Senator Marshall Statement on OSHA Pausing COVID Vaccine Mandate

Senator Doubles Down in Pledge to Object to Spending Packages Unless Vaccine Mandate is Defunded

(Washington, D.C., November 17, 2021) – U.S. Senator Roger Marshall, M.D. issued the following statement after the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) suspended implementation and enforcement of their COVID-19 vaccine mandate for employers with more than 100 employees pending future developments in the litigation. The suspension follows the Fifth Circuit Court putting a stay on Joe Biden’s unconstitutional vaccine mandate last week.

“While I am pleased with the actions taken by the court and that OSHA has subsequently suspended President Biden’s unconstitutional vaccine mandate for now, I will continue fighting to put a full stop to his efforts to fire Americans for choosing to not get the vaccine,” said Senator Marshall. “Joe Biden’s mandate is slap in the face to so many people, including our essential workers, who answered the call last year. These are real people working to feed their families and pay their mortgages. We are going to do everything in our power to fight for Kansans who are rightfully concerned and uncertain about their futures.”

Support for Senator Marshall’s pledge to oppose ALL efforts to implement and enforce Joe Biden’s vaccine mandate particularly on upcoming spending measures considered by the U.S. Senate has grown to include over a dozen Senators with the additions of Senators Rand Paul (KY), Marco Rubio (FL), and James Lankford (OK). In their letter to Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, the Senators said in part,

“…President Biden is waging a cruel campaign to punish unvaccinated Americans—depriving them of their ability to provide for their families. This is nothing short of immoral. There are so many humane ways to defeat this virus. Depriving law-abiding citizens of their livelihood must not be included among them… To that end, please be advised (many weeks in advance of the current spending period, which ends on December 3, 2021) that we will not support—and will use all means at our disposal to oppose—legislation that funds or in any way enables the enforcement of President Biden’s employer vaccine mandate. Nor will we vote for or support cloture on any continuing resolution in the absence of language protecting Americans from this action.

Full text of letter to Leader Schumer:

Dear Senator Schumer,

On September 9, 2021, President Biden announced plans to impose a sweeping COVID-19 vaccine mandate that, while ostensibly targeting America’s employers, will hurt workers. Using the threat of crippling fines, the president’s mandate would compel all private employers with at least 100 employees to take action against workers who decline to be vaccinated. This is wrong—morally, legally, and constitutionally. Accordingly, we will oppose all efforts to implement and enforce it with every tool at our disposal, including our votes on spending measures considered by the Senate.

To be sure, we agree that countless Americans have benefitted from the protection offered by the COVID-19 vaccines. Nevertheless, the decision whether to be vaccinated against COVID-19 is a highly personal one that should never be forced upon individuals by the federal government. President Biden has chosen to disregard the personal autonomy of free citizens. Some choose not to be vaccinated because of sincere religious beliefs, others because of unique and potentially serious medical conditions. Others have fully recovered from a previous COVID-19 infection and feel adequately protected by natural immunity, which according to some studies is 27 times stronger than immunity derived from a vaccine. But regardless of their reasons, those who choose not to receive the vaccine deserve to be treated with dignity and respect, especially by their own government. People in any civilized nation should expect nothing less.

President Biden is waging a cruel campaign to punish unvaccinated Americans—depriving them of their ability to provide for their families. This is nothing short of immoral. There are so many humane ways to defeat this virus. Depriving law-abiding citizens of their livelihood must not be included among them.

This punishment is not simply reserved for those who – for their own good reasons – decline the vaccine. President Biden’s mandate will punish everyone by crippling our nation. As companies and state and local governments begin to fall in line behind President Biden’s proclamation, issuing their own mandates to ensure their compliance, the societal consequences of these mandates are starting to manifest as examples of what is to come.

These early examples demonstrate that coerced unemployment will destroy the machinery that allows our nation to function. Vaccine mandates threaten our law and order, national security, supply chains, travel, and every sector of our economy. Here are a few anecdotes signaling serious problems that have already surfaced:

• Chicago, which has no shortage of violent crime, may lose nearly one-third of its police force to the city’s vaccine mandate.
• In New York City, sixteen percent of Emergency Medical Service workers and thirty percent of firefighters remained unvaccinated as of October 29th, which was the city’s deadline for these first responders to be vaccinated. The immediate result was the closure of twenty-six fire stations.
• According to recent analysis by Roll Call, based on Pentagon data, as many as 400,000 troops have not received a single dose of the vaccine.
• In addition to the impact on our troops, Raytheon CEO Greg Hayes recently told CNBC that, as a result of the mandates, the company would lose several thousand of the defense contractors that support our military.
• Trucking companies affected by the mandates could lose thirty-seven percent of their workforce, as estimated by the American Trucking Associations. This in the middle of a supply chain crises where the nation already faces a shortage of 80,000 truck drivers.
• According to a Kaiser Family Foundation poll, seven in ten unvaccinated workers (9% of all adults) would quit their job if required to get the vaccine.

If the vaccine mandate is allowed to be fully implemented, the result could be catastrophic. Many Americans who have decided to not comply with the vaccine mandate will not suddenly accept coercion. That is their God given right.  Any attempt to blame this impending catastrophe on those choosing not to get vaccinated would be severely misplaced.

President Biden chose to employ unnecessarily coercive methods. President Biden made a bet that he could force people to comply with his edicts by threatening their livelihoods. He was so sure of his winning hand that he wagered the machinery that allows our nation to function. When he loses that bet the blame will be fully his. It is wrong to gamble with people’s livelihoods. It is unwise to bet that Americans will cave to petty tyranny.

To be clear, this was not President Biden’s bet to make. The president of the United States does not have any statutory or constitutional authority to undertake this breathtakingly vindictive and unprecedented action. The Constitution, which protects the people from the dangers inherent in the excessive accumulation of power in the hands of the few, neither authorizes nor tolerates this kind of abuse.    

It does, however, vest in Congress—the branch of the federal government most accountable to the people at the most regular intervals—the exclusive power to fund all federal endeavors. We intend to use that power here to make sure that this mandate never takes effect. 

To that end, please be advised (many weeks in advance of the current spending period, which ends on December 3, 2021) that we will not support—and will use all means at our disposal to oppose—legislation that funds or in any way enables the enforcement of President Biden’s employer vaccine mandate. Nor will we vote for or support cloture on any continuing resolution in the absence of language protecting Americans from this action. 

The American people have gone through enough and should not be subjected to this type of coercion. The people stand with us on this issue because we stand with them. We invite and implore you to join us in our efforts to protect them.     

Sincerely,

Senator Roger Marshall, M.D. (KS)

Senator Marsha Blackburn (TN)

Senator Ted Cruz (TX)

Senator Steve Daines (MT)

Senator Jim Inhofe (OK)

Senator Ron Johnson (WI)

Senator Mike Lee (UT)

Senator Cynthia Lummis (WY)

Senator Rick Scott (FL)

Senator Tommy Tuberville (AL)

Senator Rand Paul (KY)

Senator Marco Rubio (FL)

Senator James Lankford (OK)

Background:

Senator Marshall has been leading the fight in the U.S. Senate to halt President Biden’s vaccine mandate and to get the Administration to recognize the importance natural immunity.

• Following numerous roundtable discussions in Kansas City, Topeka, and Wichita with union workers who are literally faced with the decision of job or jab, Senator Marshall requested leaders of the Senate HELP, Agriculture, Small Business, and Energy Committees to hold hearings with Kansas union workers to discuss the vaccine mandates. These workers are at risk of losing their jobs over the mandate and in turn further exacerbating the labor shortage and supply chain crisis, and further stifling economic recovery. You may click HERE or on the image below for a recap video of Senator Marshall’s visits with union workers.

• In September, Senator Marshall spoke on the Senate floor about an amendment he offered to the government spending package to prohibit funding for implementing or enforcing the Biden Administration’s COVID vaccine mandate on private companies. All 50 Senate Republicans supported Senator Marshall’s amendment. You may click HERE to watch Senator Marshall’s remarks.

• Senator Marshall introduced the COVID-19 Vaccine Dishonorable Discharge Prevention Act to prohibit the Department of Defense from giving servicemembers a dishonorable discharge for choosing not to receive a COVID-19 vaccine. Senator Marshall also introduced this as an amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act. You may click HERE or on the image below to watch a highlight video of Senator Marshall’s efforts on this front.

• In opposition to Biden’s vaccine mandate on businesses, Senator Marshall joined his colleagues in demanding a Congressional Review of President Joe Biden’s vaccine mandate on private employees before it goes into effect and oppose this unlawful, unnecessary federal command.

• Senator Marshall joined his colleagues to introduce the Prevent Unconstitutional Vaccine Mandates for Interstate Commerce Act. As the Biden Administration is working to enforce vaccine mandates for businesses merely seeking to engage in interstate commerce, the legislation would protect the privacy of Americans’ personal health information and prohibit the Department of Transportation and other federal agencies from requiring proof of vaccination or the use of a vaccine passport for such activities.

• Senator Marshall helped introduce the Keeping Our COVID-19 Heroes Employed Act to save essential workers from being fired due to President Biden’s sweeping vaccine mandate.

• Senator Marshall questioned U.S. Department of Labor Assistant Secretary for Employment and Training nominee Jose Javier Rodriguez recently on how he plans to handle the upcoming spike in unemployment rates caused by President Biden’s vaccine mandate. You may click HERE to watch the exchange.

• Senator Marshall questioned U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services Xavier Becerra and U.S. Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona on their intent to mandate vaccines for students in public schools despite the possibility of the CDC acknowledging natural immunity. You may click HERE to watch the exchange.

• Senator Marshall penned an op-ed for The Hill, highlighting the importance of T-cell testing and natural immunity research in helping parents make informed decisions on COVID-19 vaccinations.

• Senator Marshall led a letter with 14 other health care providers in Congress to the CDC urging the agency to acknowledge natural immunity from COVID-19. The letter also urges the CDC to work with other federal agencies to ensure all future policies and federally-funded research take into account natural immunity.

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