III 

109TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. RES. 304 

To designate the period beginning on November 1, 2005, and ending on 

October 31, 2006, as the Year of Polio Education. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

NOVEMBER 10, 2005 

Mr. SPECTER (for himself and Mr. CORZINE) submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, 

and Pensions 

RESOLUTION 

To designate the period beginning on November 1, 2005, 

and ending on October 31, 2006, as the Year of Polio 

Education. 

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; 
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•SRES 304 IS

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 En-
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•SRES 304 IS

glewood 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 

1 Resolved, That the Senate— 

2 (1) recognizes the need for every child, in 

3 America and throughout the world, to be vaccinated 

4 against polio; 

5 (2) recognizes the 1,630,000 Americans who 

6 survived polio, their new battle with post-polio 

7 sequelae, and the need for education and appropriate 

8 medical care; 

9 (3) requests that every State designate the pe10 riod beginning on November 1, 2005, and ending on 

11 October 31, 2006, as the ‘‘Year of Polio Education’’ 

12 to promote vaccination and post-polio sequelae edu13 cation and treatment; and 

14 (4) requests that all appropriate Federal de15 partments and agencies take immediate action to 

16 educate— 

17 (A) the people of the United States about 

18 the need for polio vaccination; and 

19 (B) polio survivors and medical profes20 sionals in the United States about the cause 

21 and treatment of post-polio sequelae. 

Æ