Whereas, The polio virus damages muscle controlling nerves which results in muscle weakness and severe illness and may cause the person to lose the ability to move their arms and legs and also may inhibit their ability to breath without assistance; and,

Whereas, The injectable polio vaccine eliminated naturally occurring polio cases in the United States but has not yet eliminated polio in other parts of the world; and,

Whereas, As few as 57 percent of American children receive all doses of necessary vaccines during childhood, including the polio vaccine; and,

Whereas, The success of the polio vaccine caused people to forget the 1,630,000 Americans born before the development of the vaccine and had polio during the epidemics in the middle of the 20th century; and,

Whereas, At least 70 percent of paralytic polio survivors, and 40 percent of nonparalytic polio survivors, are developing post-polio sequelae, which are unexpected and often disabling symptoms that occur up to 35 years after the polio virus attacks, including overwhelming fatigue, muscle weakness, muscle and point pain, sleep disorders, heightened sensitivity to anesthesia, cold pain and difficulty swallowing and breathing; and,

Whereas, 2004 marks the 130th anniversary of the diagnosis of the fist case of post-polio sequelae and the 20th anniversary of the creation of the International Post-Polio Task Force; and,

Whereas, Many medical professionals and polio survivors do not know of the existence of post-polio sequelae or of the available treatments; and,

Whereas, The mission of the International Post-Polio Task Force includes educating medical professionals and the 20,000,000 polio survivors in the world about post-polio sequelae through letter campaigns, public service announcements, and other forms of media; and now therefore be it,