'This Thought Sends Shivers Down My Spine': Mike Lee Decries Vaccine Mandates For Children

Mr President the senator from Utah Mr President I'm here on the senate floor now for the 21st time specifically to opposed President Biden's sweeping vaccine mandates I've introduced over a dozen bills to one way or another limit clarify or counteract the mandates every time I've come to ask the Senate to pass what should frankly be uncontroversial matters one of my colleagues or another from the aisle from the other side of the aisle has come to object this is unfortunate it's unfortunate really for a number of reasons these mandates well currently being challenged in court in in a number of jurisdictions show the terrible power that even the threat of a vaccine mandate can wield businesses across the country are suspending punishing and firing employees who haven't had the covet shot the threat of the Mandate is making it harder for everyday American families just to put food on the table and to do so moreover an increasingly difficult Economic Times now these are not our enemies these are not people to be feared these are not people to shun or loathe entirely as the mandates seem to suggest no no these are our friends and our neighbors these are mothers and fathers these are people who like far too many Americans are just struggling to get by and I'm going to continue to fight for them to protect them because they understand something that President Biden has yet to accept even though deep down I know he he does know it and that is this isn't right it's not right for him to do it's not right constitutionally for about a dozen reasons but it's also just not right morally it's a morally unacceptable proposition to suggest that someone should get fired just because they don't conform to presidential medical Orthodoxy it's immoral to tell someone that their ability to put food on the table for their children depends on whether they get a shot a shot that they may or may not want a shop that may or may not conflict with their religious or sincerely held beliefs that might be contraindicated by one or more conditions resulting in their doctor advising them not to get the shot this is not something that anyone should do and in fact the American people agree according to a recent axios poll only 14 percent of Americans just 14 out of every 100 Americans agrees with the apparent position of the president of the United States that if someone doesn't get the shot that they should be fired I would imagine if it's even fewer than that and 14 out of 100 isn't very many to begin with but I I'm pretty sure it's even fewer than that far fewer who would say that it's okay for one person within the federal government to decide to fire everyone who doesn't comply within the government and also to tell private employers that they'll receive crippling company destroying fines that no company not even the wealthiest out there could live with if they don't fire every one of their employees or otherwise take adverse action against them declining to take the shot it's not okay in this effort I have to be sure been supremely clear I I am not in any way against the covid-19 vaccinations quite to the contrary I have been vaccinated I've encouraged people to seek out all the relevant information and be vaccinated I believe that the covid-19 vaccines are keeping countless Americans safe from the harm threatened by the kovid 19th virus this is different than that in fact doesn't undercut and it can't offset the fact that this mandate is pushing government control beyond the Constitutional limit and into the private decisions of the American people that's why I'm against all these mandates for all age groups and that's why I've come to the senate floor repeatedly to help and to call my colleagues and President Biden himself to end this madness once and for all to end it before it's too late to end it before irreparable harm is inflicted on those who for for for whatever reason can't or are otherwise inclined not to comply with his directions I've even offered a bill one that should be unusually uniquely uncontroversial but even that one met objection where it was a simple reaffirmation of parental rights that our government has respected and honored and and even protected from the beginning my current parental consent for vaccination act and would simply require that any covid-19 vaccine mandate issued by the federal government and to be clear it shouldn't be issuing any at all but any of them and it happens to issue must be a mandate that includes a requirement that informed parental consent be provided before the shot can be administered to a minor now this one is so far afield from the broader question of whether we should have these mandates at all the slightly narrower question of whether the president of the United States should administer them it really should not be controversial now allow me to put this issue in some context here parental consent is required for all sorts of things parental consent as every parent with school-aged children knows is required for field trips parental consent is required for pretty much all extracurricular activities for that matter it's required for many in-class activities parental consent is required before most schools can administer so much as a Tylenol or a baby Aspirin to a child everyone knows that none of that is happening without parental consent and that is to be sure the right approach it's as it should be despite what some candidates have said in some recent political campaigns parents should be informed and involved in their children's education and certainly in their child's Health decisions in matters of medical treatment parents it's important to remember are are simply better equipped to make these decisions parents know their children and they know their children's medical history parents know they're moral they're religious and their health requirements that are in many cases unique to their family certainly something that no government and no school can keep track of in the same way that a government or a school could parents also love their children that's important here and parents because they love their children they have their best their children's best interests at heart when they make decisions affecting them government can't do any of those things it certainly can't do any of those things anywhere close to as well as a parent could and the reason for that Mr President is fairly simple it it's because government has doesn't have arms with which to embrace children government doesn't have a heart with which to love children government doesn't even have eyes to see or ears to hear because government of course wouldn't reduce to its essence when we really Define it as as what it is it's simply Force it's legally authorized violent now think heaven that God and the law have always assigned primary care of their children to parents and not to government government is just the official actual or threatened use of force we need government it's also one of the many reasons why we've got to be careful with it it's like other things that we rely on in so many ways things like electricity like moving water like fire they're all necessary to our day-to-day lives And yet when left uncontrolled they're dangerous and quickly become fatal when we don't exercise do caution this has of course been acknowledged for Millennia it's it's been written about widely for many many centuries even centuries before the founding of our Republic and it's been acknowledged since the very earliest days of our Republic George Washington himself warned the people about this warning that government is itself force and is therefore dangerous and has to be carefully managed that's why we have a constitution that's why we have all these rules about government if men were angels we wouldn't need government if we had access to angels to run our government as James Madison described in Federalist 51 then we wouldn't have to worry about government abusing its power and we wouldn't need all these rules but weren't Not Angels men and women are not angels and we don't have access to angels to run our government and so we have to have rules governing the use of government and it's for our own safety nowhere is this more important than with respect to our children that's where we can really see laid bare the essential core facts of what government is which is the actual or threatened use of coercive Force now I I also think Heaven above that that God didn't assign the anonymous masses on the internet to care for children the pressure children receive through social media through news Publications and common video sites lacks Nuance in any specific understanding of a child's health condition or history or religious beliefs or even reports in prominent magazines of children being advised to commit fraud or cross state lines to be vaccinated specifically against their parents advice circumventing parental Authority there is a reason why the FDA requires defined print and the sometimes very painfully exhaustive and descriptive side effect warnings on pharmaceutical advertisements and why Those ads always encourage viewers to consult their doctors but in the Brave New World of Big Brother Healthcare students aren't encouraged to consult their parents let alone their doctors unfortunately in some places like here in our nation's capital government has completely lost the plot in the District of Columbia school system for example miners can receive medical procedures without the school even informing the parents in other places Across the Nation this slippery slope is already leading governments to consider life-changing School provided medical procedures without parental notice and without parental consent now as a parent this thought sends shivers down my spine I know I'm not alone in that respect far from it most Americans regardless of what part of the country they come from regardless of creed political affiliation socioeconomic status or any other single Factor if if their parents they're going to feel the same way they don't like the idea of someone else taking over the raising of their child they don't like the idea of government taking control of medical decisions on behalf of their child you see that's supplanting their role that's moving them out of the way school-aged kids are also some of those least at risk of Contracting spreading and suffering long-term or serious effects from cobit data have shown this all along the vaccines on the other hand May pose a more serious risk to some young people than they do to the general population various countries including France and Germany have ceased recommending some coveted vaccines to those under the age of 30 because of complications again I'm not against these vaccines but the thought of schools social media or heaven forbid government pressuring students into vaccination without parental consent is rightfully troubling it's downright chilling and it should not happen not here not in the United States of America while the federal government has almost no legitimate role in influencing local education decisions we can make sure that the federal government does not endorse or heaven forbid mandate this dangerous approach to medical decisions for minors that's not too much to ask that's not something that should be controversial here in the United States Senate that's not something that is remotely controversial among the good people of this country left and right rich and poor if their parents they're deeply disturbed by the thought of the cold impersonal force that is government pushing them out of the way to make this medical decisions for them and for their children so Mr President let's provide Assurance to parents and children let's reaffirm our commitment to supporting parents and making decisions for their children let's protect kids and let's end these mandates they're illegal they're unconstitutional and they're morally indefensible thank you Mr President

Channel: Forbes Breaking News

Views: 80,990

Keywords: Sen. Mike Lee, vaccine mandate, COVID-19

Id: j0LzRHw69Mk

Length: 17min 22sec (1042 seconds)

Published: Thu Dec 16 2021