By:  Shapleigh                                                  S.C.R. No. 14 



SENATE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION
	WHEREAS, Immunization against vaccine-preventable diseases 
has been one of the major public health achievements of the last 
century, but vigilance against medical contagion remains a 
necessity and requires the nation to address problems that recently 
have constricted rates of childhood inoculation; and
	WHEREAS, During the first half of 2001, national shortages 
were evident among vaccines for diphtheria, tetanus, pertussis, 
rubella, mumps, and varicella, from among the diseases for which 
immunization is required of Texas schoolchildren by Section 38.001, 
Education Code, or by rules of the Texas Department of Health; and
	WHEREAS, Supply problems likewise existed for vaccines for 
measles and pneumococcal infection, and the national situation, 
while it has since improved, continues to be subject to the threats 
of localized shortages or delays in vaccine delivery to health 
providers; and
	WHEREAS, Legal obstacles also have hindered childhood 
vaccination efforts; the federal Vaccines for Children program 
covers young people up to 18 years old who are eligible for Medicaid 
or meet other specified criteria, but in Texas the plan does not 
cover enrollees in the state's Children's Health Insurance Program 
because of the choice of a separate state health plan rather than a 
Medicaid expansion; and
	WHEREAS, Another inconsistency concerns the federal Employee 
Retirement Income Security Act because the benefit provisions of 
that Act fail to give coverage to the entire list of vaccines as 
recommended by the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices 
that counsels the United States Department of Health and Human 
Services and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; and
	WHEREAS, Vaccination deficiencies have impacts at the state 
and local levels, yet much of the requisite solution to the problem 
resides within the purview of our elected officials in Washington; 
now, therefore, be it
	RESOLVED, That the 78th Legislature of the State of Texas 
hereby respectfully urge the Congress of the United States to take 
steps to address the vaccine supply shortage with respect to 
childhood immunization schedules; and, be it further
	RESOLVED, That the congress pass legislation to require 
health plans under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act to 
cover all recommended vaccines of the Advisory Committee on 
Immunization Practices; and, be it further
	RESOLVED, That the congress eliminate the inconsistency that 
allows Medicaid children to be eligible for the Vaccines for 
Children program but denies eligibility in some cases to enrollees 
in the state's Children's Health Insurance Program; and, be it 
further
	RESOLVED, That the Texas secretary of state forward official 
copies of this resolution to the president of the United States, to 
the president of the senate and the speaker of the house of 
representatives of the United States Congress, and to all the 
members of the Texas delegation to the congress with the request 
that this resolution be officially entered in the Congressional 
Record as a memorial to the Congress of the United States of 
America.