Department of Defense Appropriations Act, 2024

Floor Speech

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Mr. ROSENDALE. Mr. Chair, my amendment No. 172 would prohibit funds made available by this act to require a member of the Armed Forces or a civilian employee of the Department of Defense to receive a COVID-19 vaccine.

The fiscal year 2023 National Defense Authorization Act rescinded Secretary Austin's memorandum requiring that members of the Armed Forces be vaccinated against COVID-19.

Unfortunately, the NDAA did not prohibit future mandates. The last mandate resulted in over 8,400 troops being kicked out of the military for refusing this experimental vaccine, and we lost about 60,000 reservists. Countless individuals also decided not to enlist because of this mandate.

While our military is failing dramatically to meet recruiting goals, it is outrageous that the Department of Defense would condition employment on receiving a COVID-19 vaccine.

For example, in 2022, the Army sought 60,000 recruits but only enlisted 45,000. For 2023, the Army is aiming to recruit 65,000 new members but is only expected to recruit between 50- and 55,000 Active- Duty members.

Additionally, young, healthy males are the least at risk of getting a severe case of COVID-19 while they are the most likely group to have an adverse reaction from the vaccine, making the mandate not just counterproductive but potentially dangerous.

The Biden administration is already urging all Americans to get a booster shot, despite no human-outcome data on the new shot. Congress must preemptively stop all COVID-19 vaccine requirements before these unelected bureaucrats try to take more control of our lives.

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Mr. ROSENDALE. Madam Chair, I am glad we are talking about the effectiveness and the readiness of our military. Again, 60,000 reservists left the military because of a mandate. Fortunately, we did learn something from it and it was removed from the NDAA, and Austin went along with it.

These are the mandatory vaccinations that all servicemembers are required to receive before initial entry in basic training: adenovirus, hepatitis A, hepatitis B, influenza, measles, mumps, rubella, meningococcal, poliovirus, tetanus-diphtheria, and varicella.

However, the main difference is that these other vaccines are much different and more effective than the COVID-19 vaccine. Take measles, for example. One estimate found that the measles vaccine is 85 times more effective than the Pfizer COVID vaccine.

Madam Chair, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Roy), my dear friend.
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Mr. ROSENDALE. Madam Chair, we don't have a single problem with this being an option. If any servicemembers want to go and get an experimental vaccination plugged into their arm, they are welcome to do so.

What we are saying is that the dollars that are going to be issued to the Department of Defense should not include any mandate for this experimental vaccination.

In August of 2022, The Washington Post reported that 58 percent of the deaths related to COVID-19 were among vaccinated or boosted persons. This raises serious questions about even the effectiveness of this vaccine.

I would also like to state that the COVID-19 vaccine requirements also continue to ignore natural immunity. As renowned Dr. Marty Makary testified in the Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic this year, ``Over the past 3 years, over 200 studies have shown that natural immunity is at least as effective than vaccinated immunity. A recent Lancet review . . . natural immunity is at least as effective as vaccinated immunity, and probably better.''

Madam Chair, I yield back the balance of my time.

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