Congressman Mike Garcia, R-Santa Clarita, joined two other Republican representatives Monday to introduce a resolution opposing a federal plan to “deliver COVID-19 vaccines to prisoners held at Guantanamo Bay ahead of hard-working Americans.”
On Monday, Garcia joined Representative Elise Stefanik of New York and Representative Ashley Hinson of Iowa to introduce a resolution to oppose the Department of Defense (DoD)’s original plan to deliver COVID-19 vaccines to prisoners held at Guantanamo Bay ahead of “hard-working Americans.”
“It is an insult to hard-working Americans who have already been harmed by government-mandated lockdowns,” Garcia said in a statement Monday. “Ensuring Americans have access to the COVID-19 vaccine plays a critical role in our country being able to safely open up again. The Biden Administration must start putting Americans first.”
The resolution was introduced after reports came out that alleged 9/11 “mastermind” Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, along with other Guantanamo Bay detainees, would be getting the COVID-19 vaccine before many Americans.
While officials say that the DoD has since backtracked on the original plan, the resolution condemns the first plan and “will assert the federal government to provide COVID-19 vaccinations to U.S. citizens before the prisoners at Guantanamo Bay.”
“The original reports that DoD was planning to provide the COVID-19 vaccine to alleged terrorists before Americans were extremely alarming,” Garcia said. “I am glad they have now backtracked on their original plan but am still concerned that the Biden Administration ever considered such a scheme in the first place.”
The resolution is supported by 36 additional members of Congress, according to officials from Garcia’s office.
See Related: Garcia Introduces Bill Aimed At Administering More COVID-19 Vaccines
Recently, Garcia and Republican Congressman Ted Budd introduced the “Vaccinate More Americans Act,” a bill that aims to lift regulations to allow more doses of the COVID-19 vaccine to be administered.
The bill introduced by the Republican pair would allow vaccine providers to administer leftover COVID-19 vaccines to individuals eligible to receive the vaccine in the following phased allocation group, instead of letting the doses “go to waste.”
In a statement issued at the time, officials with Garcia’s office said that the bill was prompted by reports nationwide that COVID-19 vaccines were being allowed to expire because of “unclear state and local rules and regulations.”
“I am concerned by the reports I have seen that COVID-19 vaccines are not being distributed due to state and local government red tape,” Garcia said at the time. “These burdensome rules and regulations are further slowing our ability to swiftly and safely open our country back up. I’m proud to work with Rep. Budd to introduce this sensible policy that would ensure COVID-19 vaccines go to Americans, not sit in freezers.”
The “Vaccinate More Americans Act’ would allow vaccine providers to administer leftover vaccines to individuals eligible to receive the vaccine “under circumstances where it is reasonably necessary to prevent the expiration of any dose of vaccine for COVID-19 purchased from the federal government.”
The bill would also allow vaccine providers to “disregard any existing state or local law to the contrary that prohibits them from administering leftover vaccines to individuals not in the current phased allocation group.”
The provisions in the bill would then sunset at the end of the public health emergency.
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