Restoring Trust in Public Health Act

Floor Speech

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Mr. LEE. Madam President, I have now come to the Senate floor 12 times to speak against President Biden's unconstitutional and unwise vaccine mandate. I have introduced 12 bills to counter and limit the mandate. Each time I have asked for one of these bills--each of which should be uncontroversial--and tried to get the Senate to pass them, one Senator or another from across the aisle has objected.

Some of these bills have required only transparency. Other bills would have ensured that religious and medical exemptions be honored. Others still would simply require parental consent before vaccinating children.

While far from the right answer of empowering Americans with all the information to make the decision themselves on when, whether, and under what circumstances to receive the COVID-19 vaccine, these commonsense bills would make the situation better. Each one of them would make it better. Each one of them is and properly should be uncontroversial.

Now, throughout the process, I have been criticized by those on the other side of the aisle. I have been accused of attacking science and our institutions and somehow perpetuating the virus. Nothing could be further from the truth--nothing. I am for the vaccine. I have been vaccinated. Every member of my family has been vaccinated. I have encouraged others to be vaccinated all along. Nevertheless, Madam President, my support for the vaccine cannot, must not, and will never supersede my sworn oath to uphold, protect, and defend the Constitution of the United States; nor can it supersede the rights of Americans who should, in any free society, in any fair society, be at liberty to make their own properly informed medical decisions. This right has been recognized and it has been rightly celebrated throughout American history.

Another principle deeply enshrined, embedded, built into our Constitution that has been wholly ignored in implementing this mandate and countless other infringements of the rights and freedoms of Americans is the separation of powers. Checks and balances require that all ministers, consuls, and officers of the United States be confirmed by the advice and consent of the Senate. Some of us take that responsibility very seriously.

Any commissioned officer in the military being promoted to O-4 rank or higher requires Senate confirmation. That, of course, is the equivalent of a major in the Army. In other areas of government, positions such as members of the Advisory Board for Cuba Broadcasting, the board of the African Development Foundation, members of the National Councils on the Arts and Humanities, members of the National Science Board, and board members of the Corporation for National and Community Service all require Senate confirmation--every one of them.

Oddly, one position that has exerted huge power over the American people, particularly in recent years, does not require Senate confirmation. The Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention manages over 10,000 employees and has requested over $15 billion for the Centers' fiscal year 2022 budget.

The CDC, in recent months, has suspended property rights nationwide. It has provided capricious recommendations that local and State officials have used to strictly limit freedoms across the country. The CDC has shown through its own actions and the effects of those actions just how powerful it is. The sheer immensity of the CDC's power has been demonstrated over and over and over again on wide public, very prominent display for the American people to see and witness and experience.

We can and we should debate the authorities of the CDC here in Congress because Congress is, of course, the branch of government most accountable to the people at the most regular intervals. That is why the most dangerous powers, really, are lodged here, is because of the fact that we stand accountable to the people at the most regular intervals. Every Member of the House stands for election every 2 years. A third of the Senate stands for reelection every 2 years. So we should debate and discuss the authorities of the CDC here in Congress for that very reason.

I look forward to that discussion, which we need to have more of, but the matter at hand today is much simpler. We must consider whether the CDC Director ought to be confirmed by the U.S. Senate. Now, it is absurd to think that someone so powerful can assume this office with no say whatsoever from the legislative branch. It is even more absurd to say that the Senate confirms members of an advisory board on broadcasting in Cuba to protect the interests of the American people-- those we represent and those who elected us--but that it has no business confirming someone to be the Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

My bill would fix that problem. The Restoring Trust in Public Health Act would require that the CDC Director be confirmed by the Senate. This bill is cosponsored by Senators Blackburn, Tuberville, Sullivan, Braun, Tillis, and Scott of Florida. I appreciate their support for this long-past-due measure.

In order to increase trust in the vaccine and trust in government, we must return transparency and accountability to the process. This bill, in the spirit of the Constitution, would provide an important check on government power and give the people a say in the CDC.

Now, today, I had planned to ask the Senate to pass this bill by unanimous consent. However, just in the last few hours, I have learned that negotiations are now underway and a deal may well be struck in order to make this proposal or something very similar to it law. In light of that development, I will withhold my live UC request for today. But I will note here that if progress isn't made on such a deal, I will be back soon--certainly before the end of the year--to ask this body to immediately take up and pass S. 2734.

Thank you.

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