ACTION ALERT

11/15/02

The Senate is debating the Homeland Security Bill that passed the House this week. 
THE SENATE  WILL VOTE ON MONDAY.(11/18/02) THERE IS STILL TIME TO TELL YOUR SENATORS AND PRESIDENT BUSH HOW YOU FEEL ABOUT THIS PROPOSED LAW THAT WILL AFFECT YOU AND YOUR CHILDREN.

WHAT DOES NVIC WANT DONE ABOUT THE BILL?

· The removal of Section 304 from the law. Section 304 will allow federal health employees to force you to get vaccines and drugs or any other
"substance" the Secretary of  DHHS wants you to get anytime the Secretary declares a "public health emergency." There are NO exemptions in the law for conscientious or religious beliefs.

· The removal of Sections 1714-1717. These sections will remove all liability from drug companies who make vaccines and drugs and health
officials who give vaccines or drugs when those pharmaceuticals injure or kill you or your children.

· If Sections 304 and 1714-1717 are not removed, then informed consent exemptions for religious and conscientious beliefs should be written into
the law so you are not forced without your consent to submitting to vaccination and medical treatment in a non-emergency or emergency situation.

WHAT YOU CAN DO:

1. Go to www.senate.gov and get the email address and phone numbers of YOUR Senators and tell them who you are and how you feel about the Homeland Security Bill and what you want changed in it.
2. Go to president@whitehouse.gov and tell President Bush what you told your
Senators. He is the one who will have to sign the bill into law after Congress passes it on Monday.
3. If you want to really do the job right with Congress, go to http://www.house.gov/writerep and get the email addresses and phone numbers
of YOUR Congressperson and tell them who you are and how you feel about the Homeland Security Bill. Even though the House has already voted, you never know what will happen on this bill in the next Congress.
4. You can also contact your local newspaper and radio station and voice your concerns about the Homeland Security Bill.
5. For more information visit www.ctvia.org- Connecticut Vaccine Information Alliance.

Thomas Jefferson said "The price of liberty is eternal vigilance." This bill will change the concept of liberty in America as we have known it since
those words were spoken.

NVIC issued this press release at 12:15 -11/15/02

Contact: Barbara Loe Fisher
703-938-0342

for immediate release

November 15, 2002

HOMELAND SECURITY BILL COULD ALLOW DHHS TO FORCE
SMALLPOX VACCINATION WHILE NOBODY IS LIABLE FOR HARM

Washington, D.C. - According to the National Vaccine Information Center (NVIC), the Homeland Security Bill (H.R. 5710) passed by the House on Nov.13 and being considered by the Senate today opens the door to allowing federal health officials to force Americans to use the highly reactive
smallpox vaccine and other "substances" while removing all liability from the pharmaceutical industry and health officials for the injuries and deaths
which will result. The bill allows the Secretary of DHHS to issue a "declaration" after concluding that "an actual or potential bioterrorist incident" or "other potential public health emergency" warrants the
administration of "a substance or substances" to "individuals during the effective period of the declaration."

"The language in this bill hands over unprecedented power to federal employees and does not preclude allowing them to use the military to strip
citizens of informed consent rights and force them to risk their lives with highly reactive vaccines, such as the smallpox vaccine, that will injure or kill thousands of Americans if used on a mass basis," said NVIC president and co-founder Barbara Loe Fisher. NVIC maintains that Section 304 of the
bill is fulfillment of a federal plan in development for several years to allow public health officials to force vaccination and medical treatment on Americans without their informed consent while removing all accountability from drug companies and those who participate in enforcement of the policy when harm is done.

"Several years ago the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) commissioned the creation of the Model State Emergency Health Powers Act which would give sweeping new powers to public health officials. They have tried to get that law passed in every state but have failed so far. So now they are going to
go federal and get the power they have wanted for years. This bill is a violation of freedom in the name of protecting freedom. At the very least there should be informed consent protections in the bill to allow exemptions to vaccination and medical treatment for conscientious and religious beliefs as well as quarantine protections for those who exercise them," said Fisher.

The nation's largest and oldest vaccine safety and informed consent advocacy organization, NVIC worked with Congress on the National Childhood
Vaccine Injury Act of 1986. NVIC has warned that use of the highly reactive smallpox vaccine on a mass basis pre-attack will reintroduce the live
vaccinia virus into the human population and cause unnecessary injuries and deaths. A fully referenced report on smallpox and smallpox vaccination
published by NVIC after Sept. 11, 2001 is available at www.nvic.org.