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Hello Friends:
On Tuesday Governor Brown signed HB 2286 establishing a scholarship program for children of public safety officers who are deceased or disabled in the line of duty. The funds come from ten percent of civil forfeiture proceeds and scholarships are for the cost of tuition and fees for four years of higher education. I sponsored this legislation because of the important work and ultimate sacrifices public safety officers make in all our communities. I was pleased and proud to see that HB 2286 received unanimous support in both the House and Senate Chambers.
This week in the House Chamber, we took up the issue of mandatory vaccinations as HB 3063 came to the floor for a vote.
The best science and medical technology years ago enabled much of the world to begin controlling the spread of mankind’s long standing, widespread and highly infectious diseases such as smallpox, polio and rubella. This was accomplished through vaccines.
This week I voted in support of HB 3063 because I remember a time before vaccines, a time when polio was a much-feared disease. We lived with the very real possibility of contracting polio, and its life-changing and sometimes deadly consequences.
That is why it has saddened me greatly to see the revival of mumps and measles to record levels of contagion. In the United States, vaccinations made it possible to declare the eradication of smallpox in 1949, polio in the 1980’s, measles and mumps in 2000 and diphtheria and rubella in 2004. But a few years ago, the vaccination rates began dropping and here we are again, facing outbreaks.
A false and widely debunked report from the 1990s that linked autism to the MMR vaccine, salacious reports about vaccine adjuvants and a well-documented anti-vaccine social media campaign led by Russian internet trolls to disrupt our society and our social fabric have all combined to stoke fear about the efficacy of vaccines.
Vaccination rates are dipping everywhere. In House District 31 there are schools with fewer than 80% of vaccinated students. Science tells us that rates of 95% are necessary to prevent outbreaks.
In the interest of public health and safety here in Oregon I supported HB 3063. The bill now moves to the Senate Chamber for consideration.
Thanks for reading my newsletter,
Yours truly,
Representative Brad Witt
House District 31
email: Rep.BradWitt@oregonlegislature.gov I phone: 503-986-1431
address: 900 Court St NE, H-382, Salem, OR, 97301
website: http://www.oregonlegislature.gov/witt
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