Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-Tennessee) issued the following statement after President Joe Biden signed the FY2023 National Defense Authorization Act into law, which included her measure repealing the military Covid vaccine mandate.
I am glad President Biden has decided to sign the FY2023 National Defense Authorization Act into law with my measure to repeal the Covid vaccine mandate. Our military should be focused on confronting the New Axis of Evil – not woke political mandates.
North Korea is racing to expand its ballistic missile capabilities, China is increasing its threats against our partner Taiwan, and Russia has deepened its relationship with Iran to help wage its war against Ukraine.
Meanwhile, President Biden is focused on firing over 8,400 active-duty servicemembers for not getting vaccinated. Biden has also barred more than 10,000 soldiers in the Army Reserve and National Guard from drills, training and pay.
I was honored to lead the way in removing the Covid mandate to keep our military focused on protecting our nation.
– Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn)
The Covid vaccine mandate was unpopular among the troops and many advocates, particularly after the government acknowledged the vaccines do not prevent infection, transmission, or illness. Even after those revelations, the military continued to enforce mandates. Several courts found various branches of the military violated the law by issuing blanket denials of applications for religious exemptions on the grounds that aborted fetal cells were used in development of the vaccines.
This is great, but my son, who is in the Navy is now in limbo. He refused the “vaccine” mandated by the DOD. He applied for religious exemption, it was approved at all the lower levels, but then “big” Navy at the top rejected it. He appealed their decision. They have threatened him with court martial and dishonorable discharge. The mental pressure the applied to pick off low hanging fruit to get sailors to finally submit to the vaccine was immoral. Finally, several months ago the Navy told my son if he would rescind his appeal that they would go ahead and honorably discharge him with full benefits (education, etc). He just would not get the $30k “bonus” that was due him if he served his full enlistment period. After three months or more he has not been discharged, and now because of this new law he may have to serve the remainder of his time, 1 year and 4 months, which can be an eternity to a young man. He was okay with this, and the one upside is he would at least get his $30k payout. But, now the Navy is apparently suspending any such payouts beginning this coming March, in a effort to get people to re-enlist because they are well below their recruiting numbers. So now it appears my son will have to serve the final 1 yr and 4 months and still not get his payout. Based on how the Navy treated him during this time he has no desire to re-enlist. He is ready to start the next chapter of is life. The new law repealing the vaccine mandate actually hurts his situation. His only hope is if the Navy does a last minute “purge” before they have to implement the new law, which is 30 days after the President signs it.