[Congressional Bills 108th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. Res. 278 Introduced in Senate (IS)]
108th CONGRESS
1st Session
S. RES. 278
Expressing the sense of the Senate regarding the anthrax and smallpox
vaccines.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
November 25, 2003
Mr. Bingaman submitted the following resolution; which was referred to
the Committee on Armed Services
_______________________________________________________________________
RESOLUTION
Expressing the sense of the Senate regarding the anthrax and smallpox
vaccines.
Whereas military personnel are asked to risk and even sacrifice their lives and
the well-being of their families in defense of the United States;
Whereas vaccines are an important factor in ensuring force health protection by
protecting the military personnel of the United States from both natural
health threats and health threats resulting from biological weapons in
overseas conflicts;
Whereas vaccines offer significant benefits and protections that must be
carefully balanced with the reality that vaccines and drugs generally
carry rare but serious adverse events and life-threatening risks;
Whereas in 2002, the insert label for the anthrax vaccine required by the Food
and Drug Administration was revised to include approximately 40 serious
adverse events with information that ``approximately 6 percent of the
reported events were listed as serious.'';
Whereas in 2002, the Food and Drug Administration also compelled the
manufacturer of the anthrax vaccine to substantially revise the package
insert and changed the risk to pregnant women from Category C (a
possible risk) to Category D (a known risk) because of ``positive
evidence of human fetal risk based on adverse reaction data from
investigational or marketing experience or studies in humans'';
Whereas in 2002, the General Accounting Office reported ``an estimated 84
percent of the personnel who had had anthrax vaccine shots between
September 1998 and September 2000 reported having side effects or
reactions. This rate is more than double the level cited in the vaccine
product insert. Further, about 24 percent of all events were classified
as systemic--a level more than a hundred times higher than that
estimated in the product insert at the time'';
Whereas in June 2003, the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices of the
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention withdrew its support for
expanding the smallpox vaccination program for first-responders after
finding that 1 in 500 civilians vaccinated for smallpox had a serious
vaccine event;
Whereas in 2002, the General Accounting Office found that 69 percent of
experienced pilots and aircrew members in the National Guard and the
Reserve reported that the anthrax shot was the major influence in their
decision to change their military status in 2000, including leaving the
military entirely;
Whereas in the war in Iraq that continues as of the date of enactment of this
resolution, the British and Australian militaries have conducted
voluntary anthrax vaccine programs, and other allies who have been
offered the anthrax vaccine have declined;
Whereas in March 2000, the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease
reported in the ``Jordan Report 20th Anniversary: Accelerated
Development of Vaccines 2000'' that no data existed to support the
effectiveness of the anthrax vaccine against pulmonary (inhalation)
anthrax in humans;
Whereas because anthrax can be prevented and treated with antibiotics and other
options are either in clinical trials or development, the current
anthrax vaccine is not the only choice for force health protection;
Whereas in the 2002 State of the Union address, President Bush placed a national
priority on developing a new anthrax vaccine and a newer and safer
smallpox vaccine is also in development; and
Whereas the threat of anthrax and smallpox attacks against the deployed troops
of the United States has significantly diminished since the overthrow of
Saddam Hussein and the disruption of Al Qaeda activity in Afghanistan:
Now, therefore, be it
Resolved, That it is the sense of the Senate that--
(1) the Secretary of Defense should reconsider the
mandatory nature of the anthrax and smallpox vaccine
immunization program, pending the development of new and better
vaccines that are under development as of the date of enactment
of this resolution;
(2) the Secretary of Defense and Board for Correction of
Military Records should reconsider adverse actions already
taken or intended to be taken against servicemembers for
refusing to accept the anthrax or smallpox vaccine;
(3) the Secretary of Defense and the intelligence community
should reevaluate the threat of anthrax and smallpox attacks on
troops in Iraq and Afghanistan to reflect operational realities
as of the date of enactment of this resolution when considering
the continuation of a mandatory military vaccination program;
and
(4) the Secretary of Veterans Affairs should assess those
adverse events being reported with respect to the anthrax and
smallpox vaccines, research causal relationships, and estimate
a future cost to the Department to treat these conditions.
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