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Westerman Implores President Biden to Amend Federal Employee Vaccine Mandate

October 12, 2021

WASHINGTON – Today, Congressman Bruce Westerman sent a letter to President Joe Biden calling for an amendment to Executive Order 14043 mandating the COVID-19 vaccine for all federal employees.

"I believe in the safety and effectiveness of the COVID-19 vaccine against infection, hospitalization, and death, and I chose to take the vaccine myself when it became available, but it was my choice," said Congressman Westerman. "It would be an injustice to our nation's dedicated public servants to force a choice between what they believe is best for their own health care and their livelihood. It is obvious walking down any main street that we have a critical labor shortage. Imposing unnecessary vaccine mandates will only exacerbate the issue. These mandates draw a line in the sand, dividing our communities, and do nothing to overcome vaccine hesitancy. Both sides of the aisle want to protect employees, but we must not lose sight of liberty in the process."

Background:

See the full text of the letter here.

Executive Order 14043 titled "Requiring Coronavirus Disease 2019 Vaccinations for Federal Employees was signed by President Joe Biden on September 9, 2021. All federal employees have until November 22, 2021 to be vaccinated in compliance with the mandate.

In his letter, Congressman Westerman calls on President Biden to afford federal employees the same right to a vaccine exemption that employees of large, private businesses are being given, namely, allowing employees to choose weekly testing as a vaccine alternative. President Biden announced a series of proposals on September 9, 2021 requiring all businesses with over 100 employees to require the vaccine or weekly testing.

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