WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.) led her Senate GOP colleagues today in a press conference to discuss their success in repealing the COVID vaccine mandate for the military as part of the Fiscal Year (FY) 2023 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA).

Senator Blackburn was joined by Senators Roger Marshall (R-Kan.), Steve Daines (R-Mont.), Joni Ernst (R-Iowa), James Lankford (R-Okla.), Deb Fischer (R-Neb.), Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-Miss.), and John Cornyn (R-Texas).

Blackburn, Colleagues Secure Provision To Protect Servicemembers From Biden’s COVID Vaccine Mandate

“I am so pleased that the NDAA language reflects what we have sought to do [by repealing President Biden’s military COVID vaccine mandate.] The members that have joined me here today have all worked on this issue. It's a very important thing to do… I do want to thank Senate Republican leadership, including Senator McConnell and Senator Ernst, who serves on Senate Armed Services, and the colleagues that are here with me today. They have done an incredible job of working together to push this across the finish line.”

Biden Must Commit To Signing NDAA With COVID Mandate Repeal

“At today's White House briefing, I am calling on the White House to publicly announce that President Biden will sign the NDAA into law with the COVID vaccine mandate repealed. They should make it crystal clear to China, Iran, North Korea, and Russia that the United States is serious about our nation's security and our continued freedom and not focused on some of these woke mandates. While attention will be given in the future to providing backpay and looking at benefits for those that were fired by Joe Biden, we've secured a major win for our nation's servicemembers.”

View Senator Blackburn’s remarks here.

Full Transcript Of Blackburn’s Remarks Below:

Thank you all for coming over here and being with us for a few minutes this morning. I'm Marsha Blackburn. I serve as a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, and in that position, have worked, since we started working on the NDAA, on getting our troops out from under this COVID-19 mandate. And I am so pleased that the NDAA language reflects what we have sought to do. The members that have joined me here today have all worked on this issue. It's a very important thing to do. 

In our country, the number of new servicemembers – joining the military, raising their hand, and seeking to serve – is at a record low. Every single branch this year has struggled to meet their recruiting goals. And an example of this: with the U.S. Army, they are 15,000 troops short this year. And on this trend, next year, they're going to be 21,000 troops short. 

The President said, ‘the pandemic is over,’ and now he refuses to commit to funding our nation's military unless we continue to force our servicemembers to take the COVID shot. And he has already fired over 8,400 active-duty servicemembers for not getting the COVID shot.

While we are depleting our ranks, the New Axis of Evil grows bolder every day. Communist China is on its way to becoming a new superpower. Under President Xi's direction, the Chinese Navy is expected to increase its fleet by approximately 40% by the time we get to 2040 and quadruple its nuclear stockpile by the end of the decade. Meanwhile, Iran has admitted publicly to supplying the Kremlin with drones and equipment to kill innocent Ukrainians. And this year, North Korea conducted its very first-ever ballistic missile test. 

This is what we're facing, and now is the time for President Biden to be laser-focused on ensuring the U.S. military remains what we want it to be – the most lethal fighting force on the face of the earth. Instead, he continues to impose a vindictive and unnecessary vaccine mandate on our troops, forcing many of them to the sidelines. 

At today's White House briefing, I am calling on the White House to publicly announce that President Biden will sign the NDAA into law with the COVID vaccine mandate repealed. They should make it crystal clear to China, Iran, North Korea, and Russia that the United States is serious about our nation's security and our continued freedom and not focused on some of these woke mandates. While attention will be given in the future to providing backpay and looking at benefits for those that were fired by Joe Biden, we've secured a major win for our nation's servicemembers. 

I do want to thank Senate Republican leadership, including Senator McConnell and Senator Ernst, who serves on Senate Armed Services, and the colleagues that are here with me today. They have done an incredible job of working together to push this across the finish line.