A Senate bill backed by eight Democrats to end the public transportation mask mandate was not supported by Utah’s Sen. Mitt Romney.
QUICK FACTS:
- The Senate passed a bill that would end mask restrictions on planes and trains, according to Summit News.
- The bill, created by Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) passed Tuesday with a 57-40 margin with eight Democrats supporting the measure and one Republican opposing it.
- The resolution will now head to the House where it will have to overcome a Democrat majority there and then head to the president’s desk.
- Should the House pass the measure it is believed that President Joe Biden would veto the bill.
- Democrats Kelly (AZ), Hassan (NH), Sinema (AZ), Manchin (WV), Bennet (CO), Cortez Masto (NV), Rosen (NV), and Tester (MT) voted with the majority of Republicans on the issue.
PAUL’S STATEMENT ABOUT THE VOTE:
- “Today, the Senate said enough is enough, and sent a message to unelected government bureaucrats to stop the anti-science, nanny state requirement of travel mask mandates,” the bill’s sponsor said in a statement.
- “Since March 2020, unelected bureaucrats have incessantly declared that we should ‘follow the science.’ But the same bureaucrats continue to defy science by imposing an ineffective and restrictive mask mandate for individuals traveling on public transit and airplanes.”
- “As the entire world is learning to live with COVID, the federal government still uses fear mongering to stubbornly perpetuate its mandates, rather than giving clear-eyed, rational advice on how to best protect yourself from illness,” Paul further asserted, adding “That is why I forced this vote, and I applaud the Senate for rejecting this nonsense.”
BACKGROUND:
- Romney’s provocative move comes on the heels of his voting against another Paul-backed measure called the “Fauci Amendment” that was put in place to prevent “health dictatorship.”
- The Daily Wire reported that six Republican senators voted against an amendment that would eliminate the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) position, which is held by Dr. Anthony Fauci.
- In an op-ed for Fox News, Paul explained that the measure “would eliminate Dr. Fauci’s position as NIAID director,” and “divide his power into 3 separate institutes.”
