As you know from the Action Alerts that NVIC has been sending out over the
past three weeks, we and the parent organization members of our Coalition,
Americans for Vaccine Safety and Accountability, have been working with Congress
to improve the Vaccine Injury Compensation Program
(VICP) that was created under the National Childhood Vaccine Injury Act of
1986. We thank all of you who have responded to our ACTION ALERTS and have
communicated with those legislators who represent you in Washington, D.C. about
your concern that Congress do the right thing and protect the rights of the
vaccine injured.
While we have not been in agreement with all of the provisions in the bill
(S.15) forwarded by Senator Bill Frist (R-TN), there have been ongoing
discussions with staffs of both sides of the aisle to find a way to amend that
bill and create meaningful reforms to the VICP. For us, meaningful reform must
include access by all of the children injured after the 1986 law's
implementation in 1988 to the federal compensation system and the protection of
access to the civil justice system that will serve as a "check and balance" on
the implementation of the federal compensation system.
Over the past few weeks, the "markup" of the Frist bill has been repeatedly
postponed. Today, the bill was once again scheduled for "markup" and was
cancelled. There are too many outstanding questions and concerns remaining. We
believe that, because so many of you have made your voices known here in the
nation's Capitol, we now have another opportunity to work harder to try to get a
bill that comes much closer to doing what it needs to do for the vaccine
injured.
Please know that every letter and every phone call you have made to Capitol
Hill has made a difference in this process, which is the political process that
we rely on in our democratic form of government. We will keep you updated and
are grateful for the prayers and encouragement that you have given us as we go
forward and try to do the best we can to represent the very real and special
needs of the families of vaccine injured children.
With thanks,
Barbara Loe Fisher, Co-founder & President
Kathi Williams, Co-founder & Vice President
National Vaccine Information Center
Americans for Vaccine Safety and Accountability
- Autism Society of America
- Lyme Disease Foundation
- Mothering Magazine
- National Vaccine Information Center
- New Hampshire Citizens for Health Freedom
- Parents Requesting Open Vaccine Education
- Safe Minds
- Unlocking Autism
- World Chiropractic Alliance
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"A foolish faith in authority is the worst enemy of truth."
-- Albert Einstein, letter to a friend, 1901
"I know of no safe depository of the ultimate powers of the society but the people themselves, and if we think them not enlightened enough to exercise control with a wholesome discretion, the remedy is not to take it from them, but to inform their discretion by education."
-- Thomas Jefferson, letter to William C. Jarvis, September 28, 1820
"What's the point of vaccination if it doesn't protect you from the unvaccinated?"
-- Sandy Gottstein
"Who gets to decide what the greater good is and how many will be sacrificed to it?"