EXCLUSIVE Republican lawmakers press President Joe Biden for a halt to his vaccination requirements for federal defense contractors, citing concerns that they could compromise national security supply chain.
The Washington Examiner examined a Tuesday afternoon letter sent by Tommy Tuberville, an Alabama Republican Senator, to the White House. He claimed that Biden's federal contractor vaccine mandate would have adverse effects on our national security and asked that the president "remove or delay and clarify vaccination requirements for private companies and academic research institutes that are actively supporting Department of Defense."
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"I agree with your desire to see the country through the COVID-19 epidemic as quickly as possible. I also like that you chose to get the vaccine. Tuberville sent a Tuesday letter to the White House stating that "your administration's mandate is short-sighted and ill-conceived, which threatens our national security." Your order will have a predictable consequence: skilled workers leaving the defense contractor workforce is a direct threat to the American warfighter.
Tuberville noted specifically that Alabama employed almost 100,000 federal contractors in 2020 and "more than 55,000 contractors who support Department of Defense."
They provide capabilities that the Pentagon is unable to duplicate. Any loss of any significant share of small-firm workforce results in a reduction in economy and efficiency, which is what your Order claims to promote. He said that if these firms fail to perform, the country is in danger. It is possible that your mandate could lead to individuals leaving the workforce in order to avoid the vaccine. This will increase worker absences, labor costs, and decrease efficiency. We should be focusing on policies that protect our national security interests during this time of increased concern about technological advances by near-peer enemies. This order does the exact opposite.
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Raytheon CEO Greg Hayes stated on Tuesday that "we will lose several thousand people." "It's not only the prime contractors that must follow this mandate, but all of our subcontractors as well."
Tuberville's letter comes on the heels of nearly a dozen Republican House Armed Services Committee members offering a similar offer. These lawmakers petitioned Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin and the White House to cancel the Pentagon's mandate to vaccine contractors on Oct. 22 in protest at the possibility that it might cause problems with military supply chains.
The letter states that "we strongly urge you to reconsider how you are trying to address this matter so as to not harm the livelihoods of civilian contractors, industry partners and strategic goals of the armed services." "Those who refuse to accept the vaccine will be terminated." We will lose valuable experience in skilled labor. Opportunities for mentorship and training on the job from veterans craftsmen will be lost. We will lose quality control standards over the long-term. As decades of lessons learned are not passed on to the next generation, we will be faced with endemic cost overruns as well as rework.
United Launch Alliance is a joint venture between Lockheed Martin and Boeing. It contracts to NASA and the Department of Defense. About 100 workers walked out of the job Monday. They protested the mandates of the federal government regarding vaccines.
"The COVID-19 pandemic impacted virtually every aspect of human life in the last 18 months. A ULA representative stated that COVID-19 is also a problem for their business, which is crucial to national security and civil-space endeavors. ULA decided to require vaccinations in order to protect the health and safety our employees, and align with U.S. government customers and industry direction. ULA is now better positioned to fulfill the nation's needs and meet our commitments, while also protecting the health of all employees at our facilities.
A variety of Republicans, particularly in the South, have also launched separate, broader efforts against Biden's mandated vaccines. Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and Texas Governor. Greg Abbott and Ron DeSantis all took executive actions to stop the implementation of Biden’s pending Occupational safety and Health Administration rule requiring companies with more than 100 employees to get COVID-19 vaccines.
Tuberville's letter was sent to the White House by Tuberville on the same day that Ivey signed his order. This will prevent state agencies from penalizing employees and businesses who fail to comply with Biden’s vaccination requirements. While state agencies will still need to notify employees and businesses about federal penalties, they will also make it clear that they do not condone this punishment.
Ivey stated that the federal government's outrageous overreach had left us with no choice but to take action. This is why I am issuing an executive order to combat these egregious COVID-19 mandates.
Tennessee Republican Senator Marsha Blackburn introduced Monday's Keeping Our COVID-19 Heroes Empowered Act. This legislation would protect COVID-19 frontline workers from being fired if they refuse vaccinations.
Georgia Governor. Brian Kemp and Attorney General Chris Carr reportedly plan to sue the Biden administration for violating their vaccine mandates. More than a dozen Republican-led states have threatened legal action.
Although the White House didn't respond to press inquiries, senior officials repeatedly stated that Republicans opposed to the vaccine mandate as prioritizing their political ambitions over the public health concerns for their constituents.
Jen Psaki, White House press secretary, stated that "Our intention was to implement and continue working to implement these requirements throughout the country including in the state where there are attempts against them." She made this statement during a briefing held in mid-October. "I will tell you since I was given the opportunity, Gov. Abbott's executive order banning mandates, and I would also like to note the announcement made by Gov. DeSantis's executive order this morning, which bans the implementation mandates, is essentially a familiar pattern we've seen, of putting politics above public health.
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"It is pretty obvious that when you make a decision that is against all public data and information about public health, it is not based on the best interests of the people that you are governing. She concluded that it might be in your own political interests.
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Tags: News. Tommy Tuberville. Defense Department. Joe Biden. White House. Coronavirus. Vaccination.
Original Author: Christian Datoc
Original Location: Biden under Pressure to Drop Federal Defense Contractor Vaccine Mandates
