[Congressional Bills 114th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. Res. 108 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

114th CONGRESS
  1st Session
S. RES. 108

Commemorating the discovery of the polio vaccine and supporting efforts 
                       to eradicate the disease.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             March 24, 2015

   Mr. Durbin (for himself, Mr. Kirk, Mr. Leahy, Mrs. Shaheen, Mrs. 
Murray, Mrs. Boxer, Mr. Coons, Mr. Markey, Mr. Isakson, Ms. Ayotte, and 
Mr. Reed) submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the 
          Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions

_______________________________________________________________________

                               RESOLUTION


 
Commemorating the discovery of the polio vaccine and supporting efforts 
                       to eradicate the disease.

Whereas April 12, 2015, is the 60th anniversary of the announcement of the 
        discovery of the first safe and effective polio vaccine;
Whereas the vaccine was developed by Jonas Salk with the support of the National 
        Foundation for Infantile Paralysis, now known as the March of Dimes 
        Foundation;
Whereas the vaccine developed by Jonas Salk was proven safe and effective in a 
        massive nationwide field trial organized by the March of Dimes 
        Foundation, relying on the largest peacetime mobilization of volunteers 
        in the history of the United States;
Whereas polio is a crippling and potentially fatal infectious disease for which 
        there is no cure, which means that vaccination is the only viable 
        pathway for eradication of the disease;
Whereas nearly 60,000 children in the United States were reported to have polio 
        in 1952 alone, with more than 20,000 cases of paralysis;
Whereas, due to vaccination, polio was eliminated from the United States in 
        1979;
Whereas the use of the inactivated polio vaccine developed by Jonas Salk and the 
        oral polio vaccine developed by Albert Sabin has dramatically reduced 
        the incidence of polio worldwide;
Whereas the fight against polio has been part of the mission of the Centers for 
        Disease Control and Prevention (referred to in this preamble as the 
        ``CDC'') since the 1950s;
Whereas, as part of the fight against polio, the CDC established a national 
        polio surveillance unit and worked with Jonas Salk and Albert Sabin to 
        widely distribute vaccines;
Whereas, through the Global Polio Eradication Initiative (referred to in this 
        preamble as the ``Initiative''), the Federal Government, Rotary 
        International, the World Health Organization, the United Nations 
        Children's Fund (commonly known as ``UNICEF''), the Bill and Melinda 
        Gates Foundation, and the United Nations Foundation have joined together 
        with governments around the world to successfully reduce cases of polio 
        by more than 99 percent since the launch of global polio eradication 
        efforts;
Whereas Rotary International, a global association founded in Illinois, has 
        contributed more than $1,000,000,000 alone to, and volunteered countless 
        hours in, the global fight against polio;
Whereas October 24 of each year is recognized internationally as World Polio Day 
        to commemorate the fight against the disease;
Whereas, according to the CDC, polio vaccination has prevented over 13,000,000 
        paralytic polio cases and 650,000 deaths since 1988;
Whereas only 3 countries (Afghanistan, Nigeria and Pakistan) remained polio-
        endemic in 2014, which is a decrease from more than 125 countries in 
        1988;
Whereas there is a global push to eradicate polio by 2018;
Whereas investments in polio eradication are helping improve routine 
        immunization systems and creating lasting infrastructure to support 
        other health priorities;
Whereas the Initiative is finding and reaching the most vulnerable children in 
        the world with the polio vaccine and combining those efforts with other 
        health care resources;
Whereas, in December 2011, the CDC activated Emergency Operations Center of the 
        CDC to ``support the final push for polio eradication'';
Whereas the eradication of polio would be the only time in history aside from 
        the eradication of smallpox that a disease affecting humans has been 
        eradicated, and the eradication of polio would be a ``once-in-a-
        generation opportunity for global public health''; and
Whereas the success of the polio vaccine has shown the public what sustained 
        medical research can accomplish and should encourage support for future 
        Federal funding for biomedical research and public health prevention and 
        control: Now, therefore, be it
    Resolved, That the Senate--
            (1) commends the work of Jonas Salk and Albert Sabin in 
        developing effective, safe vaccines for polio;
            (2) supports the goals and ideals of the Global Polio 
        Eradication Initiative;
            (3) encourages and supports the international community of 
        governments and nongovernmental organizations in remaining 
        committed to the eradication of polio; and
            (4) encourages the Federal Government to continue 
        committing funding to the Global Polio Eradication Initiative 
        and for biomedical and basic scientific research so that more 
        life-saving discoveries can be made.
                                 <all>