Freedom for Health Care Workers Act

Floor Speech

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Mr. DUNCAN. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of my legislation to end Joe Biden's COVID-19 vaccine mandate for our Nation's healthcare workers.

We have had a lot of debate and conversation, and we have learned a lot about COVID since 2020. I am proud to continue our work from last Congress to end this mandate, and I will not stop leading the charge until this requirement is lifted.

No American should be forced to choose between receiving a COVID shot or losing their livelihood. But CMS uses the purse strings of forced policies on healthcare systems. I have serious concerns regarding the practicality, efficacy, and morality of a vaccine mandate for healthcare providers.

The CMS mandate is one of the strictest mandates the Biden administration has implemented. With few permissible exceptions for healthcare workers, this mandate has only created resentment and distrust toward the government and loss of jobs, nursing jobs, CNA jobs, often replaced with traveling nurses being paid a higher rate, a higher cost for the taxpayers and the hospitals.

Joe Biden's draconian vaccine mandate is unscientific, un-American, and is deeply damaging to healthcare workers as we already face a nationwide shortage.

CMS's one-size-fits-all vaccine mandate exacerbates the ongoing staffing shortage by limiting the ability of healthcare providers to make important accommodations and set standards for their employees based on their staffing needs.

No American should stand for this type of authoritarianism that is a detriment to our healthcare system.

Last night, the Biden administration threatened to veto this legislation. The administration went on and on about protecting individuals from COVID-19, but there was no mention that the COVID-19 vaccine prevents transmission. That is because the CDC has confirmed that the shot does not prevent transmission.

Let's follow the science here and allow individuals to make choices for themselves.

I encourage my colleagues to support my legislation, the Freedom for Health Care Workers Act, and give medical freedom back to our Nation's healthcare workers and let them get back to work.

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