Aides Urged to Get Shots Before NASCAR Visit
EmailABC 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.
"They need to do an attitude check as to why they would issue such instructions as these," Hayes said.
Hayes lives near Lowe’s Motor Speedway, which is scheduled to host the committee staff delegation next weekend.
Homeland Security Committee chairman Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., responded in a letter to Hayes that the shots were recommended because staffers would be visiting "hospital and other health care facilities available at or near " the racetracks.
But a Republican source told ABC News that the staffers did not visit any actual hospitals, or patients with communicable diseases, during their Alabama trip and that no such visits are scheduled for the trip to Concord.
In an interview with ABC News Radio, Thompson broadened the rationale for the inoculations, saying it had more to do with the size of the crowds attending NASCAR races and other large events.
"It’s a precautionary measure. It has nothing to do with those individuals who attend the races," Thompson said.
Thompson stressed that the recommendation for the vaccinations was based on the potential for illnesses like Hepatitis A, Hepatitis B, diphtheria, tetanus and influenza to be spread in places where large, diverse crowds gather. He said that first responders and medical professionals are inoculated against such diseases as a matter of course.
"We have a World Series coming. We have a Superbowl coming up. There’ll be a lot of other gatherings put together that we’ll look at," Thompson said, suggesting that shots might also be recommended to staffers who conduct fact-finding missions at those events.
The two Republican staffers assigned to the NASCAR trips passed up the chance to be immunized, because they "didn’t see any point" in getting the shots, according to a GOP source.
Hayes said he was not offended, as much as perplexed, by the notion that congressional staffers might need immunizations before heading into NASCAR nation.
"In terms of communicable diseases, there’s not a connection there," he said
Gulf of Mexico to Become Gulf of America? 
Can Mitt Romney Win Conservatives Back?
and if you want any more evidence of how out of touch our leaders are? Maybe they should just stay in DC in their ivory towers!
Posted by: Dena | October 11, 2007, 3:15 pm 3:15 pm
I can’t believe that staffers were told to be vaccinated before heading to the track. That, and their total baloney cover story about the hospital visits is completely see through. Living in Alabama, or Carolina, is NOT like living in a third world country. And the republicans should know better. What a quick way to enrage most nascar fans, who by and large are republicans themselves! DHS owes Nascar, and their fans, a very public apology for this travesty.
Posted by: Jennifer | October 11, 2007, 3:17 pm 3:17 pm
This is just odd.
Posted by: Marilyn | October 11, 2007, 3:20 pm 3:20 pm
I agree with you Jennifer. This (to me) seems as bad as that basketball guy or Don Imus calling women “b–’s” and “ho’s”.
Posted by: ARS | October 11, 2007, 3:38 pm 3:38 pm
The only thing I ever caught at a race was a hangover…
Posted by: Midgett | October 11, 2007, 4:29 pm 4:29 pm
Jennifer, The DHS(Department of Homeland Security) doesn’t owe them an apology. This advisement came for the House Homeland Security Committee which is in Congress. 2 Completely different things
Posted by: Sean | October 11, 2007, 5:03 pm 5:03 pm
Jennifer’s dumb. It was DEMOCRATS who called for the stupid immunizations, not Republicans. DEMS control the House now, remember??
Posted by: not the gop! | October 11, 2007, 5:21 pm 5:21 pm
Well, I know many of the democrats I know feel that NASCAR is the entertainment of the intellectually challenged. Not that they have ever tried to comprehend anything about the sport, no, they just think its stupid in concept. They do however like opera and ballet. I’m not too interested in those, but I wouldn’t call it stupid. I guess if I was blind I would like the ballet better and if I was deaf, I could possibly enjoy opera. I’m really just not sure why, with all the science, engineering, intelligence, craftsmanship, design, and performance it takes to build and race a car for sport is viewed as a sign of stupidity.
Posted by: TexBork | October 11, 2007, 5:34 pm 5:34 pm
Jennifer & TexBork,
I live in the south, and I know for a fact what kind of people go to these races. There is NO misconception on the part of anyone. This is not everyone, of course, but a very large segment of NASCAR fans are low-class; they’re interchangeable with professional wrestling fans. I’m also not into ballet or opera, but I don’t go slumming, either. The image of the south would be completely different if the people here would use as much energy improving themselves as they do showing everyone how proud they are of having no class.
Posted by: Janice | October 12, 2007, 9:01 am 9:01 am
i have never heard anything so stupid in my life
Posted by: dave | October 12, 2007, 9:44 am 9:44 am
Thank you, JANICE…Instead of the moniker LOW CLASS the reality of them is basically they are fairly POOR and not well educated. With the emergence of the INVESTOR CLASS making out like bandits, having escaped the desire to create jobs and hire employees, coupled with the attack on the MIDDLE CLASS and their marginalized current state of affairs, leaves a large and viable POOR CLASS that loves things like wrestling and car racing alot. Those things do cause great money flow and employ people so even though I am not a fan of either I do peek in while channel surfing and the fact that people are employed in this country doing such as this should be applauded before even it disappears.
Posted by: daddy | October 12, 2007, 10:05 am 10:05 am
Offer a free Budweiser with every shot and the Nascar fans would be lined up around the corner to get their shot n’ beer. Git R’ Innoculated!
Posted by: Rick_VT | October 12, 2007, 10:38 am 10:38 am
Janice, if we are so low class and poorly educated, then do us a favor and go north!!!!
Posted by: Kevin | October 12, 2007, 11:38 am 11:38 am
Poor sickly people cannot afford to attend races, in Talledega or anywhere else. Ticket prices have escalated with popularity of the sport to the point middle class can barely afford them. NASCAR is becoming a corporate sport, with corporate prices.
Posted by: byrd | October 12, 2007, 12:23 pm 12:23 pm
The dems need to get shots before they march with the illegal aliens, they are responsible for lots of the new TB cases, just to name one disease they carry. What you bleeding heart libs got to say about that.
Posted by: ragebot | October 12, 2007, 12:36 pm 12:36 pm
Janice, I would agree that some of the local tracks have lower income people in attendence, but I think it would be sick to suggest that visiting one of those tracks is so risky that people need to have shots would be as sick as saying that people who go see local Hip Hip shows should need shots to prevent infection. I guess it’s Ok, sicne it’s white people who generally go to the races. Still, there are people who can afford to go to smaller local races, but Nextel events are far different, far safer, far cleaner and no one needs shots for smaller tracks. Comparing say, the little dirt track, Battleground Speedway in Baytown, TX to say Texas Motor Speedway in Irving is not even close. Low income people are generally not able attend many events they would otherwise like to. For some, it may be to see an Andrew Lloyd Webber musical, for others it might be a NASCAR race. What’s odd is that I don’t think anyone believes you need a Hep B shot for either, but it would be sexually or racially offensive to suggest it, don’t you think? Imagine for example if some white republican advised staffers to get a bunch of shots to keep from possibly being infected by attending a Hip-Hop show? Come on. By the way, if you think Louden New Hampshire is a hot bed of infection, I think you need to get your facts straight.
Posted by: TexBork | October 12, 2007, 12:40 pm 12:40 pm
So, daddy, if I understand you, the NASCAR fans are poor, underclass, ignorant people. I know most democrats seem to believe that and it is bearing itself out not just here, but in their leadership in DC as well.
Posted by: TexBork | October 12, 2007, 12:42 pm 12:42 pm
WHAT ON EARTH??? I have never heard anything so stupid or idiotic in my life!! I’ve got a great idea why don’t we get out the “stupid” vaccine and make it mandatory for all puplic officials before they can take office. And if they are allergic or refuse or can’t take vaccine then they don’t take office. I think that idiot must have eaten an extras 30 bowls of stupid before making that comment.
what a crock of BS and just think—– those $%^^%$ run our country and are paid to do so!!! Mexico is staarting to look good. lets just open the border let all the illegals come in, we’ll take the flag, bill of rights, and declaration of independence and set up a new shop south of the border. NO POLITITIANS ALLOWED without current doccumented vaccines
Posted by: Lisa | October 12, 2007, 5:28 pm 5:28 pm
The shots are just a slight of hand trick to keep the taxpayers from seeing them spend the taxpayers money on Nascar, then World Series, then Super Bowl, etc.
Posted by: Russeell | October 12, 2007, 5:58 pm 5:58 pm
daddy, OK you win. The democrat saying that people need to get vaccinated before attending a NASCAR event is excusable. You’re defending it.
Posted by: TexBork | October 12, 2007, 6:34 pm 6:34 pm
I was puzzled by into re shots for stafers going to ala and nc. So I looked up health problems in Ala. Seems there have been 53 case of tb plus increase in diptheria and other diseses we thought had been under control in this country. Blame was put on illeagle persons who have not had proper shots being in the country. Why did the news not report that. Maybe there is more exposure to disease of this sort than the public is being warned about. SHOULD WE ALL HAVE MORE PROTECTION????????
Posted by: barbara ferguson | October 12, 2007, 7:03 pm 7:03 pm
Beth, if you have been to Talledega and saw all the “rednecks and their campers”, then have you ever wondered how much it costs to park a “camper” in the infield, and majority of those “RV’s” cost?
Posted by: Gerald | October 13, 2007, 12:21 am 12:21 am
Some pretty ignorant posts about NASCAR and Southerners. I lived and worked in Raleigh NC, the Research Triangle area, for several years in a white collar high tech field. An area that has more millionaires and P.H. D.’s per capita than any other place in the country. Everyone was a NASCAR fan including the guy who owns SAS Software who used fly from his $15M compound just down the road from me on Six Forks Rd right to the track. Being a die hard NASCAR fan isn’t cheap. Believe me, they can afford shots and have much better medical than we do here in blue state NY. Spending one year following the NASCAR circuit and you can easily follow your favorite baseball or football team for life for less $$.
Posted by: Northerner | October 13, 2007, 12:51 am 12:51 am
Why isn’t anybody mentioning what an environmental waste Nascar is? Around and around the track wasting resources for entertainment. This sends the wrong message, as wearing real fur did years ago. Onlookers waitng for someone to crash as modern day version of the Industrialized gladiators vie for the top spot. But there is to much money involved in this white male dominated good ol’ boy corporate sport. So not a discouraging word is whispered.
Posted by: Sandra Lea | October 13, 2007, 3:05 pm 3:05 pm
Just because some of us Nascar fans are missing a few teeth, and sometime smell a bit ripe, doesn’t mean that we spread diseases. All the senator had to do was tell his staffers to wash their hands after they wipe their butts. According to the Hillbilly Holler (our local newspaper, and yes we can read), that’s the leading cause of sickness, not redneck Nascar fans.
Posted by: Homer Brockworth | October 13, 2007, 8:16 pm 8:16 pm
Why do they not have the aids vaccinated when they go to the football games? There are more people there in more extreme weather conditions than the Nascar races. Thousands of people sit for four to five hours in near subzero temperatures just to watch a football game. That extreme cold is worse for someone’s health than the temps for Nascar.
Not two hours away from Talladega is the second largest research park in the nation along with having NASA there. It has some of the smartest people in our country that work on our nation’s defense. Yet, people constantly refer to us as backwoodsy and rednecks. The northern states have just as many “rednecks” as the southern states. There is as much farmland ther, too. One cannot say that all northerners are educated, higher class individuals. I happen to love Nascar, but I also love the opera and ballet. One type of entertainment is not mutually exclusive in a persons life. If you think so, you need to broaden your horizons.
Posted by: Amber Willis | October 16, 2007, 3:36 am 3:36 am
I am totally enraged with the oh my crap doesn’t stink like yours crowd. Just because you may have money or think your better than someone doesn’t mean you are. How did you get to be so much better, did you make your money legal or did you sit on your butt and inherit it? believe me you can lose it just like you got it. Look at some of the millionares that are not millionares anymore so don’t be so high and mighty to judge someone, money doesn’t make you high class. The nerve of some people thinking everybody in the south or nascar are rednecks. There are millionares going to nascar events do they have a disease. Just for your info diseases have no favorites they affect rich poor old young. Also I’d like to mention that nascar owners drivers and fans contribute a great deal of money to charities. So I guess you are so much better than all of them, and so much healthier. Why don’t you go live in a bubble with ALL YOUR MONEY AND BETTER THAN YOU ATTITUDE. Yes I am enraged at the comments about the type of people at a race. You want to see a real redneck keep making your comments, from the south or not you will soon see the amount of rednecks in the whole United States. Go get all your shots…. All you that think you are better than us.
Posted by: cindy | October 16, 2007, 12:00 pm 12:00 pm
I have to say, I am very confused…I live in California. I belong to a financially stable (Upper Middle Class) family. My family is nuts over NASCAR, and we are by no means considered lower of “Poor” class. We have always enjoyed NASCAR…many generations worth as a matter of fact. And I believe that people have a large misconception as to who enjoys the races. By the way…have any of you noticed how expensive tickets are to races now? How can “Poor People” afford to throw away hundreds of dollars on a race??? Think about it!
Posted by: Teresa | October 19, 2007, 6:04 pm 6:04 pm
Jennifer:
Are you kidding me? are you suggesting that only people of a certain class group contract disease? Even if your premise is correct that NASCAR fans are lowlifes, intechangable with wresteling fans, that does not make them any more or less likely to have these diseases. These diseases are blind to economic class, social class and income class. I guess your blind too, and a little ignorant too….just like those dirty NASCAR fans….
Posted by: paul | October 22, 2007, 10:24 pm 10:24 pm