Iowa Bill HSB 647 Testimony - February 10, 2022

I stand here today, not because I want to, but because I feel I have to. I stand here today because the individual liberties of many Iowans are slowly being taken away. 

As with many people, September 11th changed my life forever. At the time I was a young 20 something, trying to balance college and being a newlywed. With the support of my wife and family, I joined the Marine Corps infantry in an effort to make a difference any way I could. Shortly after boot camp, I discovered that I would be deploying for the first of my two tours to Iraq. Within the year I would miss the birth of my first born son, and much of the first year of his life, to be shipped halfway around the world, to fight in a war I didn’t understand. Outside of the narrative that had been given by politicians and the media, I did not understand what we were doing in Iraq.

However, during my time in Iraq, my eyes were opened to what the slow erosion of freedoms leads to. I witnessed a people, who, for the previous few decades, slowly had their freedoms removed. I witnessed an insurgency that was determined not to let those people have their freedoms back. I witnessed a people afraid to advocate for themselves, their families, and their communities. 

During my time in Iraq, I also witnessed good men be injured, or die, trying to secure these freedoms to good people who were strangers to them. In fact, I wear one of their names on my wrist to remind me daily of the sacrifice they made, and to remind me not to take for granted my days left on this earth.

Although I didn’t fully understand why we were in Iraq, I left there resolving never again to take my freedom for granted. When I completed my service, I wanted to return home to my wife, and now five children, and live my life in peace. I wanted to watch my children grow up and start families of their own. I wanted my kids to appreciate the freedoms they had by never experiencing the erosion of their God-given liberties, as I so memorably saw happen with the Iraqi people.

Now, fast forward to our past two years. During these past two years, people I once trusted slowly began taking our freedoms in the name of safety. At first it was two weeks to stop the spread. Then it was just a mask. Then it was just working from home for a year. Then it was just working from home for a second year. But it didn’t stop there…

Then it was just until we had a vaccine. Then it was just until we could get 70% of people vaccinated. Then it was eighty. Then ninety. And so on and so on. And here we are—not being “past” this situation but still right in its grip, with so many of our freedoms and our way of life continually being taken away.

This past week, Governor Reynolds announced the end to the Covid-19 disaster proclamation, and for that we are really thankful. However…even though the state of Iowa will no longer meddle in the lives of millions of its people regarding covid, companies across Iowa continue to discriminate against their employees regarding medical information that should be between the individual and their doctor. This has been true for me, and frankly really awful.

Over ten years ago, I took a risk on a small startup here in Iowa - a startup, that was in part, funded by the state through grants. Those early years were tough, but fulfilling. There would be weeks where employees would spend sixty, eighty, or more hours, to give our customers an experience that truly changed their lives for the better. We sacrificed time with friends and families to grow this little startup into a successful public company.

Today however, to be a valuable employee, that sacrifice no longer matters. The company’s values and rules have changed - as have the values and rules of so many companies across Iowa—and these have stripped away our freedom and purpose in the workplace.

Today, the only thing that seems to matter is if an employee has been vaccinated and uploaded their card to the company’s system. Let me paraphrase a statement from the CEO:
“I've heard many people say how good in-person meetings have been in the office. It's something that helps us perform and grow professionally. So if you can't get vaccinated or are unwilling, it is going to impede how much you can help the company. It's just a fact.”

First, this is NOT “just a fact”. It is the company - in compliance with the powers that be - making it a so-called fact! It is a company imposing their will on all who disagree. And it is a threat to coerce employees - people like me - into compliance. I stand here today to tell you: this threat is wrong.

Indeed, I don’t know how this company action can be taken as anything but a threat of discrimination to block or end an employee’s progress in their career. The CEO is saying: If you comply, we’ll be friendly. But if you do NOT comply - if you have another view on what to do with your health - then we will NOT let you make progress … and if this hurts you personally, and, by hurting your career, hurts your marriage and your children, we do not  care. At minimum, the company is telling their employees that they are less valuable if they don’t disclose a personal, and private, medical decision.

Over the past two years this virus has continued to mutate into something less and less harmful. At the same time, the company’s policies, and the policies of many Iowa businesses, have mutated into something more and more divisive, toxic, and political. These have become the real virus threatening society, infecting people’s mindsets, making good bosses willing to threaten others, and, ultimately, standing ever ready to take our freedoms without a second thought.

During 2020, as many of us began to tire of remote work, we gave the company a break. We were continually told that every decision being made was driven by health agencies, like the CDC and the WHO. When President Biden announced, what was in practice, a vaccine mandate for American companies, we gave the company the benefit of the doubt as they implemented a system to comply. Although we were frustrated that the company didn’t fight it, we were hopeful that the mandate would be struck down in court.

And the mandate was struck down!

So all should have been better, right?

However, no sooner was the mandate struck down, than the company doubled-down on their policy to require a vaccine. At the same time, their message began to change on what was driving the decision to maintain it. With the previous legal reason for the vaccine requirement gone, the company had to invent a new one.

When once the company was guided by health agencies, now the company became increasingly guided by health agencies AND what other companies were doing. What began as “we have to protect the vaccinated from the unvaccinated”, quickly changed as employees began to receive multiple emails a week informing them of fully vaccinated employees entering the office and exposing others to covid. What began as them being guided by a legal requirement based on science and data, turned into them being guided by politicians and the media. They outright ignore data from some of the same agencies they claim to follow if that data doesn’t fit their policies.

A little over a month ago the head of the CDC, Dr. Walensky, stated that our current vaccines do NOT prevent a vaccinated person from contracting and spreading covid. That same week, the CEO of Pfizer stated that their vaccines do little, to nothing, against the Omicron variant. This is all public record. Of course, Omicron is also the variant that the CDC now says makes up 99.9% of all new cases. And even the CDC has agreed with the data that the vaccine is, in effect, worthless in terms of protecting people six months after being vaccinated. Now the company - while mandating vaccines which are worthless against Omicron - does not even require a booster shot. So, for example, an employee that received the J&J shot in May of 2021(the least effective of the vaccines), and who hasn’t been boosted, is not discriminated against, whereas a non-compliant employee is, even though the data tells us that there is essentially no difference between the two. This is wrong!

It is wrong since neither group has more protection against Omicron than the other. And it is wrong because people all deserve to be treated with dignity and respect!

Furthermore, the company does not acknowledge natural immunity as a form of protection. Nor do they allow an employee, EVEN with a same-day negative test to meet in person with any other employee or visit an office. And even if they did, this is private medical information they should not have the privilege of knowing.

Just the other week, the prestigious Johns Hopkins University released a study showing that lockdowns did little, if anything, in preventing covid related deaths. Yet the company, and other companies across Iowa, are still enforcing a form of lockdowns on their employees, at a severe cost to the employee.

Over the past two years, as I have ventured into scary waters to publicly ask the company’s leadership about these policies, an amazing - but truly sad - thing has happened. Many employees have reached out privately to thank me for taking a stand as they thought they were the only ones that had the same concerns. They also have shared stories with me that have broken my heart.

As the company has segregated non-compliant employees to their homes. And during this segregation process, I have heard many stories of anxiety, depression, and even suicidal thoughts. When these concerns are raised with leadership, we were told that mental health resources are available as part of our benefits, but no one really reaches out to us with any real human concern. I have spoken with employees who were required to be in the office, and who were interrogated about their religious beliefs after submitting a religious exemption, and then were ultimately fired. I have talked with employees who were scolded for scheduling a personal lunch with a coworker, because neither had complied with the mandate. Numerous times I have heard employees talk about the loneliness that comes with being deprived of in-person human interaction while at work. Other employees have confided in me that they felt coerced into getting the vaccine, so they could feel like a full member of the company.

The only solution the company has  for non-compliant employees is to go against their deeply held beliefs, get vaccinated, and upload their card. I don’t know if the company’s leadership has any true deeply held beliefs of their own, but they have to know there is a cost to that compromise. I have to live with my actions all day, every day, not just when at work. And throwing out my beliefs to “gain my freedom back” not only comes at a cost to my mental health and integrity, but it isn’t true freedom. 

It also saddened me to see fellow coworkers, who say they believe in American freedom, but are scared of what might happen to them if they take a stand. To those employees I say, It’s never too late. Others will welcome you with open arms. Remember, you are only one unwanted jab away from being “otherized” yourself.

I said at the beginning of this talk that I didn’t really know why I was in Iraq. Over the past two years, though, this has become crystal clear to me. Freedom is worth fighting for…even if that freedom is not your own. 

So I am here today to fight not only for my freedoms, but for the freedoms of all Iowans! So many Iowans today are living in anxiety and fear over what might happen to their livelihood if they speak out. And I admit - it is scary.

Late last week, I created a video that was uploaded to social media. It was a call to action to get other Iowans to this event today. I used many of the same details I have stated today to show why this freedom is worth fighting for.

Monday morning, I was terminated from my company - coincidently on my eleven year work anniversary. So I personally understand the cost that can come from taking a stance. But I have to remind myself that not only is freedom worth fighting for, it is worth dying for. And if I was willing to fight and die in an attempt to secure the freedoms for strangers half a world away, then I should be more than willing to risk the loss of a job to fight for my freedoms, the freedoms of my children, and the freedoms for people all across our great state. And I do believe this is a great state with great people. It definitely isn’t the winters that have kept me here for the forty years of life God has blessed me with.

So today - right here and now - I call on you to join me in this fight for the personal freedoms of every Iowan, and to set an example for the rest of the country. Insist on the sovereignty of each person over their own bodies - something to which people of all views and ways of life should be able to agree to - so that, we, all Iowans can be thriving employees and people. When our people thrive, then our businesses, local communities, and ultimately, Iowa itself, will thrive. We can do better! We can remember who we were before 2020 - one people, united in respect for each other, who upheld workplace dignity without even a second thought.

So I ask you today: Please do what is right for the people of Iowa. Treat people as people, whether vaccinated or not. Do not discriminate, do not segregate. Instead, stand for the value of respect and the importance of our God-given freedoms here in Iowa.

Semper Fi.