Senate Passes Rand Paul’s Ban on Travel Mask Mandates

Masks could have just been “coercive security theater that did not enhance the public safety at all,” says Paul.

QUICK FACTS:
  • The Senate on Tuesday passed S.J. Res. 37, a resolution that would ban Joe Biden’s mask mandates for public transportation, Breitbart News reports.
  • The ban reverses mask mandates on planes, trains, and other modes of public transportation.
  • It was passed with 57 votes, 40 against.
  • The resolution had solid Republican support, with only Utah GOP Sen. Mitt Romney breaking from the pack, The Washington Examiner notes.
  • Sen. Paul’s resolution even had support from eight Democrats: Sens. Michael Bennet, Catherine Cortez Masto, Maggie Hassan, Mark Kelly, Joe Manchin, Jacky Rosen, Kyrsten Sinema, and Jon Tester.
  • The Examiner commented that there is uncertainty over whether Speaker Nancy Pelosi will even allow a vote on the measure in the House.
WHAT RAND PAUL SAID:

“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. 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. That is why, I forced this vote, and I applaud the Senate for rejecting this nonsense.”

BACKGROUND:
  • Paul delivered floor remarks about the need to repeal the travel mask mandates ahead of the vote.
  • He argued that masks might not have been helpful ultimately, but could have merely been “coercive security theater that did not enhance the public safety at all.”
  • Watch Sen. Paul’s speech below:

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