Rick Allen: “I have always been one to support innovation. It is with the innovative researchers of this Nation and the world that…”

“I have always been one to support innovation. It is with the innovative researchers of this Nation and the world that have provided us with some of the greatest contributions in history. Inventions such as the computer, the Internet, the automobile, the airplane, and vaccines have transformed the world as we once knew it, to the world that we live in now. I would like to take a moment and recognize yesterday's event commemorating April 26, 2004, as the 50th Anniversary of the Salk polio vaccine field trials, a truly significant day for our Nation. On April 26, the March of Dimes and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, commemorated the 50th anniversary of the development of the Salk polio vaccine along with several other organizations. This day in April holds great significance for the nation as it was that day in 1954 that the first dose of the Salk vaccine was distributed to children at Franklin Sherman Elementary school in McLean, VA as part of the National Field Trial Program.”