Blackburn: Biden’s Vaccine Mandate Is Hurting Our Nation’s Military Readiness
November 16, 2022
While The Military Struggles With Recruiting, Biden Is Firing Servicemembers Over COVID Vaccine Refusal
“Prospects are looking bleak for Guardsmembers with legitimate exemption claims—and for the military as a whole. The National Guard is already missing recruitment goals, and they’re set to lose 9,000 members in Fiscal Year 2023 and 5,000 in Fiscal Year 2024. In the United States, the number of new servicemembers joining the military has reached a record low. The Army alone fell 10,000 soldiers short of its goal for 2022, and is projecting a deficit of 21,000 soldiers for 2023. The Biden administration knew manpower was a problem, but still chose to fire servicemembers who were perfectly healthy and ready to defend their country.”
Blackburn Is Fighting For Our Military Readiness
“I introduced two amendments to the 2023 NDAA that would have injected sanity into these vaccination requirements: The first would have prohibited involuntary separation of any servicemember for refusing the COVID-19 vaccine until each Service achieves its end strength authorized by last year’s NDAA. The second would have made sure that members of the National Guard or Reserve maintain access to pay and benefits while their request for a religious or health accommodation was pending. This is about as noncontroversial as you can get on the issue of vaccine mandates. These amendments would create a simple rule to stop the Biden DoD from railroading their own troops.”
President Biden Has Chosen Politics Over Country
“Every year, we come into this chamber and fight as hard as we can to make our military the most lethal fighting force in the world. We authorize billions of dollars for aircraft and equipment and advanced weaponry. The NDAA represents an incredible investment in the future of this country. But it also represents the trust the American people put in this Congress to keep them safe, and to keep the enemy at bay. So it is beyond me that Joe Biden and the Democrats would undermine their own military by gutting the ranks—just to make a point.”
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