CV NEWS FEED // Sen. J.D. Vance, R-OH, has introduced the Freedom to Breathe Act, which if enacted would stop the federal government from instituting mask mandates for public transportation and in schools.
The text of the bill states that its purpose is “to prohibit through December 31, 2024, the imposition of a mask mandate on passengers of air carriers or public transit and in educational settings within the United States.”
A statement from Vance’s office says the bill would
1. Prohibit any federal official, including the President, from issuing an order requiring individuals to wear a mask or other face covering on any passenger flight in the US national airspace system, on public transit, or in school (primary, secondary, and colleges);
2. Block Commercial Air Carriers, public transit authorities, and all educational institutions from refusing service to anyone who declines to wear a mask or other face covering;
3. Prevent the Secretary of Health and Human Services from requiring plane or train passengers and students to wear a mask or face covering in response to a public health emergency;
4. Restrict federal spending to propose, establish, implement, or enforce a mask requirement on airline and public transit passengers and students;
5. Require all agencies issue new and revised guidance within 90 days of enactment to implement the law and preempt all other laws or guidance contrary to the Act.
The statement also provides background information on why Vance felt the need to tackle the issue now.
“Three weeks ago, 13,000 people in the United States were hospitalized with a new COVID-19 variant,” the statement read. “Two weeks ago, COVID hospitalizations went up by 22 percent. The Center for Disease Control (CDC) is predicting further case increases in the coming months.”
“Public health experts and university officials are calling for masks to be reimposed at schools, business, and in public spaces,” the statement continued. “The Hill recently reported that some businesses and universities have already reimposed mask mandates.”
Vance’s office referred to Morris Brown College in Atlanta which said they were reinstating their mandate on August 20, citing a rise in cases.
The legislation is co-sponsored by Sen. Josh Hawley, R-MO, Sen. Eric Schmitt, R-MO, and Sen. Mike Braun, R-IN.
Vance, Schmitt, and Braun are Catholics. Both Vance and Schmitt have earned “A” ratings from the Catholic Accountability Project while Braun has not been rated.
“We tried mask mandates once in this country,” Vance said to FOX News:
They failed to control the spread of respiratory viruses, violated basic bodily freedom, and set our fellow citizens against one another. This legislation will ensure that no federal bureaucracy, no commercial airline, and no public school can impose the misguided policies of the past.
“Democrats say they’re not going to bring back mask mandates – we’re going to hold them to their word,” the senator continued.
A City Journal report by Jeffrey H. Anderson from August of last year corroborated Vance’s remarks that mask mandates are not effective in accomplishing their stated goal of stopping the spread and transmission of the coronavirus.
Anderson cited a pro-mask researcher who, in an article posted on the National Institutes of Health (NIH) website, discussed “the failure of randomized controlled trials (RCTs) to provide supportive evidence” that masks work. He also referenced his report from the year before in which he extensively debunked the methodology used by mask advocates to come to the conclusions advocated by the NIH, CDC, and other public health officials.
