[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 152 (2006), Part 13]
[House]
[Pages 18487-18489]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




    SUPPORTING THE GOALS AND IDEALS OF OBSERVING THE YEAR OF POLIO 
                               AWARENESS

  Mr. DEAL of Georgia. Madam Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and 
agree to the resolution (H. Res. 526) supporting the goals and ideals 
of observing the Year of Polio Awareness, as amended.
  The Clerk read as follows:

                              H. Res. 526

       Whereas 2005 was the 50th anniversary of the injectable 
     killed 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 2006 is the 132nd 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;
       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; and
       Whereas it would be appropriate to observe the year 
     beginning October 1, 2006, as the Year of Polio Awareness: 
     Now, therefore, be it
       Resolved, That the House of Representatives--
       (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 all appropriate Federal departments and 
     agencies take steps 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; 
     and
       (4) supports the goals and ideals of observing the Year of 
     Polio Awareness to promote vaccination and post-polio 
     sequelae education and treatment.

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from 
Georgia (Mr. Deal) and the gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Pallone) each 
will control 20 minutes.
  The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Georgia.


                             General Leave

  Mr. DEAL of Georgia. Madam Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all 
Members may have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their 
remarks and insert extraneous material on the resolution.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentleman from Georgia?
  There was no objection.
  Mr. DEAL of Georgia. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may 
consume.
  Madam Speaker, I rise in support of House Resolution 526, a 
resolution authored by Mr. Rothman of New Jersey that supports the 
goals and ideals of observing the Year of Polio Awareness. I commend 
Representative Rothman for introducing this important resolution, which 
helps to raise awareness about polio and the continued need to 
vaccinate all children against polio and other infectious diseases.
  While many of us in this Chamber are old enough to remember polio as 
a national tragedy that claimed thousands of lives and left thousands 
more permanently disabled, younger generations may have only read about 
polio in history books. But the story of polio, its spread, its dreaded 
consequences, the millions of lives it touched, and our ultimate 
triumph over the disease, should forever remain etched in our national 
memory.
  Recently, the Smithsonian Institution's Museum of American History 
held an exhibit commemorating the 50th anniversary of the injectable, 
killed polio vaccine, also known as the Salk vaccine. The exhibit 
detailed the incredible story of polio in the United States, beginning 
with the 1916 outbreak in New York City that paralyzed 9,000 people and 
killed 2,400, most of whom were children less than 10 years of age. It 
went on to tell visitors about the all-consuming race to find a 
vaccine, from the story of President Franklin Delano Roosevelt, who may 
have been paralyzed by polio and went on to found the March of Dimes, 
the organization that raised hundreds of millions of dollars for polio 
research and treatment, and for which President Roosevelt's image was 
etched on the United States dime; to the research efforts led by Jonas 
Salk, Albert Sabin, and others to come up with a vaccine that was safe 
and effective; to the mammoth public health effort needed to vaccinate 
all children in the United States once a workable vaccine had been 
found; and, finally, to the worldwide effort to eradicate polio in the 
latter 20th century. The fight against polio is an amazing story that 
deserves to be remembered and retold.
  But like most museum exhibits, the most striking things about the 
exhibits were the images. On display were several iron lungs, the metal 
apparatuses that helped to keep children and adults with polio alive. 
These metal contraptions restricted all movement and were mostly small 
because they primarily housed children. They were necessary to help 
polio patients continue to breathe. Photographs depicted huge 
warehouses that had been converted to makeshift hospital wards, filled 
with rows of iron lungs and the children inside.
  Other pictures showed parents standing on ladders and soap boxes, 
peering through hospital windows, trying to see their children who had 
been quarantined. Such pictures are painful reminders of a past that 
should never be relived.
  The resolution before us today reminds all of us that we have all the 
tools needed to prevent the reemergence of polio in this century. By 
far the most crucial weapon in the fight against infectious disease is 
vaccination, the medical advance that has saved more lives than any 
other. Vaccines continue to serve as the first line of defense against 
infectious disease. The resolution rightly recognizes the need of every 
child to be vaccinated against polio. It also recognizes the 1.6 
million Americans who survived polio, but still suffer from its effects 
today.
  Madam Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support this important 
resolution.
  Madam Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

                              {time}  1500

  Mr. PALLONE. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may 
consume.

[[Page 18488]]

  Madam Speaker, I rise to support House Resolution 526, which supports 
the observation of the Year of Polio Awareness.
  I do want to thank the sponsor of the legislation, my colleague from 
New Jersey Representative Steve Rothman, for not only sponsoring this 
bill, but also for all of his efforts to increase awareness of polio. 
He will be speaking just a few minutes later.
  Polio, as you know, is a viral illness that destroys nerve cells. As 
a result, muscles become paralyzed, and these muscles can atrophy and 
die. Polio is most common in infants and young children; however, 
complications occur most often in older persons and often post-polio.
  Those complications have the often disabling symptoms of overwhelming 
fatigue, muscle weakness and pain, sleep disorders and more. It occurs 
in 75 percent of paralytic and 40 percent of nonparalytic polio 
survivors about 35 years after the polio virus attacks.
  Although polio has plagued humans since ancient times, its extensive 
outbreak occurred in the first half of the 1900s before the vaccination 
created by Jonas Salk became widely available in 1955. And I would say, 
Madam Speaker, that I certainly am old enough to remember when there 
were many people who were struck by polio. And in the 1950s, when I was 
growing up, the fact that there was a vaccine available was just seen 
as an amazing thing. It was very much on the minds of all of us as we 
were growing up in the 1950s and the 1960s.
  Sadly, despite having a vaccine against polio, this disease has not 
been eradicated from the world, and outbreaks continue to occur in the 
U.S. and other countries. As a matter of fact, it seems we are headed 
in the wrong direction. The World Health Organization announced last 
year that they would not meet their intended goal of eliminating new 
cases of polio worldwide by the end of 2005, since many cases remained.
  The hope is that this resolution and the new resurgence of focus on 
polio will promote increased vaccination and education and treatment of 
post-polio complications. Even today, Madam Speaker, 10 percent of 
American children under the age 3 do not receive their polio vaccine. 
This percentage is lower in poor cities. Given new cases being reported 
in Indonesia, India, Pakistan, Somalia, Afghanistan, Egypt, Niger, 
Ethiopia and Yemen, an outbreak in the U.S. would not be surprising. 
And last year four cases of the polio virus were reported in Minnesota.
  The eradication of new polio cases is achievable, but only if we 
reeducate the public about the dangers, effects and availability or a 
vaccine and treatment. This resolution asks all appropriate Federal 
agencies to take action to educate the people of the U.S. about the 
polio vaccine, and to educate polio survivors and medical professionals 
about the existence of post-polio complications and available 
treatments.
  Therefore, I support this resolution recognizing a Year of Polio 
Awareness beginning on November 1
  Madam Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. DEAL of Georgia. Madam Speaker, I have no further speakers, and I 
reserve the balance of my time with the intention of closing.
  Mr. PALLONE. Madam Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to my 
colleague Steve Rothman, who, again, has taken a lead on this and so 
many other health care issues.
  Mr. ROTHMAN. Madam Speaker, first let me thank my colleague from New 
Jersey for giving me this time, and all of your efforts to increase 
polio awareness.
  I would like to thank Chairman Deal for all of your hard work as the 
chairman of this subcommittee in bringing this matter to the floor, and 
for all of your support. I would also like to recognize the role of 
Ranking Member Sherrod Brown for his help.
  Madam Speaker, I first want to thank the leadership of the Energy and 
Commerce Committee for bringing Resolution 526 to the floor. I also 
want to take this opportunity to recognize my constituent, a very 
tireless worker on behalf of those suffering the aftereffects of polio, 
Dr. Richard Bruno.
  As the director of the Post-Polio Institute and International Center 
for Post-Polio Education and Research at Englewood Hospital and Medical 
Center, and chairperson of the International Post-Polio Task Force, Dr. 
Bruno is at the forefront of the movement to educate parents about the 
need to vaccinate their children against this debilitating virus.
  This resolution, Madam Chairman, would not be on the floor today 
without Doctor Bruno's help. I am grateful for his work and commitment 
to this cause.
  Madam Speaker, I rise today in strong support of this resolution, 
526, that will bring critical attention in the United States and around 
the world to the need for children to be vaccinated against polio. It 
sounds so simple. So many of us thought that polio had been eradicated, 
but that is far from the truth.
  This resolution recognizes the need for every child to be vaccinated 
against polio and designates the year starting October 1st as the Year 
of Polio Awareness. It also urges all Federal agencies to educate 
doctors and parents about polio, and to also educate polio survivors 
and medical professionals about the cause and treatment of something 
called post-polio sequelae. More about that later.
  It has been 51 years since the introduction of the polio vaccination. 
By now this virus should have been eradicated. But as has been said 
earlier by our chairman and Mr. Pallone, this is not the case. In fact, 
according to the Centers for Disease Control, 10 percent of the U.S. 
children under 3 years of age, which is approximately 1 million 
toddlers in our country, are not vaccinated against polio.
  This percentage is even greater in America's poorest cities. Even 
more of our young people are not vaccinated against polio. In my own 
home State of New Jersey, only 86 percent of the toddlers living in 
Newark were vaccinated in 2004. Furthermore, the United States is not 
protected against a polio outbreak. In October of 2005, five children 
in an Amish community in Minnesota were diagnosed with polio. Although 
that outbreak was ultimately brought under control, this was a clear 
signal that we must do more in our country to prevent the spread of 
polio.
  Polio outbreaks, Madam Speaker, are not only limited to occurring in 
the United States, but have, for example, as my colleagues have said, 
been reported in Indonesia, India, Pakistan, Somali, Afghanistan, 
Egypt, Niger, Ethiopia and Yemen, amongst other countries.
  In some way the polio vaccination has become a victim of its own 
success, one might say, with many Americans believing that polio has 
been eradicated. They no longer have their children vaccinated against 
this virus. That is a mistake. With outbreaks occurring all over the 
world, unvaccinated children everywhere, including in the United 
States, are susceptible to exposure and to catching polio. That is why 
this resolution is so important.
  Madam Speaker, parents must be informed when making decisions about 
vaccinating their children. They have to know that there is still a 
threat that their child could be exposed to the polio virus. This 
resolution will help ensure that doctors will provide all of the 
necessary information to parents about the polio vaccine and the 
dangers of the virus.
  I hope that the passage of this resolution will accomplish our goal 
of raising awareness of the importance of having every child vaccinated 
against polio, and will have the effect of allowing doctors to 
understand this post-polio sequelae syndrome, which is that after 
someone has lived a whole lifetime with polio, they then suffer a 
series of additional complications: chronic overwhelming fatigue, joint 
pain, and chronic pain of a variety of natures.
  Madam Speaker, I urge my colleagues to vote ``yes'' on this 
resolution, which will educate our own people and all of the people of 
the world to the continuing threat of polio.
  Mr. DEAL of Georgia. Madam Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. PALLONE. Madam Speaker, once again, we support this resolution 
and

[[Page 18489]]

thank the sponsor, my colleague from New Jersey, for introducing it, 
and I yield back the balance of my time.
  Mr. DEAL of Georgia. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may 
consume.
  Madam Speaker, certainly as we talk about the elimination of polio, 
it is one of the great success stories, but one in which we must 
continue to be vigilant, as has been pointed out. As a Rotarian, I am 
proud that my organization, on an international basis, undertook as a 
project to eliminate polio worldwide, poured millions of dollars into 
that effort, and contributed greatly to the success of the elimination 
of polio in other parts of the world.
  But as we talk about the polio vaccine, a disease that has been able 
to be treated with a vaccine, we are also on the verge of recognizing 
that we are going to have, as we currently have, a problem with vaccine 
manufacturers for not only this disease, but many other diseases as 
well.
  Today we only have four United States vaccine manufacturers. That is 
down from about 50 that we had back in the 1960s. The bipartisan 
Institute of Medicine has identified three primary factors as the 
reason we have lost vaccine firms and for the reluctance of firms to 
get into the manufacturing of vaccines.
  One is the economic realities, and certainly those are very real; 
secondly, the burdensome regulations that they must go through; and 
third, legal liability. As we deal with other diseases, in addition to 
this question of polio, we are going to be faced with the fact that we 
are going to have to encourage manufacturers of vaccines to get in the 
marketplace, and we must deal with those three factors as we move 
forward on this issue of vaccines for other illnesses as well.
  Ms. JACKSON-LEE of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to support H. 
Res. 526 supporting the goals and ideals of observing the Year of Polio 
Awareness.
  During the 1940's and 1950's, between 30,000 and 50,000 cases of 
polio were recorded annually in the United States. This epidemic caused 
widespread fear and panic because of its devastating effects. Such 
effects include muscle and nerve damage, as well as the inability to 
move one's limbs or to breathe without assistance. The polio virus can 
also lead to a number of severe illnesses.
  Fortunately, the injectable polio vaccine eliminated naturally-
occurring polio cases in the United States, but unfortunately has not 
yet eliminated polio in other parts of the world.
  The Centers for Disease and Control and Prevention recommends that 
every child in the United States receive all doses of the inactivated 
polio vaccine; yet as few as 57 percent of American children receive 
all doses of necessary vaccines during childhood, including the polio 
vaccine.
  At least 70 percent of paralytic polio survivors, and 40 percent of 
nonparalytic polio survivors, are developing post-polio sequelae. Post 
Polio Sequelae are late effects of the disease that can occur 35 years 
after the poliovirus attack in 75 percent of paralytic and 40 percent 
of ``non-paralytic'' polio survivors. Because they present so long 
after an individual is ill, these effects are unexpected and are often 
unrecognized: fatigue, muscle weakness, muscle and joint pain, sleep 
disorders, heightened sensitivity to anesthesia, cold pain, and 
difficulty swallowing and breathing.
  This year marks the 132nd anniversary of the diagnosis of the first 
case of post-polio sequelae and the 20th anniversary of the creation of 
the International Post-Polio Task Force. The mission of the 
International Post-Polio Task Force includes educating medical 
professionals and the 20,000,000 polio survivors in the world about 
post-polio sequelae through letter campaigns, public service 
announcements, and other forms of media.
  I cannot understate the importance of the work of the International 
Post-Polio Task Force. Because many medical professionals and polio 
survivors do not generally know of the existence of post-polio sequelae 
or of the available treatments, it is vital that we continue to support 
efforts by organizations such as the International Polio Task Force to 
increase the awareness of the debilitating effects of polio.
  I urge my colleagues to support this important resolution.
  Mr. DEAL of Georgia. Madam Speaker, I yield back the balance of my 
time and urge the adoption of the resolution.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the 
gentleman from Georgia (Mr. Deal) that the House suspend the rules and 
agree to the resolution, House Resolution 526, as amended.
  The question was taken; and (two-thirds having voted in favor 
thereof) the rules were suspended and the resolution, as amended, was 
agreed to.
  A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.

                          ____________________