U.S. SENATE — U.S. Senator Steve Daines is urging President Biden to rescind COVID-19 vaccine mandates which will hurt Montana businesses and threaten the livelihoods of Montana workers.
“While the Supreme Court has upheld the ability of states to mandate vaccines during a pandemic, there is no precedent for the federal government to mandate vaccines for contractors, private employers, or individual Americans. Vaccines are important in slowing the spread of the coronavirus and we have all received vaccines and have encouraged others to do so after consulting with their doctors,” the letter states. “However, the decision on whether or not to get vaccinated is a personal choice and should not be unilaterally decided by the President. These unconstitutional actions are not only unprecedented, but they are also a vast federal overreach into individual liberties, personal health decisions, and private enterprise.”
Read the full letter HERE.
Last week, Daines cosponsored a bill, the “Stop Vaccine Mandates Act,” to rescind President Biden’s executive order mandating federal contractors and workers to get a COVID-19 vaccine. Read the bill text HERE.
Many of Montana’s small defense contractors will be impacted by this mandate. Proof Research in Columbia Falls, MT expects to lose up to a third of its workforce, even though only a small percentage perform work on federal contracts.
Background:
While Daines supports Montanans talking to their doctors about safe, effective and free COVID-19 vaccines, he is anti-mandate.
On October 18, 2021, Daines cosponsored bills to protect Montana workers, small businesses from Biden’s COVID-19 vaccine mandate.
On September 16, 2021, Daines slammed President Biden for his top-down vaccine mandate, and questioned its constitutionality.
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Contact: Katherine McKeogh, Katie Schoettler