Rep. Barry Moore led a letter to Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin following the release of updated Centers for Disease Control (CDC) guidance that barely differentiates between vaccinated and unvaccinated individuals to again request that Austin reconsider the military’s vaccine mandate. The Daily Caller first reported the letter.
Moore has been a vocal advocate against vaccine mandates for the military. In February, Moore joined Rep. Mo Brooks and 40 of their colleagues in sending a letter to the Department of Defense (DOD) to demand that they halt efforts to involuntarily discharge members of the military who have refused COVID-19 vaccination.
“With updated CDC guidance for the unvaccinated, the Department of Defense’s final fig leaf justifying its purge of patriots for refusing vaccination has been stripped away,” Moore stated. “During a time of global turmoil and missed recruitment targets reaching the level of a national security crisis, the military has absolutely no justification for sacrificing readiness in favor of virtue signaling and the appeasement of this administration’s political base. The military vaccine mandate must end, and all our servicemembers so cruelly separated due to this disastrous policy must be rehired with full back pay.”
In August 2021, the Secretary of Defense directed the military to “immediately begin full vaccination of all members of the Armed Forces under DoD authority on active duty or in the Ready Reserve, including the National Guard, who are not fully vaccinated against COVID-19.”
On October 15, 2021, Moore wrote a letter to the Secretary of Defense urging him to delay the COVID-19 vaccination requirements for members of the military and civilian contractors until a full review of concerns from the medical community on potential health risks from the vaccine can be completed and evaluated.
According to an NBCNews report, every branch of the military is struggling to meet recruitment goals. However, Secretary Austin has continued to stand behind the COVID vaccination mandate even though the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention updated COVID-19 guidance in August 2022 to ease recommendations for unvaccinated people who have been exposed to COVID-19.
Signing Rep. Moore’s letter are Reps. Jeff Duncan (SC-03), Mary Miller (IL-15), Louie Gohmert (TX-01), Vicky Hartzler (MO-04), Ben Cline (VA-06), Randy Weber (TX-14), Bill Posey (FL-08), Greg Steube (FL-17), and Byron Donalds (FL-19).
Barry Moore commented on Twitter, “Woke Pentagon policies are purging patriots from our military and leading recruitment shortages approaching the level of national security crisis. With the government’s own science no longer justifying a military vaccine mandate, Secretary Austin must side with service members.”
Woke Pentagon policies are purging patriots from our military and leading to recruitment shortages approaching the level of national security crisis. With the government’s own science no longer justifying a military vaccine mandate, Secretary Austin must side with servicemembers. https://t.co/0zG6PQut5Y
— Rep. Barry Moore (@RepBarryMoore) August 23, 2022
