[Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: George H. W. Bush (1991, Book I)]
[June 13, 1991]
[Pages 648-650]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]



Remarks on Childhood Immunization
June 13, 1991

    The President. Let me just say at the outset of these remarks how 
proud I am of our Secretary, who is taking the lead in matters like 
immunization, the subject at hand today, and so many others, going 
across this country, the message of hope, recognizing our shortcomings, 
but also outlining programs that are essential to the health of this 
nation.
    I'm delighted to see Chairman Whitten here, long interested in the 
health of our children, and Congressman Norm Lent and three Senators 
whose passion is this kind of caring for others. And I'm talking about 
Senator Bumpers, Senator Hatch, and Senator Chafee, all with us here 
today.
    And I also want to just second the motion as to what Lou said about 
Assistant Secretary Mason and Surgeon General Novello and, of course, 
our old associate here who now heads the Center for Disease Control, 
Bill Roper. Welcome back, Bill. Glad to have you here.
    And let me also salute, because this is vital to success of a 
program like this, the State and local health officials. And I'd be 
remiss if I didn't signal out this dressy bunch of kids here in the 
front row. They look great, and there's a certain symbolism of having 
them with us today. And thank you--their teachers and their families--
for bringing them our way. To them I say, I'll try to be brief. 
[Laughter] As with immunization, this will only hurt a little. 
[Laughter]
    When we announced our national education goals, the very first was 
that by the year 2000 all children in America will start school ready to 
learn. And that's one reason we put such emphasis on our Healthy Start 
initiative. Every child deserves a chance. And in the 1990's, no child 
in America should be at risk to deadly diseases like diptheria and polio 
or the one that Lou was stressing here today, measles.
    A decade ago, we hoped to eradicate these threats. And thanks to 
those of you here today and many others across our country, we have made 
remarkable progress. And on behalf of a grateful nation then, let me 
thank all of you and others like you for what you have done by being in 
the leadership role in these important questions.
    I urge you to get on now with the job at hand because, despite our 
successes, 1990 brought the largest number of measles cases since 1977--
1977--a 50-percent increase over `89. And that's why I again commend the 
Secretary of HHS Dr. Sullivan, and Dr. Mason, Surgeon General Novello, 
and Mr. Roper and others for performing their HHS SWAT team to visit six 
major cities--Lou

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gave you the names--work with State and local officials, some of you 
here today.
    And they want to learn why kids aren't getting immunized. And they 
want to get every community mobilized. And out of this testing they'll 
come forward with ideas that I hope will help this nation's health.
    We've got to find out what works and make sure the word spreads so 
that the disease does not. By getting to kids at an earlier age, by 
educating parents and finding creative ways to get them into the 
clinics, we can see that no child is left vulnerable without a vaccine 
for preventable childhood diseases.
    My budget for '92 calls for an additional $40 million for the CDC 
immunization program, targeted especially to communities where the need 
is the greatest. Overall, Federal funding for immunizations has more 
than doubled since '88. But a problem like this one won't be solved by 
directives out of the White House or out of HHS or out of NIH or 
wherever. We've got to assault it from all angles and levels with public 
health efforts, with creative partnerships between the nonprofits and 
the private sector, with conscientious action on the part of parents, 
teachers, and citizens.
    And we have plenty of vaccines. But we must do the hard work of 
logistics, of planning, of coordination to get the medicine to kids who 
need it, especially in the urban neighborhoods.
    So, let me thank all of you here today, singling out a few Points of 
Light in this effort: the Junior Leagues, the Children's Action Network, 
and many other organizations and individuals who have been committed to 
childhood immunization programs for years. You've been doing the Lord's 
work for years, long before we've got the proper focus on it here at the 
Federal Government. Your remarkable work to build awareness will get 
results. And I'm certain of that.
    Throughout our health policy programs, we're putting new emphasis on 
prevention. America's a humane and caring society that cannot condone 
unnecessary suffering. And what's more, to remain a vital society, we 
can't afford to waste human resources either. Disease prevention 
represents our best opportunity to reduce the ever-increasing portion of 
our resources that we now spend to treat preventable illnesses.
    For the sake of children who need protection from childhood 
diseases, we need to try creative ideas like ``one-stop shopping'' for 
health care, and escorted referral for ``express lane'' immunization at 
clinics. By encouraging all health care professionals never to miss a 
chance to give a shot, we'll have a fighting chance to get ahead of 
these diseases.
    Along with all who serve in health care, today I call on every 
parent everywhere in America: Don't take a chance. The facilities are 
there. The vaccines are available. Call your local public health 
official or your own physician. Please, make sure your child is 
immunized.
    A deadly plague called polio threatened my generation, darkened the 
fun of summers and crippled and killed kids. But American ingenuity, 
fantastic research, stopped that killer. And while some say each 
generation repeats the mistakes of the last, no generation in America 
should suffer the plagues of the past.
    American decency demands that we not let complacency lead to 
contagion, and never let apathy lead to epidemic. So, with the efforts 
of people like you, with the help from these five Congressmen and many 
Members of Congress and many others--Chairman Whitten, Norm Lent, 
Senator Bumpers, Senator Hatch, and Senator Chafee--the help of these 
leads--who else did I miss? Where is Arlen? Now, Senator Specter has 
done something he normally doesn't do, he's blended in with the crowd 
back there. [Laughter] But you should be sitting up here so I could 
finger you. But stand up, because I want these other--or you could come 
up with us. But Senator Specter has been a leader in this whole quest 
for helping kids.
    So, it's a cooperative effort. And I'm going to approach it that way 
as we--I hope our Department is. I know Lou Sullivan is. And it's not 
just the Members of Congress, nor the President of the United States; 
it's all of you. Many of you have been out front long before we have. 
But I thank you. I salute you. And now let's go out and get the job 
done. And thanks for coming to the

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White House on this beautiful day.
    And Arlen, if you all would come up, let me just get one quick 
picture with our health professionals here.
    Thank you all very, very much.
    Q. Mr. President, who will submit your health package to Congress? 
Who will submit it, sir?
    The President. --piece by piece. You're hearing a very important 
part of it right now.

                    Note: The President spoke at 9:26 a.m. in the Rose 
                        Garden at the White House. In his remarks, he 
                        referred to Secretary of Health and Human 
                        Services Louis W. Sullivan; Representatives 
                        Jamie L. Whitten, chairman of the House 
                        Appropriations Committee, and Norman F. Lent; 
                        Senators Dale Bumpers, Orrin G. Hatch, John H. 
                        Chafee, and Arlen Specter; James O. Mason, 
                        Assistant Secretary for Health; Antonia C. 
                        Novello, Surgeon General of the Public Health 
                        Service; and William L. Roper, Director of the 
                        Centers for Disease Control.