[Congressional Record Volume 167, Number 192 (Tuesday, November 2, 2021)]
[Senate]
[Pages S7584-S7585]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                  Restoring Trust in Public Health Act

  Mr. LEE. Madam President, I have now come to the Senate floor 12 
times to speak against President Biden's unconstitutional and unwise 
vaccine mandate. I have introduced 12 bills to counter and limit the 
mandate. Each time I have asked for one of these bills--each of which 
should be uncontroversial--and tried to get the Senate to pass them, 
one Senator or another from across the aisle has objected.
  Some of these bills have required only transparency. Other bills 
would have ensured that religious and medical exemptions be honored. 
Others still would simply require parental consent before vaccinating 
children.
  While far from the right answer of empowering Americans with all the 
information to make the decision themselves on when, whether, and under 
what circumstances to receive the COVID-19 vaccine, these commonsense 
bills would make the situation better. Each one of them would make it 
better. Each one of them is and properly should be uncontroversial.
  Now, throughout the process, I have been criticized by those on the 
other side of the aisle. I have been accused of attacking science and 
our institutions and somehow perpetuating the virus. Nothing could be 
further from the truth--nothing. I am for the vaccine. I have been 
vaccinated. Every member of my family has been vaccinated. I have 
encouraged others to be vaccinated all along. Nevertheless, Madam 
President, my support for the vaccine cannot, must not, and will never 
supersede my sworn oath to uphold, protect, and defend the Constitution 
of the United States; nor can it supersede the rights of Americans who 
should, in any free society, in any fair society, be at liberty to make 
their own properly informed medical decisions. This right has been 
recognized and it has been rightly celebrated throughout American 
history.
  Another principle deeply enshrined, embedded, built into our 
Constitution that has been wholly ignored in implementing this mandate 
and countless other infringements of the rights and freedoms of 
Americans is the separation of powers. Checks and balances require that 
all ministers, consuls, and officers of the United States be confirmed 
by the advice and consent of the Senate. Some of us take that 
responsibility very seriously.
  Any commissioned officer in the military being promoted to O-4 rank 
or higher requires Senate confirmation. That, of course, is the 
equivalent of a major in the Army. In other areas of government, 
positions such as members of the Advisory Board for Cuba Broadcasting, 
the board of the African Development Foundation, members of the 
National Councils on the Arts and Humanities, members of the National 
Science Board, and board members of the Corporation for National and 
Community Service all require Senate confirmation--every one of them.
  Oddly, one position that has exerted huge power over the American 
people, particularly in recent years, does not require Senate 
confirmation. The Director of the Centers for Disease Control and 
Prevention manages over 10,000 employees and has requested over $15 
billion for the Centers' fiscal year 2022 budget.
  The CDC, in recent months, has suspended property rights nationwide. 
It has provided capricious recommendations that local and State 
officials have used to strictly limit freedoms across the country. The 
CDC has shown through its own actions and the effects of those actions 
just how powerful it is. The sheer immensity of the CDC's power has 
been demonstrated over and over and over again on wide public, very 
prominent display for the American people to see and witness and 
experience.
  We can and we should debate the authorities of the CDC here in 
Congress because Congress is, of course, the branch of government most 
accountable to the people at the most regular intervals. That is why 
the most dangerous powers, really, are lodged here,

[[Page S7585]]

is because of the fact that we stand accountable to the people at the 
most regular intervals. Every Member of the House stands for election 
every 2 years. A third of the Senate stands for reelection every 2 
years. So we should debate and discuss the authorities of the CDC here 
in Congress for that very reason.
  I look forward to that discussion, which we need to have more of, but 
the matter at hand today is much simpler. We must consider whether the 
CDC Director ought to be confirmed by the U.S. Senate. Now, it is 
absurd to think that someone so powerful can assume this office with no 
say whatsoever from the legislative branch. It is even more absurd to 
say that the Senate confirms members of an advisory board on 
broadcasting in Cuba to protect the interests of the American people--
those we represent and those who elected us--but that it has no 
business confirming someone to be the Director of the Centers for 
Disease Control and Prevention.
  My bill would fix that problem. The Restoring Trust in Public Health 
Act would require that the CDC Director be confirmed by the Senate. 
This bill is cosponsored by Senators Blackburn, Tuberville, Sullivan, 
Braun, Tillis, and Scott of Florida. I appreciate their support for 
this long-past-due measure.
  In order to increase trust in the vaccine and trust in government, we 
must return transparency and accountability to the process. This bill, 
in the spirit of the Constitution, would provide an important check on 
government power and give the people a say in the CDC.
  Now, today, I had planned to ask the Senate to pass this bill by 
unanimous consent. However, just in the last few hours, I have learned 
that negotiations are now underway and a deal may well be struck in 
order to make this proposal or something very similar to it law. In 
light of that development, I will withhold my live UC request for 
today. But I will note here that if progress isn't made on such a deal, 
I will be back soon--certainly before the end of the year--to ask this 
body to immediately take up and pass S. 2734.
  Thank you.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Murphy). The Senator from Illinois.