; Whereas vaccines in the United States undergo exhaustive safety testing before they are licensed by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and are monitored for adverse events after health care providers begin administering them to patients; Whereas there are three post-marketing surveillance systems in the United States tracking adverse events after vaccination; Whereas it is estimated that vaccinations will prevent more than 21 million hospitalizations and 732,000 deaths among children born in the last 20 years, and that more than 100 million children all over the world are immunized each year and vaccines have saved an estimated 2.5 million children annually; Whereas one in five children worldwide still lack access to even the most basic vaccines and, as a result, an estimated 1.5 million children a year die from vaccine-preventable conditions such as diarrhea and pneumonia or suffer from permanently debilitating illnesses; Whereas a strong investment in medical research to improve existing vaccines and develop many more life-saving vaccines is beneficial to all, both at home and abroad, and a robust immunization infrastructure is essential to the public health and well-being of the people of the United States by preventing and isolating outbreaks of contagious diseases where they start; Whereas encouraging high vaccination rates in the United States protects our citizens from contracting vaccine-preventable diseases that are pandemic in countries with low vaccination and immunization rates; Whereas routine and up-to-date immunization is the most effective method available to prevent the infection and transmission of potentially fatal diseases