Dan Burton: “I rise in support of the Combating Autism Act of 2006--S. 843--as amended. I want to thank Chairman Nathan Deal and…”

“I rise in support of the Combating Autism Act of 2006--S. 843--as amended. I want to thank Chairman Nathan Deal and Chairman Joe Barton, and the Energy and Commerce Committee staff, for bringing this bill to the floor today. Over the last 5 years or more, many of you have heard me speak many times on this floor about the subject of autism and you will likely continue to hear me speak on this issue because I believe we truly have our work cut out for us. About 20 years ago, autism was considered a rare disease, affecting about 1 in 10,000 children. Now, that rate is about 1 in 166; making autism the third most common developmental disability that children face, even more prevalent than things such as Down's syndrome and other childhood cancers. In my own home State of Indiana we experienced a 923 percent cumulative growth rate for autism from 1992 to 2003. The annual growth rate of autism in Indiana averaged 27 percent compared to an average of 7 percent for the growth rate of all disabilities. This literal epidemic of autism is a looming and immediate economic crisis to our education system, our health care systems, our long-term housing and care system for the disabled, and most especially, to an ever-increasing number of families across the country. Autism is a condition that has no known cure, which means that this is a crisis that is simply not going to "go away." Today we take a huge step forward in terms of dealing with this problem.”