WASHINGTON– U.S. Senator Tommy Tuberville (R-AL) sent a letter to Senate Armed Services Committee (SASC) Chairman Jack Reed (D-RI) on October 27th requesting a hearing to review the Biden administration’s vaccine mandates impact on U.S. national security. The letter highlights the specific threat toward thousands of small contractors that support our nation’s defense supply chain. Earlier this week, Senator Tuberville sent a letter to President Biden urging him to reverse course on the implementation of the current COVID-19 vaccine mandate for defense contractors, citing national security concerns.
“Thousands of small contractors for the Department of Defense face an excruciating choice in the coming weeks: fire employees who choose not to take the relatively new COVID vaccine or face the loss of contracts from the Pentagon. This untenable position, playing out across the country, threatens our national security. Small business remains the backbone of American enterprise and the ingenuity machine in our competition with China. We cannot afford to slow them down,” wrote Senator Tuberville.
A copy of the letter can be found here and below.
October 27, 2021
Senator Jack Reed
Chairman, Senate Armed Services Committee
Russell Senate Office Building
Room 228
Washington D.C. 20510
Chairman Reed,
Thousands of small contractors for the Department of Defense face an excruciating choice in the coming weeks: fire employees who choose not to take the relatively new COVID vaccine or face the loss of contracts from the Pentagon. This untenable position, playing out across the country, threatens our national security. Small business remains the backbone of American enterprise and the ingenuity machine in our competition with China. We cannot afford to slow them down.
As such, I respectfully request a near-term hearing on the subject of vaccine compliance in the defense supply chain. I believe it would be especially helpful to hear from both expert witnesses within the Department of Defense on the current state of vaccine compliance and small business owners who have employees reluctant to take the new vaccine.
Given the pressing nature of the mandate, the sooner our committee takes steps to hear out the American people on this issue, the better.
Respectfully,
Tommy Tuberville
United States Senator
Senator Tommy Tuberville represents Alabama in the United States Senate and is a member of the Senate Armed Services, Agriculture, Veterans’ Affairs, and HELP Committees.
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