U.S. Sens. Roger Wicker (R-MS) and Ted Cruz (R-TX) joined U.S. Reps. Sam Graves (R-MO) and Garret Graves (R-LA) in calling on the Biden administration to end its baseless federal mask mandate for transportation operators, employees, and users.
“Mask requirements related to the COVID-19 pandemic continue to be lifted around the country, and Americans are safely embracing their pre-pandemic lifestyles. With the Federal transportation mask mandate deadline nearly upon us, we write once again to urge you to rescind, or decline to extend, this unnecessary mask mandate and work with Congress to get our Nation’s transportation system back to normal,” the Congressmen wrote to President Joe Biden.
The legislators called for the mandate to end immediately. The mandate was set to expire last month but was extended through April 18, 2022.
“It is our belief that these inconsistent decisions further erode public trust in the Federal government, especially when transportation operators have taken significant steps to keep passengers safe. The American people have seen through the false logic that COVID-19 only exists on airplanes and public transportation,” the Congressmen added.
The lawmakers were joined by Airline for America (A4A), the aviation industry trade organization. The organization was joined by others and said while they supported mask mandates previously, the science behind continuing the mandates was not there.
“The science clearly supports lifting the mask mandate, particularly in the context of recent CDC guidance, which found that the overwhelming majority of the U.S. population no longer needs to wear masks indoors,” the organization said in a letter to White House Coronavirus Response Coordinator Dr. Ashish Jha. “Numerous studies and public health experts have demonstrated that planes are among the safest of indoor environments due to the superior ventilation and hospital-grade air filters on commercial aircraft. Another critical factor is the widespread availability of effective masks that can be worn by anyone who wishes to do so. Finally, the burden of enforcing these requirements has fallen on airline employees for the past two years, oftentimes creating challenging situations with frustrated passengers.”
Both groups also asked for an end to pre-flight COVID-19 testing for vaccinated passengers prior to their flights.