IV 
115TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION 
H. RES. 327 
Recognizing the importance of vaccinations and immunizations in the United 
States. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
MAY 16, 2017 
Mr. SCHIFF (for himself, Mr. MARINO, Mr. CICILLINE, Mr. ENGEL, Ms. 
CLARKE of New York, Mr. FOSTER, Mr. LOWENTHAL, Mr. COHEN, Mr. 
LANGEVIN, Ms. MICHELLE LUJAN GRISHAM of New Mexico, Mr. COO-
PER, Ms. DELAURO, Mr. GARAMENDI, Mr. BLUMENAUER, Ms. 
DEGETTE, Mr. GRIJALVA, Ms. EDDIE BERNICE JOHNSON of Texas, Ms. 
ESHOO, and Mr. DENT) submitted the following resolution; which was re-
ferred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce 
RESOLUTION 
Recognizing the importance of vaccinations and 
immunizations in the United States. 
Whereas the contributions of Louis Pasteur and Edward Jen-
ner to the discovery of the principles of vaccination and 
immunology are among the most consequential health 
findings in human history; 
Whereas vaccines have made it possible for the world to have 
eradicated smallpox, saving approximately 5 million lives 
annually, and for the international community to be on 
the brink of eradicating polio and to have saved an esti-
mated 5 million people from this incurable disease over 
the past 2 decades, 
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Whereas vaccines have dramatically reduced the spread of 
many more crippling and potentially life-threatening dis-
eases such as diphtheria, tetanus, measles, mumps, and 
rubella, and vaccines prevent the spread of commonly in-
fectious and potentially fatal diseases such as chickenpox, 
shingles, 
influenza, 
hepatitis 
A, 
hepatitis 
B, 
meningococcal disease, pneumococcal, rotavirus, and 
whooping cough (pertussis); 
Whereas the scientific and medical communities are in over-
whelming consensus that vaccines are both effective and 
safe, and the dissemination of unfounded, and debunked, 
theories about the dangers of vaccinations pose a great 
risk to public health, and scientifically sound education 
and outreach campaigns about vaccination and immuni-
zation are fundamental for a well-informed public; 
Whereas an estimated 43,000 adults and 300 children die an-
nually from vaccine-preventable diseases or their com-
plications in the United States, and the health and liveli-
hood of young children, seniors, individuals with immuno-
deficiency disorders, and those who cannot be vaccinated, 
is particularly compromised by communities with low vac-
cination rates; 
Whereas substantial research has shown that vaccination is 
a highly cost-effective form of preventive medicine, and 
the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) 
estimates that vaccinations will save nearly $295 billion 
in direct costs and $1.38 trillion in total societal costs in 
the United States; 
Whereas vaccines in the United States undergo exhaustive 
safety testing before they are licensed by the Food and 
Drug Administration (FDA) and are monitored for ad-
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verse events after health care providers begin admin-
istering them to patients; 
Whereas there are three post-marketing surveillance systems 
in the United States tracking adverse events after vac-
cination; 
Whereas it is estimated that vaccinations will prevent more 
than 21 million hospitalizations and 732,000 deaths 
among children born in the last 20 years, and that more 
than 100 million children all over the world are immu-
nized each year and vaccines have saved an estimated 2.5 
million children annually; 
Whereas one in five children worldwide still lack access to 
even the most basic vaccines and, as a result, an esti-
mated 1.5 million children a year die from vaccine-pre-
ventable conditions such as diarrhea and pneumonia or 
suffer from permanently debilitating illnesses; 
Whereas a strong investment in medical research to improve 
existing vaccines and develop many more life-saving vac-
cines is beneficial to all, both at home and abroad, and 
a robust immunization infrastructure is essential to the 
public health and well-being of the people of the United 
States by preventing and isolating outbreaks of con-
tagious diseases where they start; 
Whereas encouraging high vaccination rates in the United 
States protects our citizens from contracting vaccine-pre-
ventable diseases that are pandemic in countries with low 
vaccination and immunization rates; 
Whereas routine and up-to-date immunization is the most ef-
fective method available to prevent the infection and 
transmission of potentially fatal diseases; and 
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