{"id":1078892,"date":"2021-12-03T00:43:40","date_gmt":"2021-12-03T05:43:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1078892"},"modified":"2021-12-03T00:43:42","modified_gmt":"2021-12-03T05:43:42","slug":"exclusive-house-republicans-divided-on-purpose-of-vaccination-database-bill","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/exclusive-house-republicans-divided-on-purpose-of-vaccination-database-bill\/","title":{"rendered":"Exclusive \u2014\u00a0House Republicans Divided on Purpose of Vaccination Database Bill"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">20<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fexclusive-house-republicans-divided-on-purpose-of-vaccination-database-bill%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1078892&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><div><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/GettyImages-1348121246-640x335-1.jpg\" class=\"ff-og-image-inserted\" \/><\/div>\n<p class=\"subheading\">Eighty House Republicans on Tuesday voted with Democrats to pass the&nbsp;<a class=\"x5l\" href=\"https:\/\/clerk.house.gov\/Votes\/2021388\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener external\">Immunization Infrastructure Modernization Act of 2021<\/a>, which if signed into law would reportedly \u201cmodernize\u201d already existing vaccination database systems.&nbsp;Not one Democrat voted \u201cno\u201d on the legislation, also called H.B. 550, but 130 Republicans declined to support the bill.<\/p>\n<p>There seems to be a disconnect between House GOP members who voted to pass the bill and those who did not regarding what the legislation would actually accomplish. Among the \u201cno\u201d votes, some lawmakers view H.B. 550 as a chance for the federal government to grossly expand its power. Among the \u201cyes\u201d votes, the bill would do the opposite, and, in fact, protect states from federal government overreach in public health, according to a source affiliated with the bill\u2019s development.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"D-ROS-B1\" class=\"a8d\"><\/figure>\n<figure id=\"M-ROS-B1\" class=\"a8d\"><\/figure>\n<figure id=\"gmxrevmore\" class=\"H\"><\/figure>\n<p>Breitbart News previously <a href=\"https:\/\/www.breitbart.com\/politics\/2021\/12\/01\/exclusive-tool-to-enforce-orwellian-rules-80-house-republicans-help-pass-bill-to-fund-federal-vaccination-database\/\">reported<\/a> that the bill could assist in the creation of a federal vaccination database, a concern aired by Rep. Mary Miller (R-IL), who voted \u201cno\u201d and told Breitbart News exclusively that the bill is \u201cclearly a legislative tool to enforce vaccine mandates and force their Orwellian rules onto those who do not comply.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>On Wednesday, Breitbart News reached out to the offices of the four Republican bill cosponsors \u2014&nbsp;Reps. Larry Bucshon (R-IN), James Baird (R-IN), David McKinley (R-WV), and Brian Fitzpatrick (R-PA) \u2014 as well as four representatives who voted \u201cyes\u201d on the bill. None of the cosponsors replied by the time of publication, but Rep. Michael Burgess (R-TX) and the spokesman of House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) exclusively provided insight into the representatives\u2019 reasons for passing the bill.<\/p>\n<h3>But First\u2026Some Background<\/h3>\n<p>According to the <a class=\"x5l\" href=\"https:\/\/www.congress.gov\/bill\/117th-congress\/house-bill\/550\/text\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener external\">bill,<\/a>&nbsp;which is sponsored by Rep. Ann Kuster (D-NH), the government would provide $400 million in taxpayer dollars to fund \u201cimmunization system data modernization and expansion.\u201d An immunization information system (IIS) is defined as a \u201cconfidential, population-based, computerized database that records immunization doses administered by any health care providers to persons within the geographic area covered by that database.\u201d<\/p>\n<figure id=\"M-ROS-B2\" class=\"a8d\"><\/figure>\n<p>IISs have been around for decades,&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.cdc.gov\/vaccines\/programs\/iis\/about.html\">operate<\/a> in all 50 states, and \u201chelp providers and families by consolidating immunization information into one reliable source.\u201d The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) notes that it&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.cdc.gov\/vaccines\/programs\/iis\/contacts-locate-records.html\">does not<\/a> possess personal vaccine information \u2014 only state IISs do. According to the CDC, IISs provide \u201caggregate data on vaccinations for use in surveillance and program operations, and in guiding public health action with the goals of improving vaccination rates and reducing vaccine-preventable disease.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Vaccination information from these systems is also meant to be kept secure and \u201conly be used for its intended purpose and not be used in a punitive manner,\u201d the CDC states. These systems are also already capable of exchanging information with immunization healthcare providers and other information systems, and currently \u201cremind families when an immunization is due or has been missed.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The legislation would \u201c[expand] CDC and Public Health Department Capabilities,\u201d include the federal government in data exchanges, and allow the Health and Human Services (HHS) secretary to award grants to health departments that enhance their IIS and adopt the CDC\u2019s&nbsp;immunization information system functional standards and security standards. The government would be able to develop \u201cpublic-private partnerships\u201d to help with \u201ctechnical assistance, training, and related implementation support.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>According to the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.congress.gov\/bill\/117th-congress\/house-bill\/550\/text#HA28120965EAC4CD4942A6393D1A8311F\">bill<\/a>, the HHS secretary would help departments by:<\/p>\n<blockquote readability=\"12\">\n<p><strong>improving the secure bidirectional exchange of immunization record data among Federal, State, local, Tribal, and territorial governmental entities and non-governmental entities&nbsp;<\/strong>\u2026 by improving such exchange among public health officials in multiple jurisdictions within a State \u2026 by simplifying and supporting electronic reporting by any health care provider \u2026 supporting the standardization of immunization information systems to accelerate interoperability with health information technology.&nbsp;[emphasis added]\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>In Breitbart News\u2019s previous report, Miller contended that the \u201cbill would allow the government to collect, study, and share your private health data. There are endless ways the government could potentially use that information against you \u2014 purposefully and accidentally.\u201d<\/p>\n<figure id=\"M-ROS-B3\" class=\"a8d adSo\"><\/figure>\n<p>In a <a href=\"https:\/\/kuster.house.gov\/news\/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=4115\">statement<\/a>, Kuster proudly touted that the bill \u201cwill improve and expand information-sharing between state and federal governments, as well as public and private health care providers, to ensure vaccines are being administered effectively and efficiently across all states and territories.\u201d Kuster specifically said the bill would bolster the country\u2019s \u201cvaccine infrastructure\u201d and \u201cprepare our health care system for future public health crises.\u201d<\/p>\n<h3>The Debate<\/h3>\n<p>An internal memo from Bucshon\u2019s office to Republican legislative staff, obtained by Breitbart News, framed H.B. 550 as a bill that would \u201cimprove and enhance\u201d the ability of IIS programs to \u201csecurely exchange real-time immunization record data <strong>between state, local, tribal, and territorial public health programs and providers across health care settings in the immunization neighborhood\u2014all while enhancing the security of the confidential, population-based databases.\u201d <\/strong>[emphasis added]\n<figure id=\"D-ROS-B2\" class=\"a8d\"><\/figure>\n<p>The memo did not mention that the federal government would be a part of that exchange, unlike the actual text of the legislation. The memo mostly focused on how the bill would bolster security of personal health data in state IIS programs, whereas Kuster\u2019s statement emphasized increased information sharing between state and federal jurisdictions.<\/p>\n<p>Burgess told Breitbart News he voted \u201cyes\u201d because the bill \u201cseeks to fortify the security for existing confidential STATE database systems\u201d \u2014 he did not mention how the federal government could play a role in data sharing.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAlso, it establishes guardrails to ensure that American tax dollars are going to modernizing these confidential systems and NOT to enforcing vaccine mandates,\u201d he said, contrary to Miller\u2019s concerns.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"M-ROS-B4\" class=\"a8d adSo\"><\/figure>\n<p>When Breitbart News asked Burgess if the federal government could use the updated system as a \u201ctool to target unvaccinated Americans,\u201d he said \u201cno.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt will simply safeguard the existing state level database systems and ensure that information remains confidential and kept private,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>Burgess also claimed the bill would not enable a \u201cpersonal tracking system\u201d and \u201cestablishes&nbsp;guardrails that make it unconstitutional for the Biden Administration to track any American\u2019s vaccine status,\u201d which is directly at odds with what Rep. Byron Donalds (R-FL) told Breitbart News about the bill. Donalds was one of 130 Republicans to vote against the bill.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis legislation would unnecessarily appropriate millions of taxpayer funds intended to expand bureaucracy in Washington. A database solely created to record and collect confidential vaccination information of Americans explicitly encroaches upon individuals\u2019 fundamental right to medical privacy,\u201d Donalds said. \u201cAs a fiscal conservative, I cannot in good faith support legislation that contributes to the Democrats\u2019 habitual pattern of reckless and wasteful spending and the intrusive heavy hand of government.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The spokesman for McCarthy, Mark Bednar, established a similar motive to Burgess for the House minority leader\u2019s decision to vote for the bill, saying it \u201ccodifies privacy protections for the American people in existing immunization systems that were previously not in place.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>He continued:<\/p>\n<blockquote readability=\"15\">\n<p>Immunization systems exist in most all states in order to deal with infectious disease outbreaks (like the measles outbreak in 2019) and because parents broadly support vaccines for kids for disease like measles and smallpox. This bill does not create any new system or spend any new money, but it does ensure that immunization data is de-identifiable and confidential.<\/p>\n<p>Like any piece of enacted legislation, the privacy protections must be closely monitored to ensure it is not being abused or misused, but absent this legislation those protections would not even exist.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>Miller previously argued that HHS cannot be trusted with more power.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe government has become so large, you cannot expect them to keep anything private anymore. There is hardly any congressional oversight into studies these agencies conduct,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n<p><em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.breitbart.com\/author\/ashley-oliver\/\">Ashley Oliver<\/a> contributed to this report<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>Katherine Hamilton is a political reporter for Breitbart News. You can follow her on&nbsp;<a class=\"x5l\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/katherineeeeee2\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener external\">Twitter<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Eighty House Republicans on Tuesday voted with Democrats to pass the\u00a0Immunization Infrastructure Modernization Act of 2021, which if signed into law would reportedly \u201cmodernize\u201d already existing vaccination database systems.\u00a0Not one &#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12,"featured_media":2315279,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1078892","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1078892","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/12"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1078892"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1078892\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2315279"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1078892"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1078892"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1078892"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}