[Congressional Record Volume 170, Number 67 (Wednesday, April 17, 2024)]
[House]
[Pages H2450-H2451]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                  GOVERNMENT OVERREACH DURING PANDEMIC

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from 
California (Mr. LaMalfa) for 5 minutes.
  Mr. LaMALFA. Mr. Speaker, we witnessed the egregious overreach of 
government during the COVID-19 pandemic, which resulted in the 
infringement of Americans' rights and devastating consequences for our 
economy and unprecedented government spending.
  From the outset of the pandemic, we witnessed unprecedented 
government actions that trampled upon our basic freedoms and liberties: 
social shutdowns, mandated mask wearing, and vaccine mandates were 
imposed with little regard for individual autonomy, constitutional 
rights, or people's personal health issues.
  These heavy-handed measures not only eroded the fabric of our society 
but also inflicted severe economic harm on businesses and families 
across the Nation.
  Those of us with an ounce of common sense suspected from the 
beginning that COVID was little more than the

[[Page H2451]]

flu and that the government's actions bordered on martial law.
  We were told it would take 2 weeks to flatten the curve. Well, were 
we played or how did that really turn out when it became 3-plus years?
  Instead of allowing citizens medical freedom, they forced the jab 
onto all of us, encouraging employers to threaten employees with 
termination if they didn't comply and keeping kids out of college. In 
order to return to their classes, they had to take the jab.
  One of the common controversies came from ivermectin, which we now 
know, and many knew at the time, works as a very effective early 
treatment for COVID-19. How many people were harmed because they 
weren't allowed this early treatment because it was politicized?
  Indeed, recently, the FDA finally had to walk back an early-on smart-
aleck tweet they made trying to compare real ivermectin that is 
prescribed for people and formulated for people to something that would 
be comparable for livestock. After having suffered that embarrassment, 
they had to walk it back.
  In the meantime, how many lives were lost because this early 
treatment was not available? Instead, they were forced into other types 
of treatment or flat out being ignored when doctors and hospitals said: 
Well, come back to us when it is really bad, then we will check you in.
  Americans should have the right to make their own informed decisions 
with doctors they trust, including the choice to use alternatives such 
as ivermectin, especially in early treatment.
  It is very troubling that the government actively suppressed 
information about treatments for COVID-19, including ivermectin, 
hydroxychloroquine, and other materials that were available, while 
promoting instead a one-size-fits all approach centered around 
vaccines. Safe and effective, we were told.
  In fact, the FDA's censorship of information about ivermectin has had 
real-world consequences for medical professionals who dared to speak 
out. Again, what you see is that the FDA had to walk back their lies 
and their deception about this. They also were browbeating hospitals 
and doctors into selling the same thing. We see that even in my own 
local area where people were asking legitimate questions about 
ivermectin and were made fun of: Oh, this is just horse paste. You 
don't want to do that.
  Medical experts were contradicting themselves time and time again 
since the beginning of the pandemic. We were told to lock down for 2 
weeks, right? Then it was masks, and then it was double masks. Then it 
was something called social distancing. For a while, they thought 
ventilators were going to be the issue for that, so they hurried 
manufacturers into making ventilators, and then they found out maybe 
those were harmful.

  Before Trump left office, we had top officials saying: Oh, I will 
never take it if it is Trump's medicine. Then immediately after they 
were forcing it on people when Biden took over. Interesting how that 
works.
  Commonplace therapeutics with decades of human usage and proven 
success--including ivermectin, which won a Nobel Prize in 2015 for its 
lifesaving qualities--again, as I mentioned, were branded as unsafe 
horse medication.
  Treatment methods should be a topic of debate or discussion and, 
indeed, the experts should be allowed to bring this forward that have 
all people's best interests in mind. If a treatment works, then it 
should be distributed as widely as possible or at least allowed, 
whether it is a vaccine, a dosage of ivermectin, or an infusion of 
monoclonal antibodies.
  The politicization of differing treatments hurt Americans by 
restricting their ability to receive lifesaving medications, especially 
early treatment, when it probably could have saved thousands of lives.
  As we stand today, there are multiple options that have been proven 
effective in treating the virus, but we hear the same old saw about the 
latest iteration of vaccine being forced upon people and making 
billions for pharmaceutical companies.
  We should be able to choose what we want. If you want to take 
therapeutics, you should have the ability to take them. In a lawsuit 
filed in Texas, three doctors claimed that the FDA's actions interfered 
with their medical practices and harmed their reputations. Pharmacists 
have refused to fill ivermectin prescriptions for patients, and doctors 
have faced professional repercussions for simply advocating for the use 
of ivermectin.
  There is much more, but when these people ask for forgiveness for 
lying to us like that, no way. There needs to be prosecution.

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