Pallone Floor Remarks in Opposition to H.R. 185

Energy and Commerce Committee Ranking Member Frank Pallone, Jr. (D-NJ) delivered the following remarks on the House floor in opposition to H.R. 185, a bill terminating the requirement for proof of COVID19 vaccination for foreign travelers:

I rise in opposition to H.R. 185, which once again prioritizes politics over science at the expense of the health of the American people.

To date, COVID-19 has killed more than one million of our fellow Americans. Families have been changed forever. Fortunately, today we have vaccines, tests and treatments that have put the darkest days of the pandemic behind us, but we cannot forget that COVID still kills 500 Americans every day. Variants of concern continue to emerge, and therefore we must be vigilant and data-driven in monitoring any uptick in cases. We must follow the science and the guidance of our public health experts. We are not done with COVID, or rather, COVID is not done with us, and ending all of our protections and public health measures without a reasoned discussion is downright dangerous. Unfortunately, that is exactly what House Republicans continue to do – week after week – bringing bills to the floor that are nothing but political stunts and put politics over science.

This is the latest dangerous stunt. H.R. 185 would terminate the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's (CDC) order that requires proof of COVID-19 vaccination for foreign air passengers entering the United States. Vaccination is protective against severe illness and death from COVID-19. It reduces the impact of COVID-19 on our health care infrastructure, including hospital capacity and health care provider staffing. That is why the CDC order was put in place and why I continue to believe our public health experts are best positioned to make these kinds of determinations.

This bill would permit unvaccinated individuals to freely enter the United States even as variants continue to emerge around the world, potentially increasing the risk of circulating new variants of concern. This could potentially stretch our health care resources just as our hospitals, providers, and public health infrastructure tries to rebuild.

In addition, H.R. 185 would also prohibit the CDC from issuing any successor or subsequent orders to require COVID-19 vaccination for foreign travelers in the future as well. This is dangerous and ties the hands of our public health experts to the political whims of the most ideologically extreme in a way that makes our nation less safe and more vulnerable in the future. Imagine if a dangerous new variant that was highly contagious appeared somewhere in the world, this Republican bill would prevent CDC from restricting people from entering the nation who are not vaccinated.

This simply defies logic but it's unfortunately what happens when you have an extreme Republican majority that is more interested in rushing these bills to the floor as political stunts without any consideration of the implications. There have been no committee hearings to hear from experts on what this bill could mean for the American people, and without any input from Democratic members who remain willing to have reasoned discussions about moving beyond the immediate emergency of COVID-19.

This is also the second bill in just two weeks in which Republicans have sought to question the safety and efficacy of the COVID vaccines, despite the unequivocal scientific consensus that COVID-19 vaccination is protective against severe illness and death. I have now sat through two Rules Committee debates and two floor debates in the House of Representatives where some Republicans have sought to undermine vaccine confidence and contend that vaccines aren't safe and effective. This is extremely dangerous. It is also deeply disappointing that we have to continue to have these discussions instead of coming together to encourage all Americans to get their vaccinations to protect themselves and their loved ones against severe illness.

That's why I'm also disappointed that the Rules Committee and its Republican majority barred consideration of the Takano amendment, which would have made clear that nothing in this bill shall be construed to cast doubt on the safety and efficacy of COVID-19 vaccines. This would have been a strong message for us to come together on a bipartisan basis and make clear that this bill is not intended to disparage vaccines, and that the House of Representatives stands in support of science and reason.

It is telling that the Rules Committee chose not to make this amendment in order. It is a sad sign that my Republican colleagues continue to cater to the most extremist members of their caucus, who would rather spread COVID misinformation than come together to encourage vaccination as our best path out of this pandemic.

Democrats understand that we are entering a new phase of our response to COVID-19 and believe it is reasonable to reconsider some of the pandemic-related policies and whether they are still necessary. Instead of rushing partisan bills like this to the floor, we are willing to have bipartisan conversations on a path forward. However, we will never call into question the safety and efficacy of vaccines, we will not undermine the expertise of our public health officials, or put politics over science.

Unfortunately, this bill does just that and for that reason I strongly urge my colleagues to oppose this bill.

I reserve back the balance of my time.

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