Turner supports ending military COVID-19 vaccine mandate
Dec. 8—Dayton's congressman supports rescinding the mandate of military members to receive the vaccine against COVID-19, supporting a change recently highlighted in the text of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for fiscal year 2023.
The defense bill could see a vote in the House as early as Thursday afternoon.
"We are nearly three years from the start of the COVID-19 pandemic," U.S. Rep. Mike Turner, R-Dayton, said in a statement to the Dayton Daily News Thursday. "Due to the remarkable efforts of the medical research community, the development of the COVID vaccine and various therapeutics drastically mitigate the symptoms posed by the virus.
"Given these developments and the rise of natural immunities, the risk to our military service members has been lowered and we should not punish individuals for electing not to get the vaccine," Turner said. "I am supportive of the FY (fiscal year) 23 NDAA and the decision to rescind the COVID-19 mandate."
Turner is a member of the House Armed Services Committee.
U.S. Reps Adam Smith, D-Wash, and Mike Rogers, R-Ala., chairman and ranking member of the House Armed Services Committee, with their Senate counterparts on that chamber's Armed Services Committee, released the text of the NDAA legislation this week.
"We are pleased to announce we've come to a bipartisan, bicameral agreement on this year's National Defense Authorization Act," the congressmen said in a statement. "This year's agreement continues the Armed Services Committees' 62-year tradition of working together to support our troops and strengthen America's national security. We urge Congress to pass the NDAA quickly and the president to sign it when it reaches his desk."
President Biden and leaders of the Department of Defense have argued that the mandate and the vaccine are necessary for the health and military readiness of the troops.
The mandate is the subject of a federal lawsuit in which dozens of Airmen who serve or have served at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base — among others — allege that the Air Force has not granted exemptions from the mandate for reasons of religious belief.
In a recent order for "Hunter Doster, et al. v. Hon Frank Kendall, et al.", the U.S. Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed a lower court's order denying the federal government's appeal to require a class of Air Force members to receive COVID-19 vaccines.
Doster is an officer working at the Air Force Research Laboratory at Wright-Patterson, according to his LinkedIn page.
"All administrative exemptions/religious accommodation requests are evaluated on their own merit and the decision authority must consider the compelling government interest in mission accomplishment, which includes military readiness, unit cohesion, and the health and safety of both the member and the unit," Rose Riley, an Air Force spokeswoman, told the Dayton Daily News last week. "Requests (for an exemption for the mandate) are denied where receiving the COVID-19 vaccination is determined the least restrictive means."
A spokeswoman for Turner's office said a House vote on the new defense budget could happen at around 1 p.m. Thursday.
The House and Senate committees said the defense bill "promotes resilience, innovation, and the right tools for U.S. success in strategic competition, and provides vital quality of life improvements for the backbone of America's fighting force: Our servicemembers and their families."
According to a House summary of the bill, it provides additional funding for the procurement of F/A-18 and F-35 tactical fighter aircraft and supports funding for the "Next Generation Air Dominance" aircraft programs of the Air Force and the Navy. Wright-Patterson personnel are involved in the procurement and development of these programs.
This legislation also authorizes $138.9 billion in research and development investments across the "national security enterprise," another priority for Wright-Patterson, which is home to the Air Force Research Laboratory.
It also backs a 4.6% pay raise for service members, adds funds to Basic Allowance for Housing, increases the maximum allowable income to receive the Basic Needs Allowance, and adds $210 million for commissary funding.
