Political Quotes

“I rise to offer an amendment on behalf of myself and Senator Cruz. I want to say I appreciate Senate leadership for allowing this amendment. I appreciate, as does Senator Cruz, the conferees' willingness to consider or repeal the vaccine mandate, which they didn't include. We truly appreciate that. This amendment reflects the fact that we don't think the vaccine mandate went far enough. So our amendment is pretty simple, it immediately ends the vaccine mandate, whereas what is in the bill allows it to continue for 30 days. It prohibits DOD from imposing a future COVID-19 vaccine mandate without the express authorization of Congress. It prohibits DOD from taking any adverse action against a servicemember solely for refusing to get the COVID-19 vaccine. It allows the servicemember to be reinstated with backpay if kicked out of the military solely for refusing the vaccine. And it redresses any other types of adverse actions the DOD took against a servicemember for refusing the COVID-19 vaccine. People serving in our military are the finest among us. Over 8,000 were terminated because they refused to get this experimental vaccine, and so I am urging all of my colleagues to support the Senators and my amendment. The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Rhode Island.”