Washington, D.C. — U.S. Senators Marco Rubio (R-FL) and Mike Lee (R-UT) introduced the Conscience Objections to Negligent State COVID-19 Inoculation Edicts Need Constitutional Enforcement (CONSCIENCE) Act. The bill would extend Religious Freedom Restoration Act-like protections to individuals with religious objections to state and local COVID-19 vaccine mandates, providing relief to Americans who have lost their jobs or face losing their jobs because of their sincerely held religious beliefs.
 
“The Biden Administration and radical state governments across the country clearly have no respect for religious liberty,” Rubio said. “COVID-19 vaccine mandates forced countless American workers to choose between their faith and their ability to earn a paycheck. We need to protect all Americans, including those of faith, from this massive government overreach.” 
 
"Despite promises of religious exemptions from the Biden Administration, state governments, and bureaucracies across the nation, millions of Americans have had to face the troubling reality of choosing between losing livelihoods and violating their sincerely held religious beliefs,” Lee said. “This bill will make sure that Americans of faith do not have to face this horrible ultimatum again."
 
Related: 

• March 23, 2022: Rubio, Marshall, Colleagues Introduce Bill to Protect Americans' Religious Accommodations From Government Tracking
• March 21, 2022: Rubio Leads Colleagues in Filing Amicus Brief in Support of Workers Denied Religious Exemptions from COVID Vaccine Mandates - Press Releases 
• February 22, 2022: Rubio, Scott, and Colleagues Introduce Bill to End Vaccines Mandates for International Truck Drivers - Press Releases