Motion to Discharge

Floor Speech

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Ms. LUMMIS. Madam President, I am joining my colleagues today to highlight the real harm that the President's overreaching vaccine mandates are causing the people of Wyoming and the United States.

While I am vaccinated and support others making the decision to get the COVID-19 vaccine to protect themselves, I am very concerned about unacceptable actions by the executive branch to force Americans to get the vaccine. Frankly, I cannot stay silent about these blatant violations of personal freedom.

Over the last several months, the President has signed numerous Executive orders mandating vaccines for Federal workers, contractors, and employers with over 100 workers. This is unacceptable. These mandates are far-reaching and burdensome.

Additionally, these mandates will not achieve the desired results of stopping the spread of COVID-19. Instead, they will only further politicalize healthcare choices, sow greater discord across the Nation, and exacerbate our employment crisis. I worry they will also further harm our supply chain issues. All of these should concern every American, particularly with the holiday season rapidly approaching. Consumers are going to face empty shelves in stores, and for what is available, prices will continue to rise.

In the freight industry, these mandates could mean that up to one- third of employees will be leaving their jobs. On Monday, POLITICO noted that several trucking companies are looking to end their work with the Federal Government as the vaccine mandate deadlines loom closer. This doesn't only impact the shipping industry but also our defense and law enforcement sectors as well. Former Deputy Under Secretary for Industrial Policy William Greenwalt noted that ``even a couple of welders or engineers who walk off their jobs on a highly classified program could wreak havoc with our national security.''

Meanwhile, it is more than a couple of individuals who are looking at leaving. Defense contractor Raytheon says they expect to lose thousands of employees when the mandate goes into effect.

Finally, I would like to give an example of how this is impacting my home State of Wyoming. Across the Nation, we are facing nursing shortages, but in Wyoming, it is becoming critical. I have heard over and over again from my hospitals, clinics, and nursing homes that they just don't have the staff. Many have left the field, whether due to the strain of COVID-19 or because they believe they can find better work as traveling nurses. This has left our healthcare community shortstaffed.

If we lose additional nurses from these vaccine mandates, my State is looking at losing healthcare capabilities. This means turning away patients and potentially closing nursing homes. These patients, at the end of their lives, frequently have nowhere else to go. If there is no one else to care for them, the healthcare system will be at the end of its rope trying to find ways to care for these patients.

For these reasons, I cannot support these mandates, nor should anyone else. Knowing the damage these mandates will cause, the President must immediately rescind these Executive orders and find a better way to keep our Nation safe.

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