Issue Number 103            August 2, 1999

CONTENTS OF THIS ISSUE

URGENT! URGENT! URGENT! URGENT! URGENT! URGENT!

1. Congressional committee hearing on vaccine safety and public health vaccine policy will be held Tuesday, August 3, 1999

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(1)
August 3, 1999
CONGRESSIONAL COMMITTEE HEARING ON VACCINE SAFETY AND PUBLIC HEALTH VACCINE POLICY WILL BE HELD TUESDAY,  AUGUST 3

On Tuesday, August 3, 1999, there will be a hearing in Congress before the House Committee on Government Reform to discuss vaccine safety and public health vaccine policy.  The hearing will be held at 2 p.m. (ET) in Room 2154 of the Rayburn House Office Building, Washington, DC. The title of the hearing is "Vaccines: Finding a Balance Between Public Safety and Personal Choice."

U.S. Surgeon General, David Satcher, MD, who also serves as Assistant Secretary of Health, will testify on behalf of the Department of Health and Human Services. A second panel will include scientific experts and patients who have had vaccine-related adverse events.

WHAT CAN YOU DO?

1. If possible, attend the hearing to demonstrate your support for vaccines and U.S. public health vaccine policy.
2. Submit your written testimony on the value of vaccines, vaccine safety, and/or the importance of state vaccination laws to the House Committee on Government Reform. Written testimony may be submitted up to two weeks after the hearing (through August 16) to be included in the official record of the hearing.

HOW TO SUBMIT YOUR TESTIMONY:
Mail your testimony to Chairman Daniel Burton and request that your letter be included in the official record for the hearing. Send testimony to:

Chairman Daniel Burton
Government Reform Committee
2157 Rayburn House Office Building
Washington, DC 20515
Attn: Vaccine Hearing Testimony

Or you can fax your testimony to (202) 226-1274.

Or you can submit your testimony by e-mail. Send your testimony to Beth Clay, Staff, Committee on Government Reform at: beth.clay@mail.house.gov Insert "Vaccine Hearing Testimony" in the "Subject:" line.

If you have questions about submitting testimony, contact Beth Clay at the e-mail address listed above or by phone at (215) 225-5074.

The Immunization Action Coalition would appreciate receiving a copy of the document you send to Congress.

• E-mail us at deborah@immunize.org or
• fax your testimony to 651-647-9131, or
• mail your testimony to Immunization Action Coalition, 1573 Selby Avenue, St. Paul, MN 55104

MAKE AN EXTRA EFFORT IF YOU HAVE THE TIME!
Do you live in a district of one of the Congressional Representatives on the Government Reform Committee? If so, call his or her office and let your representative know how important this issue is to you. If you are not in one of their districts but some of your colleagues are, please forward this e-mail to them. The members of the Committee on Government Reform and their Washington, DC, phone and fax numbers are listed below:

All individuals listed below can be contacted at:

Congressperson, Phone, Fax (all phone/fax numbers have area
code 202):

REPUBLICANS
1. Representative Dan Burton (IN)*, tel. 225-2276, fx. 225-0016
2. Representative Benjamin Gilman (NY), tel. 225-3776, fx. 225-2541
3. Representative Constance Morella (MD), tel. 225-5341,
    fx. 225- 1389
4. Representative Christopher Shays (CT), tel. 225-5541, fx. 225-9629
5. Representative Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (FL), tel. 225-3931,
    fx. 225-5620
6. Representative John McHugh (NY), tel. 225-4611, fx. 226-0621
7. Representative Steven Horn (CA), tel. 225-6676, fx. 226-1012
8. Representative John Mica (FL), tel. 225-4035, fx. 226-0821
9. Representative Thomas Davis (VA), tel. 225-1492, fx. 225-3071
10. Representative David McIntosh (IN), tel. 225-3021, fx. 225-3382
11. Representative Mark Souder (IN), tel. 225-4436, fx. 225-3479
12. Representative Joe Scarbourough (FL), tel. 225-4136, fx. 225-3414
13. Representative Steven LaTourette (OH), tel. 225-5731,
      fx. 225-3307
14. Representative Mark Sanford (SC), tel. 225-3176, fx. 225-3407
15. Representative Bob Barr (GA), tel. 225-2931, fx. 225-2944
16. Representative Dan Miller (FL), tel. 225-5015, fx. 226-0828
17. Representative Asa Hutchinson (AR), tel. 225-4301, fx. 225-5713
18. Representative Lee Terry (NE), tel. 225-4155, fx. 226-5452
19. Representative Judy Biggert (IL), tel. 225-3515, fx. 225-9420
20. Representative Greg Walden (OR), tel. 225-6730, fx. 225-5774
21. Representative Doug Ose (CA), tel. 225-5716, fx. 2256-1298
22. Representative Paul Ryan (WI), tel. 225-3031, fx. 225-3393
23. Representative Helen Chenoweth (ID), tel. 225-6611, fx. 225-3029

DEMOCRATS
24. Representative Henry Waxman (CA)**, tel. 225-3976, fx. 225-4099
25. Representative Tom Lantos (CA), tel. 225-3531, fx. 225-7900
26. Representative Bob Wise (WV), tel. 225-2711, fx. 225-7856
27. Representative Major Owens (NY), tel. 225-6231, fx. 226-0112
28. Representative Edolphus Towns (NY), tel. 225-5936, fx. 225-1018
29. Representative Paul Kanjorski (PA), tel. 225-6511, fx. 225-0764
30. Representative Gary Condit (CA), tel. 225-6131, fx. 225-0819
31. Representative Patsy Mink (HI), tel. 225-4906, fx. 225-4987
32. Representative Carolyn Maloney (NY), tel. 225-7944, fx. 225-4709
33. Representative Eleanor Holmes Norton (DC), tel. 225-8050,
      fx. 225-3002
34. Representative Chaka Fattah (PA), tel. 225-4001, fx. 225-5392
35. Representative Elijah Cummings (MD), tel. 225-4741, fx. 225-3178
36. Representative Dennis Kucinich (OH), tel. 225-5871, fx. 225-5745
37. Representative Rob Blagojevich (IL), tel. 225-4061, fx. 225-5603
38. Representative Danny Davis (IL), tel. 225-5006, fx. 225-5641
39. Representative John Tierney (MA), tel. 225-8020, fx. 225-5915
40. Representative Jim Turner (TX), tel. 225-2401, fx. 225-5955
41. Representative Tom Allen (ME), tel. 225-6116, fx. 225-5590
42. Representative Harold Ford, Jr., (TN), tel. 225-3265,
      fx. 225-5663

INDEPENDENT
43. Representative Bernard Sanders (VT), tel. 225-4115, fx. 225-6790

* Chairman
** Ranking Member


All of the House Members listed above (except for Congressman Kucinich) have websites you can visit. To go to a listing of Member websites, click here: http://www.house.gov/house/MemberWWW.html

If you would like to write to one of the representatives listed above, send correspondence to:

The Honorable [Congressperson's name]
United States House of Representatives
Washington, D.C. 20515