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Senate Resolution 7 - Introduced
An Act 1condemning the federal vaccination mandate
2for members of the military and urging state and
3federal authorities to take remedial actions for
4negatively impacted service members.
5WHEREAS, the Iowa Army and Air National Guard
6provide vital services and keep the citizens of Iowa
7and the United States secure in times of emergency;and
8WHEREAS, the Biden Administration and U.S.Secretary
9of Defense Lloyd Austin previously issued an arbitrary
10order that Iowa Army and Air National Guard service
11members must be vaccinated against the COVID-19 virus
12as a condition of their service to the state and
13nation;and
14WHEREAS, said vaccination mandates made recruiting
15efforts difficult, compromising the readiness of the
16Iowa Army and Air National Guard, and violating the
17personal freedoms of our guardsmen to make their own
18medical decisions;and
19WHEREAS, while the U.S.Department of Defense has
20been authorized approximately 2.1 million uniformed
21personnel, according to December 20, 2022, Department
22of Defense data, the department has fallen short by
2399,805 fully vaccinated members; of that number, 26,145
24personnel are partially vaccinated and 73,660 positions
25have no possible vaccinated person to take the position
26at all;and
27WHEREAS, the congressionally required total armed
28forces to protect national security interests could
-1-1not be met while the vaccination mandate was in place
2without adding ranks of those who are being denied
3religious exemptions or compromising the principles of
4an all-volunteer force at its core;and
5WHEREAS, thousands of service members in all
6branches of the United States military who chose not
7to receive the COVID-19 vaccinations were being denied
8medical and religious exemptions on the grounds of
9readiness, however, unvaccinated members who are
10otherwise healthy were often forced to separate
11from service, which was a greater threat to military
12readiness;and
13WHEREAS, beyond their years of experience, the
14military stands to lose members with costly specialized
15training; in the case of Wilson v.Austin alone,
16250 pilots at an average cost of $5.4 million in
17training may be purged, causing catastrophic financial
18losses;and
19WHEREAS, according to federal law, and subsequently
20published in Department of Defense policy, it is
21an unlawful order to require a service member to be
22vaccinated with emergency use authorization-labeled
23vaccines;and
24WHEREAS, all COVID-19 vaccines are labeled Emergency
25Use Authorization and required by federal law to
26be made optional, and not required, for all service
27members;and
28WHEREAS, various other treatment options for
29COVID-19 exist and have been acknowledged by government
30agencies such as the Food and Drug Administration and
-2-1the Centers for Disease Control;and
2WHEREAS, numerous harmful effects of the vaccine
3have been acknowledged as evident in adverse event
4tracking databases, and known as side effects by the
5Food and Drug Administration, National Institutes of
6Health, and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
7who subsequently enlisted assistance from various
8social media outlets to subdue the truth and cover it
9up;and
10WHEREAS, service members waiting for or being denied
11exemptions have faced discrimination, court martial,
12and forced separation, while others have determined
13they can no longer renew their contract to serve,
14further exacerbating the already declining military
15numbers;and
16WHEREAS, military medical whistle-blowers attempting
17to give truthful facts regarding COVID-19 and the
18vaccine have suffered adverse discriminatory acts
19and been subjected to various career-threatening
20punishments including private medical data being
21made public, withholding promotions or assignments,
22involuntary separation, court martials, career-ruining
23assignments, administrative reprimands, and
24non-judicial punishment;and
25WHEREAS, those with medical exemptions or seeking
26religious exemptions were temporarily exempt, but
27barred from deployment as the COVID-19 vaccine was
28a “nonwaiverable” requirement for each geographic
29combatant command, and their freedoms and careers
30continue to be impacted;and
-3-1WHEREAS, the majority of Federal District Court
2and U.S.Court of Appeals rulings have upheld the
3complaints of service members against the Department of
4Defense, alleging a violation of the Constitution and
5federal statutes in processing and denying religious
6accommodation requests;and
7WHEREAS, all service members took an oath to support
8and defend the Constitution and are not required
9to obey unlawful orders, but have had their own
10constitutional rights and freedoms violated by their
11superiors;NOW THEREFORE,
12BE IT RESOLVED BY THE SENATE, That the Senate
13urges the governor to act as follows to mitigate
14the arbitrary and unjustified action of the Biden
15Administration in requiring COVID-19 vaccinations of
16Iowa Guardsmen as a condition of service to our great
17state and to our nation:
18a. Reinstate the Iowa Army and Air National Guard
19members with back pay and full benefits who have
20refused the COVID-19 vaccine.
21b. Publicly condemn any firings and nonpay status
22of Iowa Army and Air National Guard members.
23c. Issue salary payments to the Iowa Army and Air
24National Guard members who are on a no-pay status
25relative to state active duty orders for refusing the
26COVID-19 vaccination.
27d. Request the Iowa Adjutant General, Major General
28Benjamin Corell, to halt any further firings of Iowa
29Army and Air National Guard members who have refused
30the COVID-19 vaccine, including those with medical or
-4-1religious exemptions; and
2BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, That the Senate commends the
3various advocacy groups such as the Liberty Counsel,
4First Liberty, Alliance for Free Citizens, Thomas More
5Society, and others who selflessly provided legal
6representation in federal district and appellate
7court to those seeking exemptions from the COVID-19
8mandate;and
9BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, That the Senate commends the
10Governor for requesting that the federal government
11withdraw vaccine mandates for National Guard
12members;and
13BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, That the Senate commends
14members of the U.S. Congress for rescinding the mandate
15in the Fiscal Year 2023 National Defense Authorization
16Act, and urges them to take further action to make
17whole those military members who were negatively
18affected by the COVID-19 vaccine mandate through
19compensatory measures such as noncompetitive promotion,
20back pay, full benefits, and a change allowing the
21COVID-19 vaccine to be a waiverable requirement for
22deployment.
-5-dg/rn
An Act 1condemning the federal vaccination mandate
2for members of the military and urging state and
3federal authorities to take remedial actions for
4negatively impacted service members.
5WHEREAS, the Iowa Army and Air National Guard
6provide vital services and keep the citizens of Iowa
7and the United States secure in times of emergency;and
8WHEREAS, the Biden Administration and U.S.Secretary
9of Defense Lloyd Austin previously issued an arbitrary
10order that Iowa Army and Air National Guard service
11members must be vaccinated against the COVID-19 virus
12as a condition of their service to the state and
13nation;and
14WHEREAS, said vaccination mandates made recruiting
15efforts difficult, compromising the readiness of the
16Iowa Army and Air National Guard, and violating the
17personal freedoms of our guardsmen to make their own
18medical decisions;and
19WHEREAS, while the U.S.Department of Defense has
20been authorized approximately 2.1 million uniformed
21personnel, according to December 20, 2022, Department
22of Defense data, the department has fallen short by
2399,805 fully vaccinated members; of that number, 26,145
24personnel are partially vaccinated and 73,660 positions
25have no possible vaccinated person to take the position
26at all;and
27WHEREAS, the congressionally required total armed
28forces to protect national security interests could
-1-1not be met while the vaccination mandate was in place
2without adding ranks of those who are being denied
3religious exemptions or compromising the principles of
4an all-volunteer force at its core;and
5WHEREAS, thousands of service members in all
6branches of the United States military who chose not
7to receive the COVID-19 vaccinations were being denied
8medical and religious exemptions on the grounds of
9readiness, however, unvaccinated members who are
10otherwise healthy were often forced to separate
11from service, which was a greater threat to military
12readiness;and
13WHEREAS, beyond their years of experience, the
14military stands to lose members with costly specialized
15training; in the case of Wilson v.Austin alone,
16250 pilots at an average cost of $5.4 million in
17training may be purged, causing catastrophic financial
18losses;and
19WHEREAS, according to federal law, and subsequently
20published in Department of Defense policy, it is
21an unlawful order to require a service member to be
22vaccinated with emergency use authorization-labeled
23vaccines;and
24WHEREAS, all COVID-19 vaccines are labeled Emergency
25Use Authorization and required by federal law to
26be made optional, and not required, for all service
27members;and
28WHEREAS, various other treatment options for
29COVID-19 exist and have been acknowledged by government
30agencies such as the Food and Drug Administration and
-2-1the Centers for Disease Control;and
2WHEREAS, numerous harmful effects of the vaccine
3have been acknowledged as evident in adverse event
4tracking databases, and known as side effects by the
5Food and Drug Administration, National Institutes of
6Health, and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
7who subsequently enlisted assistance from various
8social media outlets to subdue the truth and cover it
9up;and
10WHEREAS, service members waiting for or being denied
11exemptions have faced discrimination, court martial,
12and forced separation, while others have determined
13they can no longer renew their contract to serve,
14further exacerbating the already declining military
15numbers;and
16WHEREAS, military medical whistle-blowers attempting
17to give truthful facts regarding COVID-19 and the
18vaccine have suffered adverse discriminatory acts
19and been subjected to various career-threatening
20punishments including private medical data being
21made public, withholding promotions or assignments,
22involuntary separation, court martials, career-ruining
23assignments, administrative reprimands, and
24non-judicial punishment;and
25WHEREAS, those with medical exemptions or seeking
26religious exemptions were temporarily exempt, but
27barred from deployment as the COVID-19 vaccine was
28a “nonwaiverable” requirement for each geographic
29combatant command, and their freedoms and careers
30continue to be impacted;and
-3-1WHEREAS, the majority of Federal District Court
2and U.S.Court of Appeals rulings have upheld the
3complaints of service members against the Department of
4Defense, alleging a violation of the Constitution and
5federal statutes in processing and denying religious
6accommodation requests;and
7WHEREAS, all service members took an oath to support
8and defend the Constitution and are not required
9to obey unlawful orders, but have had their own
10constitutional rights and freedoms violated by their
11superiors;NOW THEREFORE,
12BE IT RESOLVED BY THE SENATE, That the Senate
13urges the governor to act as follows to mitigate
14the arbitrary and unjustified action of the Biden
15Administration in requiring COVID-19 vaccinations of
16Iowa Guardsmen as a condition of service to our great
17state and to our nation:
18a. Reinstate the Iowa Army and Air National Guard
19members with back pay and full benefits who have
20refused the COVID-19 vaccine.
21b. Publicly condemn any firings and nonpay status
22of Iowa Army and Air National Guard members.
23c. Issue salary payments to the Iowa Army and Air
24National Guard members who are on a no-pay status
25relative to state active duty orders for refusing the
26COVID-19 vaccination.
27d. Request the Iowa Adjutant General, Major General
28Benjamin Corell, to halt any further firings of Iowa
29Army and Air National Guard members who have refused
30the COVID-19 vaccine, including those with medical or
-4-1religious exemptions; and
2BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, That the Senate commends the
3various advocacy groups such as the Liberty Counsel,
4First Liberty, Alliance for Free Citizens, Thomas More
5Society, and others who selflessly provided legal
6representation in federal district and appellate
7court to those seeking exemptions from the COVID-19
8mandate;and
9BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, That the Senate commends the
10Governor for requesting that the federal government
11withdraw vaccine mandates for National Guard
12members;and
13BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, That the Senate commends
14members of the U.S. Congress for rescinding the mandate
15in the Fiscal Year 2023 National Defense Authorization
16Act, and urges them to take further action to make
17whole those military members who were negatively
18affected by the COVID-19 vaccine mandate through
19compensatory measures such as noncompetitive promotion,
20back pay, full benefits, and a change allowing the
21COVID-19 vaccine to be a waiverable requirement for
22deployment.
-5-dg/rn