Clyburn Issues Statement on the Supreme Court Decisions on Vaccine Requirements

Washington, D.C. (January 13, 2022)  — Today, Rep. James E. Clyburn, Chairman of the Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Crisis, issued the following statement on the Supreme Court’s decisions regarding vaccine-or-testing requirement for large employers and vaccine requirement for certain health care workers:

“Today’s Supreme Court decision in NFIB v. OSHA deprives our nation of a key tool in the fight against the coronavirus pandemic at a critical time.  Far more working Americans have lost their lives to the coronavirus than they have at the hands of other workplace hazards.  OSHA’s emergency temporary standard was a commonsense measure that aimed to save lives by providing workers the simple option of being vaccinated against the coronavirus or tested once a week while wearing a mask in close proximity to others.  Workplace safety measures like these are simple yet necessary to keep working Americans—especially essential workers who cannot work remotely—safe during this crisis, and real-life evidence shows that worker vaccination requirements imposed by employers have already saved many lives across the country.

“While I am relieved that a bare majority of the Court upheld the Biden Administration’s authority to protect patients from being exposed to health care providers who refuse to get vaccinated against this deadly virus, it saddens me deeply to see six unelected justices standing in the way of an equally important measure enacted by a democratically elected president and his appointees as they aim to lead us out of this crisis.  This ill-advised decision will result in additional needless illness and preventable death from this virus.  I urge the nation’s employers to take a wiser course than the Supreme Court and require their workers to be vaccinated in order to protect them, their families, their customers, their communities, and their country.”

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