Scholten leads House Democrats seeking answers on Grand Rapids airman’s death

After calling for a full investigation into an influenza outbreak at Lackland Air Force Base in Texas, U.S. Rep. Hillary Scholten (D-Grand Rapids) is leading a group of House Democrats demanding answers about the Department of Defense’s decision to rescind its influenza vaccine requirements and the death of an airman from Grand Rapids. 

Keon McDaniel died on June 16 amid the outbreak at Lackland. U.S. Rep. Joaquin Castro, a Texas Democrat whose district includes the Air Force base, later told reporters the Air Force confirmed McDaniel had died from influenza. 

In a letter to Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, Scholten, Castro and six other House Democrats asked about the department’s decision to rescind and later reinstate its influenza vaccine requirement.

Also signing the letter were Rep. Chrissy Houlahan (D-Penn.), ranking member of the House Armed Services Committee’s Military Personnel Subcommittee and Reps. Shri Thanedar (D-Detroit), Rashida Tlaib (D-Detroit), Haley Stevens (D-Birmingham), Debbie Dingell (D-Ann Arbor) and Kristen McDonald Rivet (D-Bay City).

Hegseth, in an April message posted to social media, called the mandatory vaccine requirement “overly broad and not rational” and said service members would not be forced to take it unless they chose to do so. That stance was subsequently reversed in June after an influenza outbreak affected up to 275 people at the base, which serves as the Air Force’s basic training hub.

The lawmakers also asked Hegseth whether the department had initiated a formal review into the circumstances surrounding McDaniel’s death, and what support and information it had provided to McDaniel’s family after his death, among other questions.

“We urge the Department to ensure that Airman McDaniel’s family receives timely and direct answers to any questions they may have about the circumstances of his death before any additional findings or information are made public,” the representatives wrote in the letter. “Keon’s family has already made the greatest sacrifice. They deserve to hear the truth directly from the Department, delivered with compassion and respect.”

They also asked the department to provide a briefing on the influenza outbreak and the vaccination policy change for the signatories of the letter, the House Armed Services Committee and any other interested members of Congress.

A department spokesperson told Michigan Advance, “As with all congressional correspondence, the Department will respond directly to the authors.”

Courtesy of Michigan Advance