[Congressional Record Volume 150, Number 53 (Thursday, April 22, 2004)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E615-E616]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




  COMMEMORATING THE 50TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE SALK POLIO VACCINE FIELD 
                                 TRIALS

                                 ______
                                 

                            HON. IKE SKELTON

                              of missouri

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, April 22, 2004

  Mr. SKELTON. Mr. Speaker, on April 26, 2004, we will commemorate the 
50th anniversary of the Polio Field Trials. This day holds

[[Page E616]]

great significance for the American people and for our global 
community, for on April 26, 1954, on the grounds of Franklin Sherman 
Elementary School in McLean, Virginia, the first dose of the Salk Polio 
Vaccine was administered as part of the National Field Trial Program. 
In the months that followed, more than 1,800,000 school children, 
America's ``Polio Pioneers,'' participated in these trials. It was the 
largest peacetime volunteer mobilization in United States history, and 
it represents a remarkable act of collective courage and citizenship by 
the youngsters and adults who participated.
  The crusade against poliomyelitis began at Warm Springs, Georgia, a 
spa where Franklin Delano Roosevelt first traveled in 1924, seeking the 
therapeutic effects of the warm spring waters. Other polio victims 
followed, and in 1926, Roosevelt purchased the entire property 
establishing the ``Warm Springs Foundation'' with former law partner 
Basil O'Connor. As the polio epidemic spread, in 1938, this Foundation 
grew into the National Foundation for Infantile Paralysis, emphasizing 
the nationwide significance and non-partisan character of the polio 
crusade. Believing that people could solve any problem if they worked 
together, Roosevelt appealed to the masses for financial help--asking 
the country to send their dimes directly to the White House, thus 
coining the phrase described by Comedian Eddie Cantor, ``March of 
Dimes''.
  Over the next 17 years, the National Foundation focused on funding 
research to develop a vaccine against polio. While researchers worked 
tirelessly in their labs, volunteers helped polio victims and their 
families around the country. For a number of years, I served as the 
Lafayette County, Missouri, March of Dimes Secretary, helping to 
coordinate volunteer and fundraising efforts in my home area.
  In 1948, with funding from the Foundation, Dr. Jonas Salk was able to 
grow the three known types of polio virus in his lab and eventually 
develop an experimental killed virus vaccine. In 1952, Salk tested the 
vaccine on children who'd already recovered from polio as well as 
himself and his family. The results were amazing. No one became 
inflicted with the disease as all volunteers had produced the needed 
antibodies.
  In April 1954, nationwide testing of the vaccine began. The results 
of the field trials were clear. Statistics showed that the Salk vaccine 
was 80 to 90 percent effective in preventing polio. In the next four 
years, 450 million doses of the vaccine were administered, making it a 
standard fixture among childhood immunizations. As a result, in 1979, 
the National Foundation for Infantile Paralysis officially changed its 
name to the March of Dimes.
  Mr. Speaker, I ask all of my colleagues to join me today in 
commemorating April 26, 2004, as the 50th Anniversary of the Salk Polio 
Vaccine field trials and a day that truly holds great significance for 
the world.

                          ____________________