Congressman Gibbs sits on the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee and the House Committee on Oversight and Reform. Gibbs was chosen to chair the Subcommittee on Water Resources and Environment, a subcommittee of the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee that conducts oversight of the federal regulation of clean water, from 2011 until 2017. He is currently Ranking Member of the Coast Guard and Maritime Transportation Subcommittee.
COVID-19 was a shock to our system and in the first weeks and few months of the pandemic, there was much uncertainty. But there was one thing we knew we had to do: Get started on vaccine research immediately.
Part of the bipartisan response to the COVID-19 pandemic provided federal funding for Operation Warp Speed, which partnered with the private sector to speed up vaccine research and trials so we can put this pandemic behind us. The unprecedented success of Operation Warp Speed created several highly effective COVID-19 vaccines in record time. As a result of the Trump administration’s efforts to create a vaccine, countless lives have been saved as the worst effects of COVID-19 are lessened in those who are vaccinated.
As important as these vaccines are in helping us move beyond the pandemic, I don’t believe the federal government has a right to mandate anyone get the COVID-19 vaccine. I have supported countless efforts opposing federal vaccine mandates for businesses, for healthcare facilities receiving Medicare or Medicaid funding, and for federal workers. I introduced a resolution opposing the Occupational Health and Safety Administration’s proposed vaccine mandate on businesses.
The only people who should be making your healthcare decisions are you and your doctor. Washington bureaucrats have no business getting between you and the care you need. More government intrusion into healthcare will only increase costs, as we have seen since the implementation of the disastrous Obamacare legislation. I helped repeal Obamacare’s medical device tax that would have ended America’s status as the global leader in medical innovation.
I also believe in the sanctity of life, that we have a moral obligation to protect the most vulnerable: the unborn. I firmly believe not one penny of federal dollars should be used for abortion services, either here in the United States or abroad. I support the Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act which would prevent the abortion of an unborn child at 20 weeks, when modern medicine says is when they are capable of feeling pain.