Executive Calendar

Floor Speech

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Ms. LUMMIS. Mr. President, I thank the gentleman from Utah.

I wish to address the subject of the President's overreaching vaccine mandates. First, we all recognize the devastation caused by the COVID- 19 pandemic spread from Wuhan, China, throughout the world. This virus has taken too many lives: more than 4.7 million around the globe and over 686,000 here in the United States. Each death is a tragedy. My heart goes out to the families who have lost loved ones and suffered from this terrible disease.

Many of those families in Wyoming have reached out to me. I have heard from thousands of constituents concerned about the vaccine, pro and con, but mostly about confusing guidance and particularly about masking--most notably in our schools.

Our response to this pandemic should have been unifying, but, instead, it has sown discord and distrust across our country, and that discord is exacerbated by the Federal Government's extreme overreach.

I want to be clear. I support individuals getting the COVID vaccine. I am vaccinated. I got vaccinated to protect myself because I have no natural immunity. I haven't had COVID. I have no underlying health concerns. I was not advised by a physician not to get it. It made sense for me making that decision for myself.

Scientists have been researching and working for decades to make the emergency treatments that we have all had access to in 2021 available to us. However, I do not support the government mandating--mandating-- matters that come between a patient and their conscience, a patient and their healthcare provider, a patient and their own care decisions.

And the recent mandates from the Biden administration do just that. I believe they are far-reaching and burdensome, as do my constituents, including those who have been vaccinated. They will not achieve the desired result. They will not convince millions of Americans on the fence about the vaccine to suddenly get it. They cause people to dig in. They further politicize our healthcare system. They compound our unemployment problems.

Don't take my word for it. Look at the Federal Government itself. Even unions are opposed to a vaccine mandate, with the American Postal Workers Union, the Federal Law Enforcement Officers Association, and the American Federation of Teachers coming out in opposition not to the vaccine but to the mandate.

The pandemic does not make the Constitution irrelevant or put our rights as private citizens up for discussion. We are a nation of liberties, not mandates. We respect individuals.

That is why I am cosponsoring several different bills that would protect our citizens from this overreach. One bill, S. 2849, clarifies that Federal Agencies do not have the power to mandate COVID-19 vaccines. While this should be self-evident, sadly, many in Washington, DC, have forgotten about America's founding principles.

Another bill, S. 2843, blocks Federal Agencies from fining anyone who violates the COVID-19 mandates.

Further, the bill that Senator Lee is offering today, S. 2851, audits COVID funding so the American people know where their tax dollars went over the past year and a half, so we can evaluate what has worked and what has not, as Senator Lee has said.

The Biden administration should work to bring us together, not drive us further apart through politicized Executive actions. No matter what President Biden decides to do, an individual's right to be in charge of their own healthcare is sacrosanct, and I believe Senator Lee's bills are a step in the right direction.

Thank you.

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