[Congressional Record Volume 154, Number 9 (Tuesday, January 22, 2008)]
[Senate]
[Pages S89-S90]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                  RETIREMENT OF MR. DAVID J. WILLIAMS

 Mr. SPECTER. Mr. President, I congratulate David J. Williams 
for his 30 years of service to the vaccine industry and Pennsylvania.
  Mr. Williams was born in Scranton, PA, and received his accounting 
degree from the University of Scranton in 1973. He then joined 
Connaught Laboratories in 1978 as the manager of financial services. 
Mr. Williams was a member of the executive team and was named chief 
operating officer of Connaught Laboratories in 1989.
  Mr. Williams steered the company through several mergers and 
acquisitions, growing the organization from 100 employees and sales of 
just over $5 million in 1978, to the creation of today's Sanofi 
Pasteur, the world's largest vaccine manufacturer with 11,000 employees 
and more than $4 billion in sales in 2007. Under Mr. Williams' 
guidance, more than a billion doses of Sanofi Pasteur's lifesaving 
vaccines are administered to more than 500 million people around the 
world each year, representing more than 25 percent of the global 
vaccine market.
  Mr. Williams recognized his company's ability to address current and 
future public health needs by investing in a research and development 
program and a production plan for pandemic preparedness in the event 
that a public health emergency strikes the United States. Mr. Williams 
and Sanofi Pasteur have helped to build the domestic infrastructure 
necessary to protect millions of Americans from deadly diseases, while 
addressing public health around the world.
  Mr. Williams has served as an advocate for the survival of the 
vaccine industry. I am told that in 1986, when the industry was being 
diminished by lawsuits, he served as the industry point person for 
negotiation of The National Childhood Vaccine Injury Compensation Act, 
which established the Vaccine Injury Compensation Fund. In his 
dedication to the larger immunization community, he created the Vaccine 
Policy Committee of the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of 
America and is a founding member of the Partnership for Prevention 
which includes public and private sector representatives who focus on 
preventative health care policies.
  Mr. Williams served as the first liaison member of the Advisory 
Committee on Immunization Practices to the U.S. Centers for Disease 
Control and Prevention, which sets immunization policy in the United 
States. He has also served on the board of directors of the 
Biotechnology Industry Organization, Blue Cross of Northeastern 
Pennsylvania, the Hospital Service Association of Northeastern 
Pennsylvania, and the Board of Regents of the University of Scranton. 
He is one of the founding board members of the Medical Education 
Development Consortium.

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  I am advised that Mr. Williams has cultivated a culture of community 
involvement at Sanofi Pasteur and demonstrated a commitment to 
philanthropy through the company's contributions to United Way and 
donations of vaccines through UNICEF, the Global Alliance for Vaccines 
Immunization, GAVI, the World Health Organization's Global Polio 
Eradication Initiative and various humanitarian relief efforts.
  Mr. Williams has also been committed to the economic growth and 
development of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. This includes 
expanding the impressive campus in Swiftwater to maintain a domestic 
manufacturing base for many vaccines, including influenza. Under his 
guidance, Sanofi Pasteur has grown to be the largest private employer 
in Monroe County and a purchaser of over $145 million in goods and 
services from Pennsylvania-based vendors. I have been pleased to assist 
in this important expansion through appropriation of Federal funding 
which not only benefits the county but the entire Commonwealth and 
Nation.
  On January 16, 2008, after 30 years of service, David J. Williams 
will retire as the chairman, president, and chief executive officer of 
Sanofi Pasteur. I commend Dr. Williams for his distinguished career and 
leadership in the advancement of immunizations and the eradication of 
vaccine-preventable diseases.

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