# Plain Language Summary: COVID-19 Vaccination Requirement for Foreign Travelers

This bill would eliminate the requirement that foreign visitors to the United States show proof of COVID-19 vaccination when entering by airplane. Right now, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has a rule that says people traveling from other countries to the U.S. by air must be vaccinated against COVID-19 or have documentation proving they recovered from the virus. This bill would get rid of that rule completely and prevent the government from spending any money to enforce it.

The practical effect is straightforward: if this bill becomes law, foreign travelers would no longer need to provide vaccination records or proof of immunity to board flights to the United States. They could enter the country regardless of their COVID-19 vaccination status. The bill also makes it illegal for federal agencies to use taxpayer money to check, enforce, or administer this vaccination requirement. This applies to the specific CDC order that was issued in April 2022, as well as any future orders the CDC might try to put in place requiring foreign air travelers to show proof of vaccination.

The bill was introduced in January 2023 and is relatively narrow in scope—it only addresses the vaccination requirement for foreign travelers arriving by air, not requirements for U.S. citizens or other types of travel. If you're a U.S. citizen planning international travel, this wouldn't directly affect you. However, if you're a foreign national planning to visit the United States or if you work in the travel industry, this would remove a barrier that currently exists for international visitors coming by airplane.

To terminate the requirement imposed by the Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for proof of COVID-19 vaccination for foreign travelers, and for other purposes.

Massie, Thomas

This bill nullifies the order issued by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention titled Amended Order Implementing Presidential Proclamation on Advancing the Safe Resumption of Global Travel During the COVID-19 Pandemic and published on April 7, 2022. (The order restricts the entry of noncitizens who are not immigrants into the United States by air travel unless they are fully vaccinated against COVID-19 or otherwise attest that they will take public health measures to prevent the spread of the disease.) The bill also nullifies any successor or subsequent orders that require foreign persons traveling by air to show proof of a COVID-19 vaccination as a condition of entry and prohibits the use of federal funds to administer or enforce such a requirement.