NASCAR FANS PUBLIC HEALTH CONCERN FOR DEMOCRATS
Democrat Staffers Immunize Before NASCAR Race

RALEIGH—In case you missed it, Democrat staffers from the House Homeland Security Committee were instructed to be immunized before attending the Bank of America 500 NASCAR race in Concord, NC this weekend.  The committee had planned a fact-finding trip about public health-preparedness at mass gatherings and decided to use two NASCAR races as a means of conducting the research.  Staff who organized the trips advised the Congressional aides to get a range of vaccines before attending, including: hepatitis A, hepatitis B, tetanus, diphtheria and influenza.  Congressman Robin Hayes, who is from Concord, took offense at the suggestion that staffers would need to be immunized before visiting his hometown.  He wrote a letter to the chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee, Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-MS) saying, “I have never heard of immunizations for domestic travel, and as the representative for Concord, N.C., I feel compelled to ask why the heck the committee feels that immunizations are needed to travel to my hometown.” 

Chairman Linda Daves, North Carolina Republican Party, made the following statement:

“I was surprised to see that Democrats feel the need to be immunized before coming to Concord, North Carolina.  Democrats should know that there is no preventive measure yet designed to ward off the blue-collar values and patriotism that NASCAR fans represent.  If they aren’t careful, they just might catch some of it.”

##