[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 151 (2005), Part 18]
[House]
[Page 24393]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                        AVIAN FLU AND THIMEROSAL

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from Indiana (Mr. Burton) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. BURTON of Indiana. Mr. Speaker, the President of the United 
States today made a speech before our health agencies that I think was 
very timely and very important. It dealt with the possible outbreak of 
the bird flu, better known as the avian flu, and he talked about steps 
that needed to be taken to speed up the process to create more vaccines 
to protect the American public against a pandemic that could kill tens 
of thousands, if not millions, of Americans. I think if is very 
laudable that he did that.
  One of the things he talked about was tort reform to protect the 
pharmaceutical industry against liability suits, because he said there 
is only one vaccine manufacturer in the United States, and that is 
because the vaccine manufacturers have been afraid to produce vaccines 
because they might be sued on a class action basis. There might be 
thousands of people suing them because of damage that has been done to 
them.
  So if I were talking to the President tonight, I would say, first of 
all, Mr. President, I think what you said was very good and what you 
proposed is very good. There are a couple of things that ought to be 
added to the mix though, Mr. President, that I think are very 
important.
  First of all, we had hearings for about 4 years on mercury in 
vaccines. It used to be one in 10,000 children were autistic. Now it is 
one in 166. We had scientists from all over the world and doctors from 
all over the United States come in and testify that one of the leading 
causes of neurological problems in children and adults who are 
suffering from things like Alzheimer's is they have been damaged by the 
mercury that is used as a preservative in vaccines. It is called 
Thimerosal.
  We need to get mercury out of all vaccines. Until that happens, I 
think it is going to be very difficult for this body and the other body 
to pass legislation to protect the pharmaceutical industries and the 
vaccine industries against class action lawsuits.
  So the first thing I would say to the President was, get mercury out 
of all vaccines. That is very important.
  Second, make the Vaccine Injury Compensation Program user friendly. 
Right now, people who have had children who have been damaged are 
losing their homes. They are having to mortgage everything they own to 
pay for the damage done to their children and loved ones. So we need to 
make it more user friendly.
  There is about $3 billion in that fund. It was created to protect the 
pharmaceutical industry from class action lawsuits while at the same 
time providing a mechanism for people who have been damaged by vaccines 
to get compensation. It needs to be changed. It needs to be improved so 
that it is more user friendly. If we need to put more money into the 
fund, the pharmaceutical industry can add a nickel to the cost of each 
vaccination. That should cover ever any shortfall. That is very 
important.
  The final thing is to make sure that we do not leave anybody behind. 
There are thousands and thousands and thousands of children and 
families that have been damaged by the mercury that was in vaccines. We 
must not forget them. We must make sure that they get compensated for 
the liability they have incurred, how they have been damaged. It is 
extremely important.
  Right now, we have demonstrations all the time when people come out 
and say, ``My child has been damaged and we do not know what to do 
about it.'' The only thing we can do as a government, in my opinion, is 
to make sure they get compensation from the Vaccine Injury Compensation 
Fund and get mercury out of all vaccines. If we do that, I will sponsor 
the legislation to protect them against all class action lawsuits.
  I have talked to leaders of the major pharmaceutical companies about 
this. I said, in exchange for giving you protection against class 
action lawsuits, make sure people who are damaged by vaccines can get 
compensation from the Vaccine Injury Compensation Fund and take away 
one of the leading causes of neurological damage and damage that has 
been caused by vaccines, neurological problems like autism and 
Alzheimer's. Get mercury out of all vaccines.
  So, Mr. President, if I were talking to you tonight, I would say it 
is extremely important that we do what you suggested today to protect 
the American public against a flu outbreak that could kill millions of 
people, but, at the same time, let us not forget those who have already 
been damaged by vaccines that were tainted with things like mercury.

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