III 

114TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. RES. 108 

Commemorating the discovery of the polio vaccine and supporting efforts 

to eradicate the disease. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MARCH 24, 2015 

Mr. DURBIN (for himself, Mr. KIRK, Mr. LEAHY, Mrs. SHAHEEN, Mrs. MURRAY, Mrs. BOXER, Mr. COONS, Mr. MARKEY, Mr. ISAKSON, Ms. AYOTTE, 

and Mr. REED) submitted the following resolution; which was referred to 

the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions 

RESOLUTION 

Commemorating the discovery of the polio vaccine and 

supporting efforts to eradicate the disease. 

Whereas April 12, 2015, is the 60th anniversary of the announcement of the discovery of the first safe and effective 

polio vaccine; 

Whereas the vaccine was developed by Jonas Salk with the 

support of the National Foundation for Infantile Paralysis, now known as the March of Dimes Foundation; 

Whereas the vaccine developed by Jonas Salk was proven safe 

and effective in a massive nationwide field trial organized 

by the March of Dimes Foundation, relying on the largest peacetime mobilization of volunteers in the history of 

the United States; 


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•SRES 108 IS 

Whereas polio is a crippling and potentially fatal infectious 

disease for which there is no cure, which means that vaccination is the only viable pathway for eradication of the 

disease; 

Whereas nearly 60,000 children in the United States were reported to have polio in 1952 alone, with more than 

20,000 cases of paralysis; 

Whereas, due to vaccination, polio was eliminated from the 

United States in 1979; 

Whereas the use of the inactivated polio vaccine developed by 

Jonas Salk and the oral polio vaccine developed by Albert 

Sabin has dramatically reduced the incidence of polio 

worldwide; 

Whereas the fight against polio has been part of the mission 

of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (referred to in this preamble as the ‘‘CDC’’) since the 

1950s; 

Whereas, as part of the fight against polio, the CDC established a national polio surveillance unit and worked with 

Jonas Salk and Albert Sabin to widely distribute vaccines; 

Whereas, through the Global Polio Eradication Initiative (referred to in this preamble as the ‘‘Initiative’’), the Federal Government, Rotary International, the World Health 

Organization, the United Nations Children’s Fund (commonly known as ‘‘UNICEF’’), the Bill and Melinda 

Gates Foundation, and the United Nations Foundation 

have joined together with governments around the world 

to successfully reduce cases of polio by more than 99 percent since the launch of global polio eradication efforts; 


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•SRES 108 IS 

Whereas Rotary International, a global association founded in 

Illinois, has contributed more than $1,000,000,000 alone 

to, and volunteered countless hours in, the global fight 

against polio; 

Whereas October 24 of each year is recognized internationally 

as World Polio Day to commemorate the fight against 

the disease; 

Whereas, according to the CDC, polio vaccination has prevented over 13,000,000 paralytic polio cases and 650,000 

deaths since 1988; 

Whereas only 3 countries (Afghanistan, Nigeria and Pakistan) remained polio-endemic in 2014, which is a decrease from more than 125 countries in 1988; 

Whereas there is a global push to eradicate polio by 2018; 

Whereas investments in polio eradication are helping improve 

routine immunization systems and creating lasting infrastructure to support other health priorities; 

Whereas the Initiative is finding and reaching the most vulnerable children in the world with the polio vaccine and 

combining those efforts with other health care resources; 

Whereas, in December 2011, the CDC activated Emergency 

Operations Center of the CDC to ‘‘support the final push 

for polio eradication’’; 

Whereas the eradication of polio would be the only time in 

history aside from the eradication of smallpox that a disease affecting humans has been eradicated, and the 

eradication of polio would be a ‘‘once-in-a-generation opportunity for global public health’’; and 

Whereas the success of the polio vaccine has shown the public 

what sustained medical research can accomplish and 


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should encourage support for future Federal funding for 

biomedical research and public health prevention and 

control: Now, therefore, be it 

1 Resolved, That the Senate— 

2 (1) commends the work of Jonas Salk and Al3 bert Sabin in developing effective, safe vaccines for 

4 polio; 

5 (2) supports the goals and ideals of the Global 

6 Polio Eradication Initiative; 

7 (3) encourages and supports the international 

8 community of governments and nongovernmental or9 ganizations in remaining committed to the eradi10 cation of polio; and 

11 (4) encourages the Federal Government to con12 tinue committing funding to the Global Polio Eradi13 cation Initiative and for biomedical and basic sci14 entific research so that more life-saving discoveries 

15 can be made. 

Æ 


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