediate travel ban from countries in West Africa currently ravaged by the deadly virus."
Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) — Rubio said Thursday "the State Department should institute a temporary ban on new visas to non-U.S. nationals seeking to travel to the United States from Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea."
Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.)
Sen. David Vitter (R-La.) — Vitter said Thursday that President Obama should fire CDC Director Tom Frieden and "put someone strong and competent in charge, and impose travel restrictions into the U.S. — all immediately."
LAWMAKERS AGAINST TRAVEL BAN
House (13 total, all Democrats)
Rep. Henry Cuellar (D-Texas) — Cuellar said he's "pleased" with the Obama administration's strategy of screening travelers and evaluating healthcare protocols to combat Ebola.
Rep. Keith Ellison (D-Minn.) — Ellison tweeted Thursday that a travel ban would be a "bad idea" because it "stops health care workers critical to fighting Ebola [and] encourages people to lie about travel." [Liar.]
Rep. Gene Green (D-Texas) — Green said he supports "the work the administration is doing right now" to rein in the disease.
Rep. Eddie Bernice Johnson (D-Texas)
Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee (D-Texas) — Jackson Lee said U.S. officials should focus their efforts on enhanced health screenings. [Ridiculous, but then, what do you expect from here?]
Rep. Gwen Moore (D-Wis.) — Moore said a travel ban “will only exacerbate the epidemic.” [Lie.]
Rep. Marc Veasey (D-Texas)
Rep. Henry Waxman (D-Calif.) — Waxman said Thursday, "[The ban] doesn't make sense because that's not the biggest problem we need to deal with, keeping people from traveling. We've got to stop the epidemic [by taking steps] to identify the people with Ebola, isolate them, find the people who have been exposed to them, and track them very carefully, whether that's in Africa or in the United States." [He turns logic and public health precautions on their head: Let the plague carriers into the country, and then do something about them?]
Rep. John Yarmuth (D-Ky.) — Yarmuth said Thursday, "I'm not quite sure I'm there yet. I understand the rationale from the administration for opposing it. I think I'd like to get a little bit more information."
Rep. John Sarbanes (D-Md.) — Sarbanes said Thursday, "[A]t this point, I'm going to follow the guidance that's being provided by the experts and by the scientists." [Bull. He’s talking about Lying Tom Frieden.]
Rep. Peter Welch (D-Vt.) — Welch said Thursday, "Congress is now apparently made up of 435 doctors. We ought to be taking the advice of the medical community. ... And the medical community — including Doctors Without Borders — are much more in favor of restrictions and monitoring as being more effective than a ban, which has psychological appeal but, by experience, doesn't work as well." [Liar.]
Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-Ill.) — Schakowsky said Thursday, "[W]e can eliminate flights, but I don't think we can eliminate people from coming here. ... [How are they going to come—swim? If they try any other way of coming, they’ll either die before making it here, or be obvious Ebola cases (with projectile vomiting and constant diarrhea), at death’s door, by the time they reach here. She’s yet another liar.] Do we really want to essentially quarantine West Africa so that people have a hard time coming or going? ... [Yes, but only if you care about Americans’ health.] We cannot build a wall around the United States." [Of course, we can!]
Rep. Jim Matheson (D-Utah) — Matheson said Thursday he is leaning against supporting a travel ban. He said, "[I]f you do an outright ban, you're going to have people start avoiding traditional travel channels to move from country to country, and you can't monitor that at all." [So? If they can’t fly here, there’s nothing to monitor.]
Senate (One total, Democrat)
Sen. Chris Coons (D-Del.)
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