In a talk with constitiuents Monday, U.S. Rep. Conor Lamb praised President Joe Biden’s efforts to speed up vaccine distribution as it takes the reins from the Trump Administration, and condemned a Republican lawmaker who endorsed the execution of top Democrats.
In his first tele-town hall of the year on Monday evening, Lamb said the administration was working to standardize the vaccine rollout process across states, which he said the Trump administration failed to do. Lamb said he was hopeful things would get better in the coming weeks as more people get the shots.
“I’ve heard enough to be confident that it’s going to get better in the next two or three weeks but I’m certainly not going to make any promises,” Lamb said. “Every chance I get, I’m going to continue telling these people that here on the ground in Western Pennsylvania, it hasn’t been fixed yet and they need to keep working on it.”
Lamb, who represents Allegheny County suburbs and Beaver County, said officials are working on plans for a mass vaccination site in Western Pennsylvania.
“The question is simply whether they can get enough vaccines shipped here at once to be able to pull that off, and those discussions are happening right now,” Lamb said.
Lamb also praised Biden's efforts to find common ground with Republicans on a COVID relief bill -- even as Democrats in Congress prepare to get a deal done without the GOP.
"It’s very important to make every effort possible to do bipartisan legislation wherever we can," Lamb said. "It’s definitely clear to me that the American people would like to see that, that we’d all feel a lot better about our politics and our form of government if we agree a little more often than we do now. And I commend President Biden for taking the steps that he has taken to try to get a bipartisan deal."
But Lamb had much harsher words for one of his new GOP colleagues.
U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, a first-time member of Congress in Georgia who has embraced QAnon conspiracy theories, has been criticized by leaders of both parties. In the years prior to her election in November, she endorsed the execution of top Democrats including House Speaker Nancy Pelosi on social media, and has promoted lies alleging that deadly mass shootings in Las Vegas and at Sandy Hook Elementary School didn’t happen.
“She has shown that she’s not qualified to be a member of Congress,” Lamb said. “I think our institution is better than that, frankly, and this goes way beyond partisan disagreements. This goes to someone who is not operating on the same level of reality as the rest of us. and is saying and doing things that are just vicious and hateful and wrong.”
Republican leaders have denounced some of Taylor Greene's actions, including Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell who denounced “loony lies” that Taylor Greene promoted, but no action has been taken.
