Incoming Georgia Republican Congressman Dr. Richard McCormick told Newsmax on Monday that President Joe Biden's COVID-19 vaccine mandate for members of the military has been "catastrophic" to recruiting efforts and leaves the nation unprepared for war.
"I have a couple of guys that were my youth group that got in the U.S. Marines and then got back out again because they didn't want to get the vaccination," McCormick, a practicing physician and emergency room doctor as well as a military veteran, said during "American Agenda" Monday. "We have a 40% decline in recruiting. That is catastrophic for the people that have to deploy in their place. The [operational] tempo hasn't changed, so you're basically punishing people who stay in, and that's going to decrease morale, which decreases retention."
He said when he takes office as part of the new Congress next month, getting those separated from the service for not following the mandate will be one of his "pet projects."
"This is absolutely a pet project for me. If you will," he said. "I would love to be on the Armed Services [Committee]. I have a good shot of that. I think we are addressing this in the next Congress, we're going to try to get people back in, especially those people who got other than an honorable discharge, or administrative discharges."
The House voted 350-80 last week to end the mandate as part of the $858 billion National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2023, CNN reported.
That measure now moves to the Senate and then President Joe Biden, where it may hit a snag, the report said.
"We continue to believe that repealing the vaccine mandate is a mistake," CNN reported National Security Council coordinator for strategic communications John Kirby telling reporters Wednesday, a day ahead of the House vote. "Making sure our troops are ready to defend this country and prepared to do so, that remains the president's priority and the vaccine requirement for COVID does just that."
McCormick, however, said the mandate, should it continue, comes with additional costs.
"Think about the downwind consequences of this both economically, when we had to pay for this recruiting, and a force structure that was not ready for war," he said. "It was politicized. I don't remember, ever, we are having a vaccination or disease process politicized like they did with this. It was the worst thing the government could have done is getting the involved between a doctor and the patient."
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