Title: Recognizing the importance of vaccinations and immunizations in the United States.
Policy area: Health

Summary:
Commends the international community, health organizations, the private sector, school and community leaders, and faith-based organizations for bolstering health through vaccination.
Recognizes that the lack of vaccination can cause a public health crisis and that there is no credible evidence that vaccines cause life-threatening or disabling diseases in healthy children or adults.
Encourages a continued commitment to research to improve vaccines and develop new vaccines.

[Congressional Bills 115th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Res. 327 Introduced in House (IH)]

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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. Cooper, 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 referred 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 Jenner 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 estimated 5 million people from this incurable disease 
        over the past 2 decades,
Whereas vaccines have dramatically reduced the spread of many more crippling and 
        potentially life-threatening diseases such as diphtheria, tetanus, 
        measles, mumps, and rubella, and vaccines prevent the spread of commonly 
        infectious 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 overwhelming 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 immunization are fundamental 
        for a well-informed public;
Whereas an estimated 43,000 adults and 300 children die annually from vaccine-
        preventable diseases or their complications in the United States, and 
        the health and livelihood of young children, seniors, individuals with 
        immunodeficiency disorders, and those who cannot be vaccinated, is 
        particularly compromised by communities with low vaccination 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 adverse events after health care providers begin 
        administering them to patients;
Whereas there are three post-marketing surveillance systems in the United States 
        tracking adverse events after vaccination;
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 
        immunized 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 estimated 1.5 million children a year die 
        from vaccine-preventable 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 vaccines 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 contagious diseases where they 
        start;
Whereas encouraging high vaccination rates in the United States protects our 
        citizens from contracting vaccine-preventable diseases that are pandemic 
        in countries with low vaccination and immunization rates;
Whereas routine and up-to-date immunization is the most effective method 
        available to prevent the infection and transmission of potentially fatal 
        diseases; and
Whereas the United States has been a leader in promoting vaccinations around the 
        world through the United States Agency for International Development, 
        the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Gavi, the Vaccine 
        Alliance, the Global Polio Eradication Initiative, UNICEF, the World 
        Health Organization, and a host of other multilateral and 
        nongovernmental organizations: Now, therefore, be it
    Resolved, That the House of Representatives--
            (1) commends the international community, global and 
        domestic health organizations, the private sector, school and 
        community leaders, and faith-based organizations for their 
        tireless work and immense contributions to bolstering our 
        global and domestic health through vaccination;
            (2) affirms vaccines and immunizations save lives and are 
        essential to maintain the public health, and the economic and 
        national security of the people of the United States;
            (3) recognizes that the lack of vaccination can cause a 
        true public health crisis, and that there is no credible 
        evidence to show that vaccines cause life-threatening or 
        disabling diseases in healthy children or adults;
            (4) encourages a continued commitment to research to 
        improve vaccines and to develop new vaccines against other 
        infectious and fatal diseases; and
            (5) urges parents, in consultation with their health care 
        provider, to follow the scientific evidence and consensus of 
        medical experts in favor of timely vaccinations to protect 
        their children and their community.
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