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(Discern Report)—Senator J.D. Vance (R-OH) expressed confidence on Wednesday that he can successfully pass legislation to prohibit federal mask mandates, despite Democratic control of the Senate.

Vance has been raising concerns for weeks about the possibility of returning to pandemic protocols. However, his attempts to bring his Freedom to Breathe Act for floor consideration were unsuccessful. The legislation aims to prevent the federal government from imposing mask mandates for domestic air travel, public transportation, and schools.

During a press conference with Senate GOP colleagues, Vance stated, “We’re working on a number of different angles to actually try to get it passed, or some version of it passed. I was really disappointed that the UC was blocked.”

He further pointed out the contradiction by noting that when the legislation was initially introduced, Democrats claimed that no one wanted to bring back mask mandates. Nevertheless, Democrats objected when the bill aimed to ban such mandates. Vance expressed that this does not make sense.

Vance remains determined to pursue the legislation and believes there are several avenues through which it can be passed.

Senators Josh Hawley (R-MO), Eric Schmitt (R-MO), and Mike Braun (R-IN) co-sponsored the bill. However, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) is unlikely to bring it to the Senate floor. Addressing criticism about prioritizing the potential government shutdown, Senator Schmitt argued that there are numerous issues that can be simultaneously addressed. He emphasized the importance of proactively preventing the traumatizing experiences caused by the COVID-19 pandemic from happening again.

Schmitt highlighted the current existence of school districts with mask mandates and federal programs like Head Start that may influence future mandates. He believes it is crucial to be proactive and get ahead of these potential mandates.

“Of course that’s a big issue, but I think we can walk and chew gum at the same time,” he said. “Imean, there’s a lot of things to do. [The COVID-19 pandemic] is a lesson in something that we can’t let happen again, so I think this is proactive.”

The press conference included both Senator Vance and Senator Schmitt, along with Senate Minority Whip John Thune (R-SD) and Senate Republican Conference Chairman John Barrasso (R-WY). Thune and Barrasso are among the top three candidates expected to succeed Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) when he retires. The third candidate is Senator John Cornyn (R-TX), the former majority whip.

Thune expressed his frustration, saying, “It’s an example of when you give the Democrats an inch, they’ll take a mile. This stuff is crazy.” He hopes for an addressal of the issue to eliminate burdensome policies and mandates that make life more difficult for children and people in general.

Barrasso, a former orthopedic surgeon, stated that the legislation protects individual rights and preserves state rights. He emphasized the need to avoid a one-size-fits-all approach from the federal government and stressed the importance of common sense.

“This protects our individual rights as citizens and it preserves state’s rights,” he said. “The last thing we need is another one-size-fits-all approach from the federal government, Washington telling us what to do once again — it only makes common sense.”

The push for this legislation partly stems from a recent effort by a Maryland school district to reinstate mask mandates. It also came after the White House announced that President Joe Biden would wear a mask indoors following the positive COVID-19 test of First Lady Jill Biden. President Biden was subsequently seen occasionally not adhering to his own rules.

Although the bill has better prospects in the GOP-controlled House, Republicans have faced limited success in repealing COVID-19 measures in the Senate, including the military’s vaccine mandate last year.

Article generated from corporate media reports.

(Daily Caller)—Republican Sen. J.D. Vance of Ohio accused elites of “salivating” over the Ukraine war as a means to accumulate more power.

The United States has sent over $100 billion in aid to Ukraine since Russia invaded on Feb. 24, 2022, and announced in January they would send 31 M1 Abrams main battle tanks after announcing a battery of MIM-104 Patriot surface-to-air missiles would be provided in December. The Biden administration announced plans to primarily send Ukraine M864 155-millimeter artillery shells, known as Dual-Purpose Improved Conventional Munitions (DPICM), which dispense smaller explosive weapons over an area to attack personnel and vehicles.

“We are going to find out that between Clintons and a number of private equity firms and hyper global corporations, you’re going to find people have gotten rich from this and it’s really sad and it’s really despicable because the Ukrainians didn’t invite the war on themselves and I have disagreements with their leadership and not the people but you can almost see the elites of Washington and New York City salivating over acquiring more power and more money for themselves on the backs of the Ukrainian war effort,” Vance told Fox News host Jesse Watters. “Anybody who doesn’t see this for what it is is blind to reality.”

Vance also took issue with statements by a Ukrainian spokesperson, Sarah Ashton-Cirillo, saying that Ashton-Cirillo threatened Americans who expressed doubts or concerns about sending aid to Ukraine.

“I shockingly learned this is actually a real person who really does purport to represent the Ukrainian military which, of course, is almost entirely funded by the American taxpayer,” Vance said. “Here’s the really crazy thing, Jesse: The original video I was responding to, this person, this Ukrainian spokesperson, says that anybody who engages in Russian propaganda is going to be hunted down literally threating violence against anybody who engages in quote Russian propaganda.”

“But as you know, Jesse, multiple American journalists have been accused of engaging in Russia propaganda and multiple members of the United States Senate have been accused,” Vance said. “So, are we really funding a military that is threatening the free speech rights of people who disagree with the Ukrainian war effort? That is preposterous and gives lie to the idea this is all about freedom and democracy. If it were all about freedom and democracy why are our paid guns threatening the free speech rights of all Americans?”

Ashton-Cirillo denied that the comments in the video Vance referred to were a call for violence or a threat in a post on Twitter.

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