Stop Vaccine Mandates Act

Madam President, I understand the statement by my friend from Michigan. I have to tell you, though, I wish this was rolled out in an orderly fashion. It has been 6 weeks of chaos and unanswered questions, and the Federal Government is about to fire thousands of Federal employees because they did not bend to their will.

Many Federal employees asked for a medical exemption and were told no. Literally, they brought a letter from their doctor and were told no. Individuals asked for religious accommodation and were told no, they will not get it. It is one thing to say it is offered; it is another thing to say it was actually extended.

I will tell you, from talking to people in my State in the Federal workforce, they are not getting those orderly religious accommodations, those orderly medical exemptions. They are not getting it. They are being told ``No, it is a mandate,'' and then they are being told ``You are about to lose your career. Is it worth it?'' These are individuals literally choosing between their health and their job.

By this January, I don't know how many thousands of Federal employees we are going to have out of our system and how much wisdom we are going to lose out of all these Agencies. But this horrible game of chicken that the President is right now playing with not only Federal employees but with people all over the country is a terrible thing to do to our economy and to individuals who are seeking the best service.

It is amazing to me how many individuals served through the entire pandemic faithfully and took great risk to serve their neighbors who literally the President is about to fire as their thank you. That is wrong. That is wrong.

I stood last week and talked to individuals who work for American Airlines, who are really concerned and frustrated, who love working with American Airlines but are now receiving a mandate coming down on them that they are digging in and saying: I am not going to do it. I have already had COVID. I have recovered. I have natural immunity. Why am I being asked to do this as well?

And they are getting only that the President is mandating it, and: We do Federal work, and so it is going to be required.

It is the same thing happening to packing companies, to manufacturers, to small businesses around the country.

Let me just read you a story. One employee who called our office last week is currently in cancer treatment for the fourth time and is receiving an experimental treatment. She is being told that she will be terminated from her job November 24 if she doesn't get vaccinated, because the President is requiring it on everyone.

That does not sound like an accommodation that is occurring because of medical accommodations.

It is nice to say in DC: Talk to the people in your State what is actually happening on the ground.

All of this push that is happening around healthcare workers all around the country, what does that really look like?

When we talked to an administrator of one of our nursing homes. Most of the individuals in our nursing homes, thankfully, as residents and as staff, have been vaccinated; but some have had COVID, and they are concerned about getting the vaccine. Whether that is rational or not, that is where they are, but they have natural immunity.

This particular nursing home that we talked to, 20 percent of her employees have said that they will not take the vaccine. This particular nursing home in a rural area will close and expose all of those residents and their families to chaos because Biden said: I am losing patience.

It is one thing to say we need to be able to push back on this pandemic. I absolutely agree. It is another thing to irrationally close down nursing homes that are taking care of patients that, by the way, were filled with people--frontline workers--who put their life at risk last year to serve people.

And now to push those people out and fire them this year?

``You are welcome,'' apparently, is what the President should be saying to them.

All I am asking for is reason. All I am asking for is to consider those 44 million Americans who have natural immunity and to accept what we all know scientifically to be true. All I am asking for is real medical exemptions. That is not irrational. All I am asking for is real religious accommodations.

Those are things that should be straightforward, common sense, and doable. But for whatever reason, the train is barreling down the tracks. In the debris field is our Federal workers, individuals who work in private companies, healthcare workers across the board.

I, just this weekend, received an email that was a long email from a very shy physician in one of our major hospitals in Tulsa. She told me flat out: I don't seek personal attention. I don't do media stuff.

In fact, she said: I don't even have social media at all.

But she detailed out her healthcare decisions and what was going on in her own life and said: I do not want to receive this vaccine.

As a physician at a major hospital in Tulsa, she is about to lose her job because President Biden's patience is running thin.

What do her patients do next?

Mr. President, don't play chicken with our families. This is real to them. They do not need to lose their job because they have medical conditions, religious accommodations, or they have natural immunity. They have suffered through COVID once, and now you are going to fire them for that?

Let's have a real dialogue, not a rushed ``My patience is wearing thin.''

With that, I yield the floor.

Madam President, I reserve the right to object. My friend from Oklahoma serves as the ranking member of the Government Operations Subcommittee of the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee. I sincerely appreciate that he brings a thoughtful approach to Federal workforce issues and that we frequently have an opportunity to work together to make government work more efficiently and more effectively.

Unfortunately, I strongly disagree with the legislation being put forward today. This proposal would roll back policies put in place to make sure that Federal workers and Federal contractors who are paid with taxpayer dollars are vaccinated against COVID-19. These Executive orders protect not just the Federal workforce all across our country, but they help protect their families and their communities. There are also commonsense exceptions for people with disabilities, with medical conditions, or with sincerely held religious beliefs. These policies were put in place both carefully and fairly.

The American people are literally sick and tired of this pandemic--a pandemic that has already claimed over 725,000 lives, including the lives of our friends, our neighbors, and our family members. They want this pandemic to end, and vaccines is how we get there.

From the beginning of this pandemic, I and many of my colleagues have been dedicated to bringing safe and effective vaccines to the people who live in our States by investing in science and research and by strengthening our domestic supply chains.

COVID-19 vaccines are now widely available, but we know from trusted scientists and public health experts that we need higher rates of vaccination to get this pandemic under control. The politicization of safe, effective, public health measures is making it harder to end this horrible pandemic. The legislation before us today would without question move us in the wrong direction. I object.