194 House Republicans Pass Defense Bill that Will ‘Track & Record’ U.S. Soldiers Who ‘Refuse’ COVID Vax

GOP Reps. Crenshaw, Gaetz, Boebert, McCarthy, Jordan, Kinzinger, Cheney vote with Democrats Tuesday night, passing 2022 annual defense spending bill that will “establish a system to track and record” each “vaccine administered” to U.S. soldiers and each vaccine “refusal.”

QUICK FACTS:

• The House of Representatives passed a compromise version of the $768 billion 2022 National Defense Authorization Act—the law that sets policy for the Pentagon—late Tuesday night, 363–70 (see list below).
• On page 615 (Sec. 716, “Establishment of Department of Defense system to track and record information on vaccine administration”), the bill calls for an “overall system to track and record vaccine information” that will “establish a system to track and record” U.S. soldiers’ personal medical information pertaining to vaccination status.
• The system will track and record “each vaccine administered by a health provider of the Department of Defense to a member of an armed force under jurisdiction of the Secretary of a military department,” according to the text of the bill.
• The system will also track and record “each refusal by such a member of any vaccine that is being so administered, including vaccines licensed by the Food and Drug Administration under section 351 of the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 262) and vaccines otherwise approved or authorized.”
• However, Sec. 720 of the bill does “establish uniform standards” by which military members may be “exempted from receiving” a Covid-19 vaccine for “administrative, medical, or religious reasons.”
• Sec. 736 specifies soldiers will receive an “honorable discharge” or “general discharge under honorable conditions” as a consequence of refusing vaccination “solely on the basis of failure to obey lawful order.”
• 194 Republicans voted in favor of the bill (see list below)—including Reps. Mo Brooks (AL), Devin Nunes (CA), Kevin McCarthy (CA), Young Kim (CA), Michelle Steel (CA), Lauren Boebert (CO), Matt Gaetz (FL), Adam Kinzinger (IL), Steve Scalise (LA), Jim Jordan (OH), Dan Crenshaw (TX), and Liz Cheney (WY)—with 169 Democrats.
• Republicans who rejected the bill include Reps. Paul Gosar (AZ), Andy Biggs (AZ), Marjorie Taylor-Greene (GA), and Louie Gohmert (TX).
• The bill still needs to pass the Senate before it can be signed into law.

READ THE FULL BILL HERE.

REPUBLICANS WHO VOTED ‘YEA’ (CLICK NAME FOR CONTACT INFORMATION):

REPUBLICANS WHO VOTED ‘NAY’:

Jon Fleetwood is Managing Editor for American Faith and author of “An American Revival: Why American Christianity Is Failing & How to Fix It.“