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Floor Speech

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Mr. CRUZ. I call up my amendment No. 421, and ask that it be reported by number.

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Mr. CRUZ. Madam President, last December, Marine Gen. David Berger stated the obvious, that the Department of Defense's COVID vaccine mandate hurt recruiting and hurt retention.

For several weeks now, our Democratic colleagues have been saying that military readiness is suffering due to promotion delays. Well, I have good news for my colleagues. My amendment will help address these problems.

While last year's NDAA, quite rightly, repealed the vaccine mandate prospectively, problems caused by the mandate persist, including concerning recruiting, retention, and readiness.

According to reports, the Biden administration dismissed over 8,400 military servicemembers who had vaccine concerns. DOD routinely denied religious accommodation requests, violating the rights of servicemembers protected by the Constitution and RFRA.

DOD gave over 80 percent of these servicemembers a ``general discharge,'' causing them to lose GI benefits and, in some cases, VA benefits, even those were benefits earned through honorable service.

My amendment rights these wrongs. It will allow servicemembers dismissed over the vaccine mandate to seek reinstatement or a change in their discharge status. It restores lost GI and VA benefits.

According to media reports, the DOD is already contemplating all of these actions, but I believe the Senate should lead to address these issues. They have ended the vaccine mandate, and it is not fair to the over 8,000 service men and women dismissed for a policy DOD no longer believes is necessary. I urge Members to support my amendment.
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