[Congressional Record Volume 149, Number 51 (Monday, March 31, 2003)]
[House]
[Page H2476]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




           SMALLPOX VACCINE BILL OPPOSED BY FIRST RESPONDERS

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the order of the House of 
January 7, 2003, the gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Brown) is recognized 
during morning hour debates for 5 minutes.
  Mr. BROWN of Ohio. Mr. Speaker, today we will vote on H.R. 1463, 
legislation to establish a smallpox vaccination compensation program. 
Today's vote should not be partisan. This bill is supposed to respond 
to concerns raised by nurses, firefighters, police officers, EMTs and 
other first responders; but nurses, firefighters, and other first 
responders oppose this bill. The bill is supposed to increase the 
number of first responders who voluntarily receive a smallpox vaccine.
  The bioterrorism experts who helped put together the smallpox vaccine 
program say H.R. 1463 simply will not work. It will not improve 
participation rates. So the choice that both Republicans and Democratic 
Members of Congress face is whether to dismiss the concerns of first 
responders, ignore the advice of bioterrorism experts and vote for this 
bill anyway because the Republican leadership wants us to. In other 
words, do as we are told, don't do what is right.
  There have been no hearings on this legislation and no opportunities 
for Members on either side to offer amendments intended to improve the 
legislation. This bill was introduced on Friday and it is on the floor 
today. Only a handful of Members had a say on this bill. No one else. 
No firefighters, no police officers, no teachers, no EMTs, no nurses. 
We are being told to take it or leave it.
  The fundamental question is, have Members of Congress become so far 
removed from the people we represent that we would pass a bill opposed 
by the very men and women it is supposed to protect? Do we in Congress 
think we know better than bioterrorism experts when it comes to 
bioterrorism preparedness?
  Protecting first responders and their families in the event of a 
vaccine injury and increasing vaccine participation rates are important 
objectives. They are time-sensitive objectives. The national smallpox 
vaccination program is already underway and participation is lagging 
far, far behind the goal set by the administration. Twenty-five 
thousand people have been vaccinated, less than 5 percent of the March 
1 benchmark. The experts tell us the bill will not jump-start the 
smallpox vaccine program, so it will not enhance our bioterrorism 
preparedness.
  Congress should not be wasting valuable time enacting the wrong bill, 
particularly when our Nation's ability to respond to bioterrorism is at 
stake. Nor should Members of either side of the aisle support 
legislation that is unapologetically dismissive of the very people it 
is intended to protect: the nurses, the firefighters, the police 
officers, people who voluntarily place themselves at personal risk. 
Public health experts and first responders tell us this bill falls 
short in fundamental ways.
  Funding for the program is not guaranteed. A linchpin in any 
compensation program is guaranteed funding. Without it, the program 
itself is suspect. The incidence, to be sure, of smallpox vaccine 
injury is rare. However, in the event a serious injury occurs, 
volunteers may be out of work for an extended period of time or, in 
some tragic cases, permanently. We are asking first responders to 
volunteer for the smallpox vaccine on our behalf as citizens. We have a 
compelling obligation to protect these volunteers and their families in 
the rare event of a vaccine injury. It is indefensible to shortchange 
those police officers, nurses and firefighter volunteers, those who 
have volunteered for the smallpox vaccine.
  The compensation is neither flexible nor adequate. H.R. 1463 invokes 
a one-size-fits-all cap that would provide, at maximum, a few years' 
worth of wages, even for a permanent disabling injury. For the 
compensation program to work, covered injuries must be defined. To meet 
the goals of efficiency, timeliness, fairness, and program integrity, 
the compensation program must be backed by an injury table. This bill 
is not.
  Finally, responsible administration of any vaccine program requires 
education, prescreening, as we found out tragically in four cases, and 
surveillance. H.R. 1463 ignores these costs, jeopardizing the future of 
the program and, more importantly, jeopardizing the future health of 
many of these volunteers, these nurses, these firefighters, these EMTs, 
these police officers.
  Bioterrorism preparedness is either a priority or it is not. H.R. 
1463 is a token response, and barely that. Our nurses, our 
firefighters, our police officers, our EMTs and our other first 
responders deserve better. That is why they oppose this bill. They want 
Congress to sit down with all the first responders at the table, all of 
us, discuss this bill and write legislation that will make the smallpox 
vaccine program work.

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