‘Democrats say they’re not going to bring back mask mandates – we’re going to hold them to their word,’ Sen JD Vance tells Fox News Digital
EXCLUSIVE: Ohio Republican Sen. JD Vance will introduce legislation Tuesday to crackdown on the ability by the federal government or commercial airlines to force Americans into wearing face masks amid a string of new coronavirus variants.
Titled the Freedom to Breathe Act, the legislation, if passed and signed into law, would prevent President Biden and federal agencies from implementing face mask requirements for public transit passengers or students in schools until Dec. 31, 2024.
Additionally, Vance’s office said the measure would prevent federal spending from being used to propose face mask requirements or force Americans to wear face coverings.
Previewing the measure, Vance’s office said the bill would:
- 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 U.S. national airspace system, on public transit, or in school (primary, secondary, and colleges);
- 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;
- 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;
- Restrict federal spending to propose, establish, implement, or enforce a mask requirement on airline and public transit passengers and students;
- 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.
“We tried mask mandates once in this country. They failed to control the spread of respiratory viruses, violated basic bodily freedom, and set our fellow citizens against one another,” Vance told Fox News Digital. “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,” added the senator, who was elected last November to represent the Buckeye State in the Senate.
By Kyle Morris
