TENNESSEE
This week, the House voted on HR 3935, a fairly straightforward bill that would simply continue to fund the FAA over the next five years. There were several amendments proposed to the bill, one notable, H.Amdt.270, presented by Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Green, died on the House floor because 83 Republicans chose to vote with Democrats in killing the amendment.
What would H.Amdt.270 have done? It would have required airlines to rehire airline pilots that were fired because of their refusal to take a shot for COVID-19.
To my dismay, one of those 83 Republicans is Tennessee’s 7th Congressional Congressman, Mark Green. I generally like Congressman Green. Respectively speaking, when you look at Congress, he is certainly one of its more conservative members, including being a member of the House Freedom Caucus. Additionally, he fought against federal vaccine mandates for our military.
I questioned Congressman Green about his NO vote on this amendment. And his response is reminiscent of the fight that we continue to have amongst Republicans here in Tennessee who believe that businesses have more rights than individuals, and that individuals do not deserve protections under the Constitution for the right to make their own medical decisions.
His answer? “The government should not be in the business of telling private businesses what to do.” I generally agree with that statement. The problem is, to take a hard stance on this point of view, you must first presuppose that all business decisions are based on free market conditions here in the United States. And I believe that most people think that we are indeed operating in a free market. But let me assure you, we are not.
I generally agree with that statement. The problem is, to take a hard stance on this point of view, you must first presuppose that all business decisions are based on free market conditions here in the United States. And I believe that most people think that we are indeed operating in a free market. But let me assure you, we are not.
The New York Post reported in 2022 that airlines received $50 Billion in pandemic relief. Let me repeat that. That’s $50 Billion dollars of your money. Those are tax dollars that the government took from you unwillingly and then gave it to airlines under the auspices of a pandemic. Not only did they take your money and give it to these airlines, they enforced regulations which required these airlines make you wear masks and required that pilots be vaccinated for COVID-19. Pilots who refused these mandates lost their jobs.
Here is a comment online from a pilot. On the New York Post article referenced above.
These pilots were protected by no one, not the courts, not congressmen, no one. No one spoke of federalism and the separation of powers and the unconstitutional actions of government while these pilots were being coerced into taking a shot they did not want or face losing their ability to provide for their families.
Yet now in the postmortem of a pandemic, Republican congressmen like Mark Green use defenses like federalism to espouse the notion that the federal government has no rights or powers to regulate business entities (which also translates to protecting the rights of individuals). And in Tennessee, Congressman Green is not alone. When you go to the halls of the legislature here in Nashville and you try to advocate for medical freedom, you get the same response.
Captain Sherry Walker was a pilot of 24 years and is the cofounder of Airline Employees 4 Health Freedom, based in Texas. Here’s what she had to say in a 2022 commentary on The Daily Signal.
“For many Americans who, like myself, have decided not to take the COVID-19 vaccine for religious or medical reasons, staying true to our decision can mean being singled out and rejected by family, friends, and even employers.
For me, it meant being placed on indefinite, unpaid leave from my job as a pilot for United Airlines, without any benefits—including medical coverage, and no emergency ability to access my retirement savings…
Because of my Christian faith, I chose not to take the vaccine. I refuse to be complicit in the use of fetal tissue, which was used in the research and development for both the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines, and in the deployment of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine. However, I adamantly defend the right for each to choose what is best for their health and faith.”
Captain Sherry Walker- Airline Employees 4 Health Freedom
Interestingly, HR 3935 also continues to dismantle the notion that governments do not regulate businesses. In section 426 of the bill, titled, Minority and Disadvantaged Business Participation, findings conclude that:
“…discrimination and related barriers continue to pose significant obstacles for minority- and women-owned businesses seeking to do business in airport-related markets across the nation. Congress has received and reviewed testimony and documentation of race and gender discrimination from numerous sources…The testimony and documentation described…demonstrate that race and gender discrimination poses a barrier to full and fair participation in airport-related businesses of women business owners and minority business owners in the racial groups detailed…”
This five-year extension of the FAA will come with billions of dollars that will be made available in the form of federal grants to both airports and airlines for the continued development of this industry. Undoubtedly, as you can infer from this language in the bill, these federal grants will come with diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) strings attached for performance, regardless of the recent US Supreme Court ruling on affirmative action.
Unfortunately, the government who is giving away your money to these private businesses are not going to require these private businesses to respect the constitutional rights to medical freedom that individuals should enjoy. And in the minds of these Republican legislators, that’s called conservative.
Here are some reactions from Twitter.
I want to state for the record that I do not disagree with Congressman Green’s sentiments in theory, that government should not tell businesses what to do. That’s a great idea. The problem is that this is not the world we live in.
If we can turn back the clock 100 years and dismantle all of these three-digit unconstitutional federal agencies, then by all means, let’s do so. Let’s truly return private property rights back to the people and get government out of the business of regulating us to death. But you and I both know as well as Congressman Green that this is incredibly unlikely to happen. So, what must we do?
It is indeed government’s role to ensure that the liberty interests between individuals are balanced. Businesses and business owners do not deserve more rights than the individuals who work for them. They are both indeed individuals deserving of the Blessings of Liberty. Congress and our state legislatures create laws to protect those interests. It is their only reason for existing. Otherwise, we simply don’t need them.
We live in a time where global corporations collaborating together along with Marxist interests have an incredible amount of power. Governments all over the world use these corporations to push what should be public policy. I call this privatized policymaking. And like Pontius Pilot, lawmakers wash their hands of it and blame the tyranny on the corporations (which they allow to happen by inaction). But you and I know where the tyranny really lies.
We need men in office who see this for what it really is. We need men who understand the times and know what to do, and have the courage to do it.
