Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) has introduced legislation to mandate a review of all the religious exemption requests received from military servicemembers who did not want to be forced to receive the coronavirus vaccination and “authorize corrective action” for those whose careers suffered for not getting the jab, Breitbart News has learned.
Citing the fact that less than two percent of approximately 28,000 religious accommodation requests (RARs) were approved by the Department of Defense (DOD) after a vaccine mandate was implemented across all military branches in August 2021, Cruz told Breitbart News on Wednesday why the Reaffirming Every Servicemembers’ Trust of Religious Exemptions (RESTORE) Act is needed.
“American servicemembers are still facing unjust consequences for personal religious decisions that caused them to reject the Biden administration’s coercive COVID-19 vaccine mandates, including being denied promotions and receiving negative performance reviews,” the senator said. “Under the RESTORE Act, these wrongs would be corrected for the men and women in uniform.”
According to research completed by Cruz’s office, an estimated 18,000 to 20,000 service members who had submitted RARs remained in service and were “denied promotions, received negative performance evaluations, or coerced into vaccination despite acting in good faith under the Religious Freedom Restoration Act.”
The RESTORE Act would not only require DOD Secretary Pete Hegseth to establish a review board to audit the service-wide handling of vaccine RARs, but also give the board the power to correct the career and personnel records of affected servicemembers.
Sens. Tim Scott (R-SC), Mike Lee (R-AZ), and Katie Britt (R-AL) are also on board with the bill, with all three sharing their support in statements obtained by Breitbart News.
“Biden’s DOD placed a ridiculous vaccine mandate on the great men and women who served our nation, kicking American heroes out of our service for refusing to comply for health or religious reasons,” Scott said. “President Trump is already working to right these wrongs, but we must make sure every service member who lost their livelihood due to this overreaching mandate has the chance to serve their nation once again. I’m proud to support the RESTORE Act and will always be grateful to those willing to serve our nation.”
Britt voiced a similar sentiment, saying the RESTORE Act “directly addresses the previous administration’s mishandling of religious accommodation requests and aims to remedy the unjust consequences experienced by thousands of dedicated men and women in uniform.”
Lee said, “Thousands of military service members were punished for declining the COVID-19 vaccine – some for religious reasons that are protected by the Constitution. The RESTORE Act corrects these injustices by awarding the promotions and pay stolen from our courageous men and women in uniform by the Biden administration.”
Rep. Ronny Jackson (R-TX) has introduced a companion bill in the U.S. House, stating that the legislation is needed to make things “right.”
Olivia Rondeau is a politics reporter for Breitbart News based in Washington, DC. Find her on X/Twitter and Instagram.
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