On the recordMarch 6, 2013
On Sunday, March 3, 2 days after the failure of this body to stop the mindless budget cuts of the sequester that will slash millions of dollars for medical research, I was honored to join Bob and Suzanne Wright and thousands of others as we walked in downtown West Palm Beach to promote autism awareness, advocacy, and research. One in 88 American children is affected by autism, which is America's fastest growing, serious developmental disability, and the Wrights will be the first to tell you that, even with the progress of their organization Autism Speaks and other fine organizations, it will take the investment of the United States of America in science to unlock the mystery of a disorder that cheats our children and stresses their families financially and emotionally. Mr. Speaker, the sequester will hurt our most vulnerable loved ones and will risk slowing down our economy right when it is recovering. Let's come together now and stop the sequester and reduce our deficit in a balanced way. Instead of tax breaks for oil companies, let's give an autistic child a chance to be the best that he or she can be. ____________________
