much time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. bucshon: i rise today in support of h.r. 497, the freedom for health care workers act, introduced by my energy and commerce committee colleague representative duncan. i want to start by making one thing clear. i believe in the safety and effectiveness of vaccines. i'm a physician. i'm pro-vaccine.

at the same time i'm a conservative and i believe in individual choice. it is my firm conviction that whenever possible the federal government should leave decision making to state or local authorities. additionally my background in medicine has informed my belief that medical decisions are extremely personal and should be made by individuals in consultation with their doctors. so at the -- at the end of 2021, when the centers for medicare and medicaid services announced a decision to mandate that health care workers receive a covid-19 vaccine to remain employed, i oopposed the decision. i believe this move by the biden administration to be unnecessary, inappropriate and a net harm to our health care system as a whole. that is why, with my colleague, vern buchanon, and i, we led a let we are 113 other members outlining our opposition to the mandate and our concerns. i ask unanimous consent to insert this let entire the record.

the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mr. bucshon: the move was unprecedent. c.m.s. does not impose such a mandate for any other vaccine. furthermore, the vaccine, while effect i have at preventing disease and death, did not make it impossible. while we are as a nation are struggling to staff opts, physician officers and other ancillary providers our nation' health care system was already facing a growing health care work force shortage including a prompted physician shortage of more than 100,000 by 2034. i was worried and indeed we saw it play out that implementing a federal vaccine mandate would only serve to exacerbate the problem. for example, in my home state, indiana university lost 125 employees as a direct result of

the vaccine requirement. and that's just one small example. thousands of individuals across the country either resigned or were let go due to this mandate. now over a year later derek spite several lawsuits rising through the courts questioning the validity of this exact rule, the biden administration continues to enforce this mandate. today's bill does what the biden administration will not. it ends the onerous mandate imimposed by the federal government agency on the american people. it provides important autonomy to health care workers and critical relief to hospitals and other facilities who continue to face staff shortages. my democratic colleagues will say that this mandate was worth it. that repealing it will hurt health care workers or patients they serve. i haven't seen any data to suggest that. what we do know is 95% of americans have either been vaccinated or had covid-19. we know the vaccine no longer totally prevents transmission of

covid-19. c.m.s.'s vaccine mandate won't end with the public health emergency on may 11 or sooner if the previous bill we just debated goes into law. it will go on indefinitely unless the administration rescinds it or congress takes action. given that the administration threatened to veto this legislation, it doesn't seem like they plan to reverse course so congress must step in. we're not taking away anyone's ability to get vaccinated. health care workers can and should protect themselves including getting vaccinated if they choose. nor are we taking away the ability of individual health systems to make decisions about what vaccinations they may require. for instance, many health care systems have required employees to get a flu shot for many years. the federal government simply shouldn't demand they do so. federal bureaucrats in washington, d.c. do not know the needs of hoosiers in my district or many americans across the

country and must not be allowed to make medical decisions on their behalf. for all of these reasons, i urge my colleagues to support h.r. 497. i reserve. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves the balance of his time. the gentleman from new jersey is recognized. mr. pallone: i yield myself such time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. pallone: i rise today in strong opposition to h.r. 497, a bill i consider reckless that endanger the health and well-being of americans. with this legislation, house republicans are putting politics over science. the legislation would eliminate the covid-19 vaccine requirement for health care workers and ignores the fact that vaccination of health care workers saves lives and protects the most vulnerable. the bill has had no hearings, no markups to examine our impact on our health care system.

i'm not saying it should have had it for regular order. if republicans had taken the time to solicit input on this bill, they would have heard from health care leaders that h.r. 497 will jeopardize the health and safety of providers, patients. that's why we have hearings and markups to hear and get input from our constituents. covid-19 vaccines are safe and effective and essential to saving loiives, rebuilding our economy and protecting the health of our communities. more than 668 million covid vaccine doses have been administered here in the united states which has resulted in 120 million fewer covid-19 infections, 18.5 million fewer hospitalizations and 3.2 million lives saved. these vaccines will protect seniors, people with disabilities and people living in nursing homes.

the public health data clearly shows that increased vaccination in nursing homes has prevented additional hospitalizations and saved lives. new deaths among nursing home residents decreased by 83%. now we also vaccination of health care providers has protected our health care work force and saved lives by ensuring that patients can receive safe and timely care. prior to the availability of covid-19 vaccines health care providers were at higher risk, he endangering themselves and their families without leaving patients access to cares. 50 health organizations representing doctors, nurses and hospitals agree that requiring vaccinations of health care workers saves lives and improves outcomes. my colleague mentioned the supreme court they upheld the

vaccine for health care workers. mr. speaker, vaccines are note new. they are required to receive vaccines for infectious disease and many states have required that they be vaccinated like hepatitis, flu, measles, mumps and rubella. why wouldn't we want that to prevent the spread of covid-19 especially amongst the most vulnerable. the health care work force has grown since the covid-19. december 10, 2022 and prior to when the covid-19 vaccine requirement went into effect. employment in the health care sector was 1.2% higher than february, 2020. requiring covid-19 vaccinations of health care workers did not contribute to a shortage in

nursing homes. they were experiencing staffing shortages prior to covid-19 and remained stable after the covid-19 vaccine requirement went into effect. i was most disappointed yesterday. yesterday, i was at the rules committee, last evening, where some of my republican colleagues chose to ignore the broad-based, scientific and medical consensus that the covid-19 vaccine is safe and effective at reducing deaths and hospitalizations and since they chose to spend their time entertaining side effects and propose getting vaccine myths despite the fact that millions of americans have received the vaccine safely and with no effect on their health. it is disappointing to me that this is what we have come to in the united states congress. last thing i want on either side of the aisle is for us to make statements on this floor -- and i know you are not saying it, my

colleague from indiana, but so much of this will rhetoric, particularly last night in rules is giving the impression to the public that they shouldn't take the vaccine. if you listened to the rules committee last night and republican comments, you would have assumed that and that is dangerous. people should be taking the vaccine. this legislation, timely, i want to say is a distraction from republicans' true agenda on health care which they are continuing to work on behind closed doors and that is to cut health care for millions of americans. republicans have pledged that they will refuse to raise the debt limit unless they cut social security, medicare and medicaid. and they are willing to risk defaulting on the national debt in order to do so. if successful, their actions will are result in millions of americans losing benefits,

including seniors, children with complex medical needs. this is unconscionable and democrats will not fall for this manufactured crisis and will not under any circumstances agree to cut these vital programs. i hope i'm wrong and i hope i see the other side moving towards these types of cuts but they are unacceptable to us. democrats are committed to putting families first and will continue to follow the science to fight covid-19 and build on the success of the most productive congress in modern history and americans have affordable health care, lower health care and prescription drug costs and support our health work force. this legislation is dangerous and i urge my colleagues to oppose. and with that, i reserve. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves the balance of his time. the gentleman from indiana is recognized. mr. bucshon: i remind everyone that i'm a physician and i

support vaccination. i just don't support the federal government mandating it. if local facilities want to mandate vaccinations, it's up to them. i don't believe the federal government should do it. the only ones that have cut medicare is the administration and the democrats not the republicans. i yield two minutes to the gentleman from south carolina, mr. duncan. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized did you know did you know i rise in support of this. i had a lot of debate and conversation and learned about a lot about covid-19. we are ending this mandate and will not stop leading the charge. no america should be forced to choose between receiving a covid shot or losing their livelihood. c.m.s. forces policies on health care systems. i have serious concerns regarding the practicality,

efficacy for health care providers. this is one of the strictest mandates with few exceptions, this mandate has created and lost jobs, nursing jobs, c.n.a. jobs and replaced with traveling nurses. joe biden's is uneanl can and we already faced a nationwide staff shortage. this exascerbates the staffing shortage by limiting the health care providers to make accommodations based on staffing needs. no american should stand for this type of authoritarianism. they threatened to veto and went on about protecting individuals from covid-19 and no mention that the covid-19 vaccine prevents transmission. that is because the c.d.c. has

confirmed that the shot does not permit transmission. let's follow the science here and allow individuals to make choices for themselves and i encourage them to support my legislation. give medical freedom back to our nation's health care workers and let them get back to work. i yield. mr. bucshon: i reserve. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from new jersey is recognize the. mr. pallone: i yield two minutes to the gentlewoman from from mill know, ms. schakowsky. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman is recognized. ms. schakowsky: the fleam for health care workers act. really? freedom from what? you know, we know that vaccine mandates are absolutely not new. and health care workers are often required to get vaccinated

against infectious diseases for various diseases. and you know during the pandemic, the covid-19 vaccine allowed our heroic nurses and health care workers to save lives and protect the most vulnerable, including senior citizens. but you know, we are not done with it yet. people are still getting sick and dying. and if you have a loved one in a nursing home, if you know people, people you care about that are immunocompromised, if you have a child that is in fragile health, don't you want to make sure that when you seek care that the nurse is going to be helping them and the patient is going to be safe and not bring covid to them.

i think this is really a serious mistake that we are making. this is not about freedom. this is about health care. and doctors, nurses, hospitals and the american medical society believe that requiring covid-19 vaccines for health care workers save lives. let's do that. let's save lives. vote no on this legislation. and i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from new jersey reserves. the gentleman from indiana is recognized. mr. bucshon: i want to remind c.m.s. doesn't mandate any other vaccine and doesn't preclude local hospital, local governments and state governments from mandating a vaccine. i yield two minutes to the gentleman from kentucky, chairman of the health subcommittee on energy and commerce, mr. guthrie.

iment -- the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr.guthrie: i strongly support this legislation which would immediately repeal the biden administration's vaccine mandate for our health care workers working in centers for medicaid and medicare services regulated facilities. they decided to tell doctors, nurses and physical therapists that sees medicare and medicaid patients they needed to be vaccinated or lose their job. this one size fits all came at a time when health care work force is challenging health care providers. this is the only such vaccine mandate by c.m.s. the overreaching decision to require affected facilities to be 100% compliant risk penalties, losing payment on new patients or build medicare or

medicaid at all. this misguided policy was issued at a time when the united states is facing perhaps the worst health care work force shortages in history. in the long-term care industry alone, there are 210,000 fewer jobs than at the beginning of the pandemic in march of 2020. we have read and heard from constituents about the impact of this policy and what it had in someone's employment status getting the jab or losing your job has contributed to already depleted work force nationally and will threaten access to high quality care. oppose this mandate and i encourage my colleagues to support this legislation. and i yield. mr. bucshon: i reserve. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized is

recognized. mr. pallone: i yield three minutes to the the gentlewoman from florida who is the ranking member of our oversight subcommittee, ms. castor. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady is recognized. ms. castor: this would endanger the lives of front care a health workers and their families. we have been fighting the covid-19 pandemic now for nearly three years. sadly we have lost over1 million millions cans. thankfully we have turned the corner by making regularly tested vaccinations available to all americans. these lifesaving vaccines help save lives and help prevent unnecessary hospitalizations and severe illness as well. prance nowhere is vaccination

more important than for our health care heroes who care for our neighbors every day. vaccination is a vaccination is a vital tool help them and end the pandemic. don't take it from me. listen to the american medical association and the american academy of family physicians who support the vaccination for health care workers. they say that halting vaccination for health care professionals would severely and irrep rahably harm patients and undermine the patient public interest. they say the science is clear. no arguments against the need for vaccination are medically valid. vaccines are our way out of the pandemic. no other measure has been shown to reduce hospitalization, severe disease, and death to the degree that vaccination does. we must continue to let science lead the way.

and mr. speaker, i urge my republican colleagues not to confuse americans or worse endanger their lives. vote no on this reckless bill. i yield back my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from new jersey reserves. the gentleman from indiana is recognized. mr. bucshon: mr. speaker, i support vaccination of health care workers. i just don't think that c.m.s. should be mandating it nationally. with that, mr. speaker, i yield two minutes to the gentleman from georgia, a pharmacist, mr. carter. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. carter: i thank the gentleman for yielding. i rise to speak in faver of h.r. 497, the freedom for health care workers act. when president biden, mr. speaker, admitted that there's no federal solution to covid-19, he admitted that these vaccine mandates are not ability public health. they're about control. nowhere in america, especially

in georgia's first congressional district, should workers have to choose between a vaccine and their job. as a pharmacist, i trust patients to work with medical professionals and their families to make the vaccine decision that works best for them and their health. listen, mr. speaker, i chose to participate in the trials. in the vaccine trials. i volunteered to do that. because i trust the process. but that was my decision. and no one else's. as it should be. a decision to receive a vaccine is a personal one and should only be done in consultation with a trusted health care professional. this mandate has also exasperated her health care worker shortages and can cost patients lives instead of saving them. we need policies that empower workers to work, business owners to innovate and patients to foster relationships with their health care professionals. not one size fits all mandates that are nothing short of

government overreach in its most tyrannical form. i thank representative duncan and chairman rogers for working together on this legislation. and i encourage my colleagues to support this bill and i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from indiana reserves. the gentleman from new jersey is recognized. mr. pallone: mr. speaker, i yield three minutes to the gentleman from california, mr. robert garcia. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. garcia: thank you, mr. speaker. i want to thank ranking member pallone for yielding time and for his leadership in this legislative body. i rise to discuss the so-called freedom for health care workers act. this legislation is an attack on public health, and will endanger the lives of medical personnel and patients. why should we remove vaccine protections from nurses and medical workers in our hospital and clinical settings? this bill is not supported by our public health officials and certainly not supported by our nurses on the ground. why would we endanger vulnerable

populations? this is cruel and irrational. over one million people have died in this country due to the pandemic, many of them nurses and health care workers. one of them was my mother, gabby elena o'donnell. she was a kind, loving, strong, immiimmigrant worker who dedicad her life to serve her community. she taught me that what real day pais troughtism is is serving your neighbors through service and give back to your country. she was on the front of the pandemic helping as many people as possible. in the summer of 2020, my mom lost her life to covid-19. now this vaccine could have saved my mom's life. but it was not yet available. i made a promise to my mom and to my community to fight for legislation that would protect them and keep them if the pan emic and keep them healthy. no other family should have to go through what mine did and

millions of others have had to go through in many country. we know due to science that the vaccine saves lives and our medical workers should be able to go to work knowing that their lives won't be in danger due to the service they are giving to our country. vaccinating hospital and health care workers is a basic form of protection that they all deserve. for this reason, i urge my colleagues to vote no on the freedom for health care workers act. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from new jersey reserves. the gentleman from indiana is recognized. mr. bucshon: no one is endangered by this legislation. it doesn't prevent health care facilities from requiring a covid vaccine for their employees. mr. speaker, i yield two minutes to the gentleman from texas, mr. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. pfluger: i'd like to thank my colleague and mr. speaker, i rise today in strong support of h.r. 497, freedom for health care workers act. i'd also like to offer my condolences to my colleague on the other side of the aisle.

for the loss of his mother. and i think that, you know, in a stark contrast of what c.m.s. is doing to mandate this, which is the only vaccine that is mandated, i think what we should be doing is investigating the origins of covid. the billions of dollars that have been spent, the countless lives that have been lost. i'm proud to serve on energy and commerce, to be the only rural texan serving on that community. growing up in rural texas, it gave me a strong appreciation for health care. for workers just like my colleague's mother. the heros that were on the frontline during the pandemic and those that have served as doctors and nurses and techs quite literally saving lives every single day. we're facing ma mass -- facing a massive shortage of health care workers every day and this is amplified in rural america. rural health care workers and providers are among the most

negatively impacted by the president's tyrannical covid-19 mandate which remains in effect for medicare and medicaid certified providers. the biden administration should not be forcing american workers to take the vaccine or face the possibility of losing their job. instead they should be listening to the reasons that so many people in my district, throughout the state of texas and throughout the country, quite frankly, may not want to take it. that choice should not have to be made. unfortunately, the overreach never ends. republicans are standing up today to free our health care heros from this unconstitutional mandate. and i'm i'm proud to join representative jeff duncan on his legislation and his leadership and i urge my colleagues to support it. with that, i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from indiana reserves. the gentleman from new jersey is recognized. mr. pallone: i yield three minutes to the gentlewoman from texas, ms. sheila jackson lee. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady is recognized.

ms. jackson lee: this is another moment that i'm on the floor of the house and i thank the ranking member of the committee on energy and commerce who has been so dutiful throughout the years that we suffered somewhat lonely and somewhat confused about covid-19. we had never experienced this trauma. and it certainly brings me to deep sense of loss to hear a member speak about the loss of his mother. these are personal matters for many of us. some having lost dear friends, but nothing can equate to losing a beloved loved one. so we stand on the floor. we speak with a sense of compassion. and concern. i think it is certainly fine for there to be individual -- i turn the card, i flip the coin, individual examples of individuals seeking -- seeking not to be vaccinated. they can find medical facilities that would allow them to work

there. but it is no doubt that the actions of the biden administration saved lived. there's no doubt that on our side of this issue, 50 health care organizations, professional societies, and others, believe that vaccinations help health care workers save their own lives. and save the lives of others. it is well known that prior to the widespread availability of covid-19, health care workers in the united states were more than three times more likely to die. i've seen it myself. in my communities, the texas medical cent. all the beds in every medical facility within the reach of my district and others had people in hallways. in emergency rooms. individuals who couldn't see their loved ones take their last breaths. individuals who flew in from other jurisdiction, other states, desperate to get the care they thought was here in houston, texas, because yes, we did have the ability to save lives with the technology, medical technology we were using. many states have requirements

that health care workers be vaccinated against many things. hepatitis, flu, measles, mumps, rubella. why are we standing against covid-19 which is a long litany of infectious diseases. covid-19 vaccines have resulted in 120 million fewer cases and 18.5 million less hospitalizations. and saved 1.5 -- $1.15 trillion. so we just talked and the numbers. that in itself would say this legislation is wronghead. but it is also important to recognize that the mental health of america, 76% of respondents were worried about bringing covid home to their children. these are health care professionals. we know some of them who died. unfortunately. because they got covid. and they didn't even see their families because of this whole issue of separating people who had covid, half of the

respondents worried about bringing covid to their partners or an older family member. many u.s. provisions found the portion of the day spent treating covid-19 patients was associated with higher ptsd score, depression, and anxiety. this was not a fun time. but it was the commitment of medical professionals and those who wanted to get -- to be saved, to use the vaccines and use all precautions, can i get 30 seconds? the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady is recognized. ms. jackson lee: i thank the speaker for his indulgence. these medical praftionals in the early stablings were suffering higher ptsd scores, dpetion and anxiety. many health care workers at the beginning of the pandemic saw workers get sick and die from covid almost right in front of them and this contributed to their increased strength and anxiety. we did push them to their limit when we didn't have massive testing or massive vaccines, i hate to say it, in the past

administration. according to university of chicago it was found an increase in staff vaccination rates resulted in fewer covid cases among staff and patients. my final words, mr. speaker, is, yeah, this is a free country. laissez-faire. do as you will. but this mandate for medical workers saved their lives. saved patients' lives, and saved families' lives. and i don't understand why we're going down this route. where soon it will happen, in good time. but since i remember six million dead around the world as the number that is gleaming and 1.1 million in the united states, this legislation is not going in the right direction. i ask for opposition to the underlying legislation and i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from new jersey reserves. the gentleman from indiana is recognized. mr. bucshon: mr. speaker, c.m.s. mandates one vaccine. covid-19. they don't mandate any other vaccines. that doesn't mean health care

workers don't get the covid-19 vaccine. mr. speaker, i yield three minutes to the gentlewoman from washington, the chairwoman of the energy and commerce committee, mrs. mcmorris rodgers. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady is recognized. mrs. rodgers: i appreciate the leadership, dr. bucshon, i rise in strong support of this legislation, representative duncan's bill, h.r. 497, the freedom for health care workers act. i want to join in offering my heart felt condolences to the gentleman from california, representative garcia, who lost his mom early on. this in this pandemic. early on in 2020. i also want to note that in november of 2021, long after the data became available, vaccines did not prevent the transmission of covid-19. so we've known since november of 2021 that the vaccines do not prevent transmission of covid-19, yet the biden administration released their interim final regulation requiring this vaccination for

all medicare and medicaid providers. this bill is long overdue to repeal what is an egregious mandate and to return the decision making to our health care workers. as well as providing relief to our health care facilities who are struggling to hire frontline health care workers today. because of this mandate. facilities all across this country are being forced to require all their employees including support staff such as cooks and cleaners, to get the covid-19 vaccination. regardless of whether they even had their infection prior. or they face civil monetary penalty, denial of ■payment fo new patients or even termination of their entire medicare or medicaid provider agreement. health care workers have been forced to choose between violating their own personally health beliefs and their health care decisions informed by their doctor's medical advice or potentially lose their job and livelihood, be forced to move from their communities, and struggle to pay their bills

during record high inflation. this mandate did not build trust in the vaccine, it only further eroded trust, americans' trust in our public health officials and institutions. the c.d.c. acknowledged that vaccines do not prevent transmission of the covid-19 virus, which reenforces that this is an authoritarian mandate. this is not about science. in washington state, the washington hospital association estimates that 2% of the work force has been lost because of the this health care vaccine mandate. that may not sound like a lot but when we have unprecedented shortages, we need every nurse, every doctor available to be be haired and meet the needs of patients. this is a burden on an already struggling system. there is no reason that this

administration continue this policy. congress must step in again, as we did when we removed the mandate for our troops last year. i hope that our democrats colleagues will join us in supporting this legislation. let's return critical health care decisions to doctors. it is time to close the chapter on this pandemic and mandates and look ahead. i urge my colleagues to support this legislation. mr. bucshon: reserve. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from new jersey is recognized. mr. pallone: i yield myself such time as i may consume. i want to correct certain things that are being said on the other side of the aisle. first of all, the fact of the matter the health work force has grown. more health care workers now than there were before. but the other thing i keep hearing from my colleagues from

the other side of the aisle who are arguing about the covid-19 vaccines don't help prevent infection from the disease, that is incorrect. break-through infections do occur, covid-19 vaccines prevent infection and reduce transmission. a study that they will be less infectious and the likelihood fell by 11% for each dose of the vaccine. vaccination and continued upkeep of boosters continues to protect the public from infection. the most recent covid-19 boosters cut the likelihood of infection by more than half. as none of us will dispute, when there is a break-through infection, vaccines will reduce

the length of illness. that matters for health care workers because we have thousands of people hospitalized every day with covid-19, cancer and other grave illnesses and without covid-19 vaccines we would have fewer people there to take care of them. covid-19 vaccines reduce infection and save lives. we have to refer to the science. and i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves the balance of his time. the gentleman from indiana is recognized. mr. bucshon: measles has been around for sent fridays. covid-19 will be persistent. when do my democrat colleagues propose this federal mandate ends? i propose we pass this legislation and end it. i yield 2 1/2 minutes to the the gentlewoman from florida, mrs. cammack. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady is recognized.

mrs.cammack: this bill would repeal the mandate imposed on health care workers nationwide. president-elect biden was asked if he would mandate covid-19 vaccines for americans, his answer. no. i don't think it should be mandatory, i wouldn't demand it would be mandatory. you can't take him at his word. by september of 2021, the president's tone and position on vaccine mandates did a complete 180. he said he was getting unpatient and called it a pandemic of the unvaccinated. the american people do not exist to please you or any president. we don't comply because you are quote, unquote frustrated. it was his impatience that led to this vaccine mandate. where in the constitution the government's powers over one health care decisions can be

overpowered. the spleem court chambers screaming, my body, my choice, are only applicable when it is a certain political agenda. the authoritarian mandate on our dedicated medical professionals is an abuse of power and attack on the personal freedoms of our front-line workers and exacerbated the health care work force shortage. we are not anti-vaccine. if you want the vaccine, take it. it shouldn't be mandated. my husband serves as a firefighter paramedic, he was responding to 911 calls, not once did a patient ask if he was vaccinated, not once did they demand that the firefighters showing up be vaccinated. when they did answer the call, they went with honor and

diligence and continued to do their job. not once did they ask if that patient was veined, not once did fellow firefighters ask if he was vaccinated. doctors, nurses, e.m.t. were comforting people as they took their last breaths. they never once dmanted a vaccinated doctor or nurse. they were doing their job because that's what they do. this is the front-line workers. today in every congressional district, we can address shortages by looking to the thousands of health care workers who were fired or left their job because of this mandate. let's stand up to this power grab. it ends today. i urge my colleagues to support this legislation. the speaker pro tempore: members are reminded to direct their comments to the chair.

the gentleman from new jersey is recognized. mr. pallone: i yield five minutes to the the gentlewoman from california. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady is recognized. mr. jacobs: -- this is a simple and effective way to save lives and protects our health care workers from serious illness, hospitalization and death and prevented our work force from getting worse and continued their essential work. h.r. 497 is nonsense and would impose patients to unnecessary risks all because they are trying to score political. my motion to recommit would strike this bill, legislation that would keep the american people health and safety. since the supreme court overturned the right to constitutional access. without ro emp americans are

facing patch work of state laws dictating who can make decisions about their health care and when. without roe, pregnancy are being forced. and it is harder for people to treat arthritis, cancer and lupus, because it could be used for abortion. this is deeply personal for me. as a 33-year-old woman reproductive health care is health care. i want the freedom to make the best choices for my bod and my life and so do other americans and congress needs to pass the women's health protection act and provider's ability to deliver these services. whether we admit it or not, conversations about reproductive health care in the house chamber are not reflective of real

america. whether you are living in a red, blue or purple state, the average american wants the ability to make their own health care decisions, if, when and how to have a family. we saw that in the mid-termites with americans defending abortion rights in california, vermont, michigan, montana and kentucky. the house should pass it again today. that is why, mr. chair, i ask unanimous consent to add the text of this amendment to the record immediately prior to the vote on the motion to recommit. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. >> i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from new jersey reserves. the gentleman from indiana is recognized. mr. bucshon: i yield two minutes to the the gentlewoman from iowa, and a physician, dr. miller-meeks. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman is recognized. mrs. miller-meeks: before i acknowledge my support for freedom of health care workers,

i just want to respond, as a physician, as a mother, as a working woman, my entire life and former director of public health, let me just say that the care of he can topic pregnancy is a lie and i want to put it to rest. h.r. 497, this overdue recommendation repeals the administration vaccine mandate for america's health care workers who have borne a brunt of the kofd 19 parch. it was deja vu all over again when we started to have vaccines. we are not at the beginning of a pandemic. we are three years into a pandemic and even before this, rural areas in iowa were struggling with maintaining health care staffing levels.

existing levels were compounded by the vaccine mandate. health care workers, if you remember were lauded for over a year for going to work every single day and i was part of that administering vaccines in all 24 counties in my district. they were lauded going to work putting themselves and families at risk for a novel coronavirus of which we knew very little. but yet, even though they put themselves and families at risk we are going to tell them that we demand despite pregnantor ray of research that we are going to demand they be vaccinated even though they worked over a year with no vaccine. we also have further data that covid-19 vaccine does not prevent transmission. yes, there is rebound illness. yes, it does reduce maybe

illness and death, but doesn't prevent transmission. as a physician, i understand the importance and meaning of the doctor-patient relationship and health care workers -- the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman's time has expired. mrs. miller-meeks: they should make health care decisions for themselves with the guidance of their physician. this vaccine mandate is almost malpractice and i am proud to support the repeal. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from new jersey is recognized. mr. pallone: i yield myself such time as i may consume. i know the previous speaker is a physician and i respect her, but i have to continue to point out that this idea that vaccines don't help prevention from the disease is incorrect. i mentioned before various

studies but i would like to ask unanimous consent to enter into the record two studies that show -- that say that the vaccine does cut the infection risk and that that one is from berkley love lace junior. this is coronavirus article and another one from the university ofcalifornia, san francisco about how covid-19 vaccines reduce transmission. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mr. pallone: i reserve. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from new jersey reserves. the gentleman from indiana is recognized. mr. bucshon: i yield one 1/2 minutes to the gentlelady from georgia is recognized. mrs. greene: i would like to take a minute on what one of my colleagues was talking about across the aisle and that is having the ability to choose

when it comes to abortion, but here are mandates forced on our health care workers since the vaccines have been introduced through democrats and the biden administration and it's been devastating for our health care industry. and it is pretty hypocritical to talk about abortion rights for health care workers and the workplace when they are completely against the ability of health care workers who i would call the experts, doctors and nurses and people that work in the health care field, they have the right to choose when it comes to the vaccine. mandates are tyrannical and need to end. the covid-19 pandemic is over and i'm glad we are declaring that this week on the house floor. i would like to point out that we have a severe shortage of health care workers, many of whom were heroes working on the front lines saving lives

throughout this pandemic who have said they do not want to take a vaccine and trust their own natural immunity and give these health care workers to choose their natural immunity and not be forced to take a jab or a vaccine that they do not need or want. we believe here in the we believe in free tom for american we believe in freedom for the health care workers of this country. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from indiana reserves. the gentleman from new jersey is recognized. mr. pallone: i continue to reserve. i believe you have more speakers on the other side. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves. the gentleman from indiana is recognized. mr. bucshon: i yield one minute to the gentleman from missouri, mr.all ford. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. alford: i rise in support of h.r. 497, the free dm for health care workers act. this is not about political points, ladies and gentlemen. mr. speaker. this is about freedom. our workers in the health care

industry fight every day on the frontline for us. these precious workers should never have been placed in this position to choose between a forced medical procedure and losing their employment. so today we're going to froat vogt on this bill and i want to tell you the story of melissa thomas from my district. she's a nurse who served more than 40 queers. when c.m.s., a government bureaucracy, implement had the vaccine mandate she was presented with three choices. to fight for her job, to comply with the man tait or be forced out of the medical field entirely. ultimately, melissa fought. she was granted an exemption but melissa's story does not hold true for thousands of frontline workers. workers who were forced out of their jobs. where they worked for years to protect us. today, i urge my colleagues to pass this bill, to end this mandate, to take a stand. that is a stand for free tom.

thank you, i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman we serves. mr. pallone: i just -- i yield myself one minute. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. pallone: one of the things that hasn't come up and it didn't come up in rules last night as well, if someone has -- we have exemptions for this mandate for people who have serious religious convictions or medical reasons to grant and exemption. and you know, no one has mentioned that. but i think it's important that that exists. the mandate exists but at the same time people have serious religious reservations or they have medical conditions that would result in having an exemption, those do exist. and i think everyone should understand that. i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves. the gentleman from indiana is recognized. mr. bucshon: i now yield one minute to the gentlewoman from texas, ms. van duyne. the speaker pro tempore: the

gentlelady is recognized. ms. van duyne: i rise in strong support of h.r. 497, free freedom of health care workers act. the people of north texas have expressed their opposition to president biden's authoritarian covid-19 vaccine mandate for a variety of reasons. today i'd like to highlight concerns i've heard from firefighters and e.m.t.'s back home. the biden administration covid-19 vaccine mandate is not only an overreach of vaccine power but also a public safety threat. since the vaccine mandate took effect, fire and e.m.t. departments in north texas have struggled to fully staff their departments. this administration claims the vaccine requirement is in place to ensure patients have access to safe and essential care. but what about the people who experience a medical emergency, dial 911, and must wait longer for care due to staffing shortages? our local firefighters, our paramedics an e.m.t.'s provide life-saving care and a fast response time can make the difference between life and

death. it's already difficult to recruit and retain people to work in these stressful roles. the federal government shouldn't make it any harder. the health care system is being overburdened by this unnecessary mandate which is -- has only worsened the e.m.s. staffing shortage. i was proud to co-sponsor this bill and urge my colleagues to join me in voting for h.r. 497 today. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: members are reminded to refrain from engaging in personalities toward the president. the gentleman from indiana reserves. the gentleman from new jersey is recognized. mr. pallone: i continue to reserve if you have additional speakers. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves. the gentleman from indiana. mr. bucshon: i yield one minute to the gentleman from north carolina, a physician, dr. murphy. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. murphy: i would like to say some of this from personal experience. i'm probably the only member in this chamber that this fell under because i'm still actively practicing, still on staff at an

active medical center. i've practiced at this institution for 30 years. i don't know how many calls i got from nurses, people on the floor taking care of covid patients, pleading me to not be forced to take the vaccine. let me say if there were any individuals who knew what they were talking about, it was these nurses. they were taking care of covid patients. i've said since day one, i've been very pro-vaccine. very pro-vaccine. but since day one this is not a decision that should be made between a government and a citizen but one made between a doctor and a patient. it is a medication. there are risks and benefits that go with this. sadly enough we lost a lot of nurses, way too many, because they chose not to get this. they were young, of fertility age and they were fearful. i'm going to speak to my colleague's comment about exemptions. you're correct. there were exemptions. but they were minute. they were oftentimes ignored. 30-year-olds who desired not to get this vaccine based upon

fears about fertility don't have pre-existing medical conditions. i think this is the right thing. i think that i am pro-vaccine but i do not believe this is the avenue of forced vac nation. i ask my colleagues to support h.r. 497. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves. mr. bucshon: may i inquire how much time we have on each side. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from yin has 4 1/2 minutes. the gentleman from new jersey has seven minutes. the gentleman from indiana reserves. the gentleman from new jersey is recognized. mr. pallone -- mr. pallone: i yield myself such time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: this gentleman is recognized. mr. pallone: i want to stress again that for people who have serious religious reservations, for people who have medical conditions, they can get exemptions from the mandate. in addition to that, i know the previous gentleman on the republican said talked about

risks and side effects. you know, f.d.a. and c.d.c. have been trance parent that there are rare side effects that may happen to some edge individuals when they take the vaccines. but they and independent health ex-pers all agree that the benefits of become vaccinated far outweigh the roisks sidesques. arguments from oh other side of the aisle insinuate an inflated risk of side effects also ignore the risks associated with contracting covid-19. as an unvaccinated individual. covid-19 is a dangerous disease that has killed over a million of our fellow americans. and the vaccines are safe and effective. they're strongly protective against severe illness and death. i'm very concerned that some members use the floor to -- and i'm not saying the people who spoke here have but last night i certainly heard it in rules. that some members are, you know, use the opportunity to fan the flames of misinformation when describing the risks of side effects when the risks of being unvaccinated are so grave.

and i just think that this is dangerous. opposed by virtually every public health and medical organization. they're saying that they recommend the vaccines. so again, there may be some rare side effects, there may be some people that, you know, would seek to have exemptions. let's try to understand that this is often a difficult situation but the bottom line is that vaccines have saved millions of lives. and we can't give the impression that that's not the case. i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves. the gentleman from indiana is recognized. mr. bucshon: i yield myself two minutes. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized mr. bucshon: i want to say again. i'm a physician. i was a practicing physician for 15 years before i came into congress. i'm pro-vaccine. i believe that the covid-19 vaccine saves lives and prevents serious illness. i've been vaccinated myself. and boostered. my family has take then vaccines. that's not what this is about,

mr. speaker. what this is about is a federal mandate to force medical decisions on individual american citizens. again, it's also doesn't stop local hospitals like my hospitals from evansville, indiana, from adwhierg covid-19 vaccination for their employees. so i think, you know, we have a disconnect here about what this legislation is actually about. it's about federal control at c.m.s. again, c.m.s. has only mandated one vaccine. and that's the covid-19 vaccine. i agree with my colleagues on the other side of the aisle that vaccines save lives but i also think it would be a personal choice. and that's what this is about. mr. speaker. i think, look, we heed to get past this. because i mentioned earlier, other viral diseases like the measles have been around literally for centuries. centuries. so when does a federal vaccine

mandate for covid-19 end? when do we come to an end point and say ok the -- we don't -- the risk is so low that we don't have -- we're not going to mandate from c.m.s. that you get a medical treatment that you may not want. or you lose your job. now again, i want to reiterate. if your local hospital or medical facility says this is part of our employment requirement, ok that's up to them. but not the federal government. and so with that, mr. speaker, i want to yield one minute to the gentleman from georgia, mr. allen. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. allen: thank you, mr. speaker. you know, the pandemic is over. the president said it -- said so himself. why then are our friends on the other side of the aisle fighting to keep in place and authoritarian mandate on our health care workers? when the centers more fed -- for

medicare and medicaid services issued the vaccine -- its vaccine mandate in 2021, the emergency situation with respect to the delta variant was cited as its justification. the problem isn't just that the delta variant has come and gone, it's that we have an administration that's made a habit out of violating america'ss biic freedoms. -- america's basic freedoms. our frontline workers were the heroes of the pandemic, but this mandate robbed those workers of the right to make decisions for themselves. all the president's vaccine mandates are wrong. they have been wrong from the start. today, house republicans will begin to set things straight by prohibiting this administration from enforcing covid vaccine mandates on our health care providers. during a time of work force shortages, especially among health care staff, no american should be forced to choose between their -- the jab and the job. thank you and i yield back.

the speaker pro tempore: members are reminded to refrain from engaging in personals -- personalities toward the president. the gentleman from indiana. mr. bucshon: i reserve and i'm prepared to close. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from new jersey is recognized. mr. pallone: if you're prepared to close then i will close at this time. yield myself such time as i may consume, mr. speaker. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. pallone: i'm just so concerned that we're seeing another example here on the floor today of what i call republican extremism. republicans are keeping up the commitment to extremism in my opinion by attempting to eliminate the covid-19 vaccine requirement for health care workers. this is really, mr. speaker, dangerous legislation that's going to strain our health care system, exacerbate existing staffing shortages, and further limit american families' access to health care. with h.r. 497, this bill, the republicans are really putting

politics over science. democrats are committed to putting family first -- families first. we're going to continue to follow the science to fight covid-19. we were -- we're going to build on the success, we had a lot of success in the previous congress in so many things to make sure that americans have access to affordable, quality health care. to further lower health care costs and prescription drug costs. to support our health care work force. everything that we do here should be designed to not only prevent infection but prepare for future types of pandemics. and i just am so concerned because i listened last night at rules and here on the floor and i just think that the impression is being given, somehow, that maybe people shouldn't take vaccines, or that their risk to vaccines that are you know, in my opinion, that are being

stated that are way out of proportion. or that somehow there's significant evidence out there that -- that if you don't, it doesn't matter if you get vaccinated or not because that's not going to cause more infection. the bottom line is that this mandate was put in place for health care workers because the agencies involved have studies the science at the federal level, believed that it was going to be a good thing for the health care workers, for themselves, that they wouldn't get ill and die. that it would help in preventing the spread of covid-19. and that it would give people a sense of security knowing that the people that are helping them when they're sick have also been vaccinated. and i just don't understand why all of a sudden now the republicans say, well, that's not really accurate and you know, let everybody do -- let the health care workers do whatever they want. it makes no sense.

i just think it is politically motivated because they have certain people, their base voters who are anti-vaccination. but you can't be anti-vaccination if you look at the science and what has been done with these vaccinations to save so many lives, to make it so that now, the situation with covid-19 is much better than it has been in the last few years which is why the president said said they can lift the health care emergency. we have made a lot of progress because we based our actions on science and to suggest we should eliminate this mandate is very dangerous. i strongly urge my colleagues to oppose it. and with that, i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from new jersey yields. the gentleman from indiana is recognized. mr. bucshon: as a physician i

support vaccination for health care workers if they choose to do so or if local medical facility said it's a requirement. i don't support a federal government mandating it nationwide because they don't mandate any other vaccine and they never have that i'm aware of. so, you know, there are all kinds of other things in medicine that i wish people would do. i wish people would get screened for colon cancer or mammograms and prostates checked. and we are not going to mandate all of those things, are we? we could, i guess. but this is just another medical treatment that people should have the freedom to choose and the federal government shouldn't be mandating it. i couldn't be more clear and other doctors who have spoken,

we believe in vaccination and we did public service announcements supporting but we don't believe c.m.s. and this mandate should end. i urge my colleagues to support h.r. 4