Joe Lieberman: “Addressing my distinguished colleagues from Pennsylvania and Iowa, the subcommittee Chairman and ranking member, I…”

“Addressing my distinguished colleagues from Pennsylvania and Iowa, the subcommittee Chairman and ranking member, I wanted to talk with you about the need to study further the issue of thimerosal in vaccines and whether there is any association with autism and other autism spectrum disorders. As you know, autism is a neuro- developmental disorder characterized by severe impairments in language development and socialization. The American Academy of Pediatrics, AAP, says that currently 1 in 166 children has autism or an autism spectrum disorder. Some in the autism community attribute this rise to changes in the vaccine schedule which began in 1990. Three of the four vaccines between 1990 and 2000 given to American children at the 2,4, and 6 month doctor visit contained thimerosal which is a vaccine preservative that is 50 percent mercury by weight. Mercury of course is a known neurotoxin.”