PRINTER'S NO. 4044
No. 820 Session of 2008
INTRODUCED BY HERSHEY, BAKER, BEYER, BISHOP, BROOKS,
CALTAGIRONE, COHEN, CREIGHTON, DALEY, DiGIROLAMO, DONATUCCI,
EVERETT, FLECK, FRANKEL, GEIST, GEORGE, GIBBONS, GILLESPIE,
GINGRICH, GOODMAN, GRUCELA, HARHART, HELM, HESS, JAMES,
KOTIK, LEACH, MAHONEY, MAJOR, MANDERINO, MANTZ, McILHATTAN,
MELIO, MILLARD, MOYER, MURT, MUSTIO, MYERS, NAILOR,
D. O'BRIEN, PALLONE, PAYNE, PHILLIPS, QUINN, RAMALEY, RAPP,
READSHAW, REICHLEY, ROCK, ROEBUCK, ROSS, SAINATO, SAYLOR,
SCAVELLO, SHAPIRO, SIPTROTH, SOLOBAY, SWANGER, THOMAS, TRUE,
VULAKOVICH, WALKO, WATSON, WOJNAROSKI AND YOUNGBLOOD,
JUNE 25, 2008
INTRODUCED AS NONCONTROVERSIAL RESOLUTION UNDER RULE 35,
JUNE 25, 2008
A RESOLUTION
1 Designating November 2008 as "Tay-Sachs Awareness Month" in
2 Pennsylvania.
3 WHEREAS, Tay-Sachs disease is a genetic degenerative
4 neurological condition caused by the mutation of a single gene,
5 and it primarily affects young children; and
6 WHEREAS, Of the three variants of Tay-Sachs disease,
7 Infantile Tay-Sachs has an average life expectancy of two to
8 five years, Juvenile Tay-Sachs has a life expectancy of 15 years
9 and the late onset variant affects adults who normally become
10 wheelchair-bound with significant impairment of speech and motor
11 skills; and
12 WHEREAS, Within the Ashkenazi Jewish population, the
13 Louisiana Cajuns and the French-Canadian population, one in
1 every 27 people carry the Tay-Sachs gene mutation, and among
2 Irish Americans, the incidence rate is one in 50; and
3 WHEREAS, One in every 250 people in the general population
4 carry the Tay-Sachs gene mutation, and in Pennsylvania, this
5 statistic means that 50,000 residents carry this deadly gene
6 mutation; and
7 WHEREAS, Tay-Sachs disease usually occurs only if both
8 parents carry the gene mutation, so the more likely a
9 demographic group is to intermarry, the higher the incidence
10 rate; and
11 WHEREAS, Scientific research in gene therapy has advanced to
12 the point where a treatment or cure for Tay-Sachs disease is
13 possible by 2012; and
14 WHEREAS, Awareness of this disease promotes continuation of
15 research and enables the prevention of Tay-Sachs births;
16 therefore be it
17 RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives designate
18 November 2008 as "Tay-Sachs Awareness Month" in Pennsylvania.
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