[Congressional Record Volume 151, Number 154 (Friday, November 18, 2005)]
[Senate]
[Page S13417]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                        YEAR OF POLIO EDUCATION

  Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the HELP 
Committee be discharged from further consideration and the Senate now 
proceed to S. Res. 304.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  The clerk will report the bill by title.
  The legislative clerk read as follows:

       A resolution (S. Res. 304) to designate the period 
     beginning on November 1, 2005, and ending on October 31, 
     2006, as the Year of Polio Education.

  There being no objection, the Senate proceeded to considerthe 
resolution.
  Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the 
resolution be agreed to, the preamble be agreed to, and the motion to 
reconsider be laid upon the table.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  The resolution (S. Res. 304) was agreed to.
  The preamble was agreed to.
  The resolution, with its preamble, reads as follows:

                              S. Res. 304

       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
       Resolved, 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.

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