A day after U.S. Rep.-elect Mark Green drew national attention for his remarks suggesting a possible link between vaccines and autism, another Tennessee Republican in Washington took a stand for the public health benefits of vaccinations.

"Vaccines take deadly, awful, ravaging diseases from horror to history," U.S. Sen. Lamar Alexander tweeted Thursday.

The senator's remarks were followed by a terse 30-word statement from the Tennessee Department of Health later in the day Thursday, beginning with the phrase "Vaccines do not cause autism."

Alexander, who chairs the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, tweeted a quote from a video he shared of him previously speaking about vaccines in the committee.

"Sound science is this," Alexander said in the committee meeting. "Vaccines save lives. They save the lives of people that are vaccinated. They protect the lives of the vulnerable around them, like infants and those who are ill."

Green, a Republican state senator from Clarksville who is also a physician, will be sworn-in to the U.S. House of Representatives, his first term, Jan. 3.

Green received criticism from some in the medical community and from many social media users Wednesday for his comments about vaccines at a Tuesday night town hall event in Franklin.

He was responding to the parent of a young adult with autism concerned about possible Medicaid funding cuts.

"Let me say this about autism," Green said. "I have committed to people in my community, up in Montgomery County, to stand on the CDC’s desk and get the real data on vaccines. Because there is some concern that the rise in autism is the result of the preservatives that are in our vaccines.

"As a physician, I can make that argument and I can look at it academically and make the argument against the CDC, if they really want to engage me on it," Green said.

He told those at the town hall that he believed the CDC may have "fraudulently managed" its research on vaccines.

Tennessee Department of Health releases statement denying autism link to vaccines

The state health department released a statement of its own Thursday following media attention surrounding the future congressman's remarks.

"Vaccines do not cause autism," the department stated. "Vaccines save lives. The Tennessee Department of Health welcomes discussion with Tennessee clinicians and scientists who would like to examine the evidence on this topic."

The department also posted an abbreviated version of the statement on Twitter.

When asked what prompted the department to issue the statement, a spokesperson said the "statement speaks for itself."

The CDC has found no link between autism and vaccines and has disproven theories suggesting otherwise.

Green later clarified that he "would encourage families to get vaccinated at this time," and said that he and his wife had vaccinated their children, but believed more research needed to be done on a possible link with autism.

Speculation has long surrounded Green about his possible interest in running for Alexander’s U.S. Senate seat, including as far back as 2013 when tea party activists sought a more conservative candidate to mount a primary challenge. Ultimately, then-state Rep. Joe Carr ran against Alexander in the GOP primary and came within 10 percentage points of the incumbent.

A spokesperson for Alexander said his office had heard from Tennesseans who wanted to emphasize the importance of vaccines.

Alexander, who has been outspoken on the issue, tweeted the same video last month with a link to an op-ed in the Tennessean urging the public to receive flu shots.

In 2017, Alexander was among a bipartisan group of Senate and House committee leaders who sent a letter to colleagues highlighting the importance of vaccines.

Reach Natalie Allison at nallison@tennessean.com. Follow her on Twitter at @natalie_allison.