Exclusive — Marshall Introduces Bill to End Foreign Traveler Vax Mandate: Biden Has Put ‘Vaccine Politics’ Before U.S. Economy

Sen. Roger Marshall (R-KS) is introducing legislation Wednesday to reverse the Biden administration’s requirement that those traveling internationally to the United States, often on work-related trips, have proof of coronavirus vaccination, Breitbart News has learned.

Marshall, an obstetrician and ardent opponent of coronavirus vaccine mandates, is sponsoring the bill alongside Sens. Mike Lee (R-UT), Kevin Cramer (R-ND), and Mike Braun (R-IN).

The legislation, called the Travel Freedom Act, would lift the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) requirement that foreign, nonimmigrant visitors traveling legally to the U.S. by air be vaccinated, as well as the same requirement from the Homeland Security Department for land and ferry travel between the U.S. and Canada.

“Millions of individuals, including many involved in the North American supply chain, need to legally travel in and out of the United States on a regular basis for their jobs,” Marshall said in a statement. “Requiring proof of COVID-19 vaccination for a work-related commute or responsibility is an unnecessary headache, but, for the Biden administration, vaccine politics come before the American economy.”

Marshall’s bill comes amid inflation and supply chain issues plaguing the U.S. nationwide, and as the Canadian Trucking Alliance (CTA), which represents roughly 4,500 trucking industry workers, has called on U.S. lawmakers to push for an end to the mandate.

“We have continued to reiterate that removing these restrictions will not only support our integrated economies and supply chain but also U.S. businesses and commerce by adding increased capacity, especially as the state of our economy remains in flux,” CTA representative Lak Shoan told FreightWaves, an agency focused on the global freight market.

Canadian truckers became famous for opposing coronavirus-related mandates more than a year ago, when they organized what became known as the “Freedom Convoy,” a massive and seemingly somewhat successful protest against the Canadian government that inspired similar demonstrations across the world.

While the Biden administration announced in January, two years after COVID cases first emerged, that it would allow remaining national and public health emergencies related to coronavirus to expire in May, the international travel mandate remains in tact and could extend beyond May.

The four Republican senators’ bill comes in addition to similar legislation the House passed last week with the support of all Republicans and seven Democrats to end the vaccine mandate on foreign visitors legally flying to the U.S., though that bill does not include land and sea travel.

Marshall, who is hoping to see support for his legislation from both Republicans and Democrats in the upper chamber, said the bill would put “an end to this madness” and reopen the U.S. “for business to all individuals, regardless of their vaccination status.”

“President Biden’s irrational COVID-19 vaccine mandate has come in many forms throughout his presidency, but I will always be there to stand against his cynical attempts to force anyone into a vaccination they do not want to receive,” Marshall said.

Braun, a cosponsor of the bill, added that “the pandemic is over.”

He said, “The Biden administration should not continue to mandate vaccine passports and reopen the United States to international travel and economic growth regardless of vaccination status.”

Cramer noted his state of North Dakota “relies on commerce and visitors from our neighbors to the north. This bill would rightfully repeal the vaccine mandate for travelers, which the Biden Administration should have done a long time ago.”

Write to Ashley Oliver at aoliver@breitbart.com. Follow her on Twitter at @asholiver.