State Rep. Bradley Slagh, of Zeeland, issued the following statement regarding President Biden’s federal vaccine mandate:

“On January 20, the president pledged he would unite our divided country. Instead, he is now using questionable tactics to force millions of Americans to get a COVID-19 vaccine against their will. Increased federal requirements such as these put our country on a dangerously slippery slope, with the nagging question ‘what will they next require us to do that takes away more of our freedoms?’

“As your state representative, I will continue to oppose similar mandates here in the state of Michigan. However, as this is a federal mandate, I would encourage all my constituents who share similar concerns to contact U.S. Senators Stabenow and Peters. I am hoping that as more people contact them, they will encourage the president to abandon these misguided actions. If that doesn’t happen, I pray our federal courts will make the right decision and strike down the president’s proposal.”