U.S. SENATE – U.S. Senator Steve Daines introduced a bill to counter the Biden administration’s efforts to coerce and punish Montana service members who decline the COVID-19 vaccine, and include accountability measures in response to DoD efforts to undermine transparency.
“Montana service members selflessly defend our nation and our freedoms—it’s our duty to defend their liberties and rights to make personal decisions when it comes to receiving the COVID-19 vaccine,” Daines said. “I will always stand with Montana service members and ensure the brave men and women in uniform are not punished by President Biden’s overreaching vaccine mandates.”
This bill would require the Secretary of Defense to make every effort to retain unvaccinated service members, strengthen language to ensure service members receive discharge classifications commensurate with their record of service, require the Department of Defense to report the number and type of COVID-19 vaccine religious exemptions that have been denied, and create an exemption from COVID-19 vaccine requirements for service members with natural immunity. The act would also protect service academy students and Reserve Officers’ Training Corps (ROTC) members in the same way.
Read the bill text HERE.
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Contact: Rachel Dumke, Katie Schoettler