Press Release: Congressman Fulcher Takes Continued Action Against the Biden Administration’s Vaccine Mandates

The following Press Release was sent out by Congressman Russ Fulcher. Note: Press Releases sent out by elected officials do not necessarily reflect the views and opinions of those at the Idaho Dispatch.

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Today, the Department of Labor announced a rule that will mandate vaccines for businesses with more than 100 employees. The legally dubious Emergency Temporary Standard from OSHA comes at a time when employers are struggling to hire workers, which has reverberated throughout the economy and resulted in the current supply chain crisis. President Biden’s unilateral policies on vaccines amount to an unprecedented executive branch overreach. Congressman Fulcher is opposed to this power grab and has undertaken several actions to stop it.

When President Biden first announced in August that he would require every federal employee to be vaccinated, Congressman Fulcher opposed the move, stating “nothing in the US Constitution indicates that requiring Americans to obtain an intrusive medical procedure falls within the proper role of government.”

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In September, after learning of the employer vaccine mandate proposal, Congressman Fulcher wrote to the Department of Labor Secretary Marty Walsh to state his opposition, saying “President Biden is now weaponizing the federal bureaucracy to crush American businesses with this rushed and unprecedented OSHA mandate.”

As Ranking Member of the Subcommittee on National Parks, Forests, and Public Lands, Congressman Fulcher led a hearing last week on the disruptions that the mandates have caused in every industry, from short-staffed hospitals to a lack of truckers to haul timber. View his remarks in full here.

Congressman Fulcher has also cosponsored H.R. 5811, “to amend the Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2022 to prohibit the use of funds related to any rule requiring a COVID-19 vaccination, and for other purposes.” This “limitation bill” would prohibit funds in the FY22 Labor-HHS appropriations bill that otherwise may be used to develop, implement, administer, or enforce any rule that requires COVID-19 vaccination.

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In addition to legislative action, Congressman Fulcher has sent a letter to the U.S. Border Patrol, who are short-staffed as they face record high illegal crossings and drug seizures; Also penned was a letter to the Department of the Interior, who face similar workforce issues with firefighters as more and more intense fires rage on in the West. Each one of these agencies would be further negatively impacted by President Biden’s federal vaccine mandate at a time when they are facing crises that threaten the security of all Americans.

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