Debbie Dingell: “I join the millions of our Nation's first responders in opposition to H.R. 1463, the Smallpox Emergency Personnel…”

“I join the millions of our Nation's first responders in opposition to H.R. 1463, the Smallpox Emergency Personnel Protection Act of 2003. Right after we defeat this bill, I hope that we set about the task of crafting bipartisan legislation that all members of the House can support. The very people this bill purports to help--nurses, EMTs, police officers, firefighters--find this hastily crafted legislation lacking. Why? Because it fails to address their very significant concerns. Mr. Speaker, we are voting on smallpox vaccine injury legislation today because the Administration's current vaccine program is not working. Only a fraction of the number of first responders that the Administration has said are needed to protect us have volunteered to take the smallpox vaccine. The Administration has recommended that as many as ten million first responders be vaccinated for smallpox so that if we ever are attacked by the use of smallpox we will have a core capacity of health care and emergency personnel vaccinated and able to take appropriate action right away. The latest numbers from CDC indicate that less than 26,000 of them have been vaccinated. Why so few? Because the vaccination carries with it substantial risks, including adverse affects that could cause disability and, in some cases, death. Proponents of H.R. 1463 will make much of what they think that bill does. I ask you to focus on what it lacks.”