Florida Congressman Dave Weldon - Vaccine Safety ranks near the bottom ...

[Guest guest]

Florida's 15th District Congressman is also an MD. He has a lot to

say about Vaccines and their safety.

weldon.house.gov

Weldon

Contact: Steffens 202-577-5285

Federal Government Admits Child's Autism is Linked to Vaccinations

Weldon's Vaccine Safety Legislation Eliminates Conflicts of Interest,

Funds Vigorous Safety Office

Washington, Mar 6 -

At a press conference earlier today, in federal court the Federal

Government admitted to Dr. Jon and Terry Poling that their child's

autism was directly related to the five vaccines their daughter

received at 20 months of age. Yet, the federal government lacks a

vigorous and independent vaccine safety program to investigate this

issue further and to discern which other children may be at risk.

" Sadly, the federal government is ill-prepared to address the serious

issues raised by this admission, " said US Congressman Dave Weldon, a

physician. " As vaccine safety concerns have grown over the past

decade, CDC's response has been to bury their head in the sand hoping

the problem would go away. After today's admission, the CDC

responded by digging deeper. "

" They sent their vaccine promotion officer - rather than their

vaccine safety officer - out to reassure the public that `large

studies don't support a relationship between vaccines and autism.'

It's past time for the Federal government to replace their statistics

books and calculators with microscopes and research so that we can

understand the biological mechanisms that are taking place. We need

to be able to develop safer vaccines and screen for children who are

at risk. "

" I am a strong supporter of childhood immunizations, but it is

critically important that our immunization program have a vigorous,

independent and well-funded safety program, " added Weldon. " The CDC

is the principle federal agency charged with vaccine safety research,

but they are seriously conflicted. Their top priority is maintaining

high immunization rates, while vaccine safety ranks near the bottom

both in priorities and funding. "

Reps. Dave Weldon, M.D. and Carolyn Maloney (D-NY) introduced the

Vaccine Safety and Public Confidence Assurance Act of 2007 (H.R.

1973) to establish an independent office to address, investigate, and

head off potential vaccine safety problems in an objective and non-

conflicted office whose sole purpose is vaccine safety and

evaluation. The bill funds the program at $80 million. " The public

has begun to question whether our government is doing all it can to

ensure vaccine safety—and they are absolutely right to do so, " said

Congresswoman Maloney. " When we in government require children to be

vaccinated, we must make every possible effort to ensure that

vaccines are safe. "

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