posted October 15, 2007 01:23 PM            

Gee, that's sure to dispel the impression America has that moronic leftist airhead elitists in the Congress see Americans as the "great unwashed".

Aides Urged to Get Shots Before NASCAR Visit October 11, 2007 2:31 PM

ABC News' Steven Portnory Reports: A North Carolina Republican suggested Thursday that the leadership of the House Homeland Security Committee needs "an attitude check" for suggesting that committee staffers should be inoculated for diseases before visiting NASCAR racetracks.

But the Democratic chairman of the committee told ABC News that NASCAR fans "had nothing to do with" the recommendation to the staffers.

Before official visits to NASCAR racetracks in Talladega, Ala., and Concord, North Carolina this month, congressional staffers were advised to be immunized for diseases like hepatitis and diphtheria.

The committee sent four staffers – two Democrats and two Republicans – to Talladega Superspeedway last weekend to see how the racetrack and Alabama officials might respond to a mass-casualty terror attack during a NASCAR event.

Before going, senior committee staffers recommended that members of the delegation be vaccinated against a range of diseases more common to developing nations.

"It seems like there may be a slight misconception about the type of crowd that you run into at the NASCAR race," said Rep. Robin Hayes, R-N.C. , who raised his concerns in a letter to the committee chair upon hearing of the recommendation for the shots.

posted October 15, 2007 01:28 PM            

House Homeland Security Committee staffers are on a peculiar mission to study "public health issues at events involving mass gatherings," which has personally insulted Rep. Robin Hayes of Concord, North Carolina.

The event: NASCAR.

The rub: the requirement that the Democrat and Republican staffers attending first be immunized against Hepatitis A, Hepatitis B, tetanus, diphtheria, and influenza.

"I have never heard of immunizations for domestic travel, and as the representative for Concord, North Carolina, I feel compelled to ask why the heck the committee feels that immunizations are needed to travel to my hometown," Mr. Hayes, a Republican, said in a letter to Rep. Bennie Thompson, Mississippi Democrat and committee chairman.

"I have been to numerous NASCAR races, and the folks who attend these events certainly do not pose any health hazard to congressional staffers or anyone else," Mr. Hayes said.

A committee staffer says that the Republican staffers have declined the shots but that two Democrat staffers were immunized before attending the race at Talladega last weekend.

A phone call to the committee spokesman was not returned.
http://video1.washingtontimes.com/fishwrap/2007/10/talladega_public_health_risk.html

I'll just bet that phone call wasn't returned and don't hold your breath until it is returned.