Wyoming senators join effort to ban federal mask mandates

 
CHEYENNE (WNE) — U.S. Sens. John Barrasso and Cynthia Lummis, both R-Wyo., joined U.S. Sen. JD Vance, R-Ohio, in introducing legislation to prevent the government from imposing new federal mask mandates for domestic air travel, public transit systems and in schools.
 

The Freedom to Breathe Act would also prevent air carriers, public transit authorities and all educational institutions from refusing service to those who choose not to wear face masks.
 

On Thursday, Senate Democrats blocked the legislation from being passed unanimously on the Senate floor.
 

“The Freedom to Breathe Act is a commonsense step in protecting individual liberties and preserving states’ rights,” Barrasso said in a news release. “It is not the role of the federal government to mandate masks on airlines, transit authorities, or in schools.”
 

“If this administration is uninterested in defending the American people’s individual liberties and states’ rights from misguided and ineffective federal mask mandates, then it is up to Congress to preserve these sacred rights,” Lummis said in the release.
 
This story was published on September 16, 2023.