POLISCOPE
Back to feed
Part ofPublic Health →

The civic record

Read. Follow. Verify.
FEDERALhearing transcript

Hearing on Repealing Mandatory Smallpox Vaccination for D.C. Students

Original title: Smallpox vaccination repeal: hearing before the Subcommittee on Labor, Social Services, and the International Community of the Committee on the District of Columbia, House of Representatives, Ninety-third Congress, second session, on H.R. 8747, to repeal Section 274 of the revised statutes of the United States relating to the District of Columbia, requiring compulsory vaccination against smallpox for public school students, January 22, 1974.

Record date · July 20, 2026

Track this bill to get notified when it advances a stage. One tap to stop, anytime.

What This Bill Does

This document is a transcript of a 1974 Congressional hearing regarding H.R. 8747, a bill proposed to remove the legal requirement for public school students in the District of Columbia to receive a smallpox vaccination.

Why it matters

The hearing addresses the potential removal of a mandatory health requirement for D.C. public school students, which would change the legal conditions for school enrollment in the District.

Who It Affects

Groups the bill's text affects, as described in the record. Being affected is not a position for or against it.

Directly affected

District of Columbia public school students

The bill would remove the legal requirement for these students to receive a smallpox vaccination to attend school.

Directly affected

District of Columbia public school system

The school system would no longer be legally required to enforce the smallpox vaccination mandate for enrollment.

Key Facts

  • The hearing concerns H.R. 8747, a bill to repeal Section 274 of the revised statutes of the United States.
  • Section 274 currently mandates compulsory smallpox vaccination for all public school students in the District of Columbia.
  • The hearing was held by the Subcommittee on Labor, Social Services, and the International Community of the House Committee on the District of Columbia.
  • The session took place during the second session of the Ninety-third Congress.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the purpose of H.R. 8747?
The bill aims to repeal the existing federal law that requires public school students in the District of Columbia to be vaccinated against smallpox.
Who held this hearing?
The hearing was held by the Subcommittee on Labor, Social Services, and the International Community of the House Committee on the District of Columbia.

What else do you want to know?

News Coverage

No news coverage found yet. Articles are indexed twice daily.

Follow the record

Votes, people, money & the original source

Full breakdown

Who this bill affects and the strongest case for and against it, written only from the bill’s own text.

Discoveries

1 pattern noticed across the record

Patterns POLISCOPE noticed across the record. These are observations to investigate, not conclusions.

policy shift90% confidence

Smallpox Mandate Re-evaluation

The document captures a specific moment in 1974 where federal law regarding smallpox vaccination in D.C. schools was being formally reconsidered.

H.R. 8747

Connected Entities

Subcommittee on Labor, Social Services, and the International Community, Committee on the District of Columbia
OrganizationSubcommittee on Labor, Social Services, and the International Community“The congressional body conducting the hearing.”Map →
OrganizationCommittee on the District of Columbia“The parent committee overseeing the subcommittee.”Map →

Sources

Open source document

www.govinfo.gov

Analysis Score

0–100
  • Significance40
    How much this matters to a regular citizen
  • Controversy20
    Intensity of disagreement among stakeholders
  • Entertainment5
    Compellingness for a non-policy-wonk reader
  • Buzz5
    Current news / social attention level

Publisher tools

Share or embed this record

POLISCOPE publisher tools

Share or embed this record