III 109th CONGRESS 1st Session S. RES. 304 IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES November 10, 2005 Mr. Specter (for himself and Mr. Corzine) submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions RESOLUTION To designate the period beginning on November 1, 2005, and ending on October 31, 2006, as the Year of Polio Education.

Whereas 2005 is the 50th anniversary of the injectable polio vaccine; Whereas the polio vaccines eliminated naturally occurring polio cases in the United States but have not yet eliminated polio in other parts of the world; Whereas as few as 57 percent of American children receive all doses of necessary vaccines during childhood, including the polio vaccine; Whereas the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends that every child in the United States receive all doses of the inactivated polio vaccine; Whereas the success of the polio vaccines has caused people to forget the 1,630,000 Americans born before the development of the vaccines who had polio during the epidemics in the middle of the 20th century; Whereas at least 70 percent of paralytic polio survivors and 40 percent of nonparalytic polio survivors are developing post-polio sequelae, which are unexpected and often disabling symptoms that occur about 35 years after the poliovirus attack, including overwhelming fatigue, muscle weakness, muscle and joint pain, sleep disorders, heightened sensitivity to anesthesia, cold pain, and difficulty swallowing and breathing; Whereas 2005 is the 131st anniversary of the diagnosis of the first case of post-polio sequelae and is the 21st anniversary of the creation of the International Post-Polio Task Force; Whereas research and clinical work by members of the International Post-Polio Task Force have discovered that post-polio sequelae can be treated, and even prevented, if polio survivors are taught to conserve energy and use assistive devices to stop damaging and killing the reduced number of overworked, poliovirus-damaged neurons in the spinal cord and brain that survived the polio attack; Whereas many medical professionals, and polio survivors, do not know of the existence of post-polio sequelae, or of the available treatments; and Whereas the mission of the International Post-Polio Task Force includes educating medical professionals and the world's 20,000,000 polio survivors about post-polio sequelae through the international Post-Polio Letter Campaign, The Post-Polio Institute at New Jersey's Englewood Hospital and Medical Center, the publication of The Polio Paradox, and the television public service announcement provided by the National Broadcasting Company: Now, therefore, be it

That the Senate— (1)recognizes the need for every child, in America and throughout the world, to be vaccinated against polio; (2)recognizes the 1,630,000 Americans who survived polio, their new battle with post-polio sequelae, and the need for education and appropriate medical care; (3)requests that every State designate the period beginning on November 1, 2005, and ending on October 31, 2006, as the Year of Polio Education to promote vaccination and post-polio sequelae education and treatment; and (4)requests that all appropriate Federal departments and agencies take immediate action to educate— (A)the people of the United States about the need for polio vaccination; and (B)polio survivors and medical professionals in the United States about the cause and treatment of post-polio sequelae.