Dan Burton: “over the past 4 or 5 years, I have, as chairman of the Committee on Government Reform and chairman of the Subcommittee…”

“over the past 4 or 5 years, I have, as chairman of the Committee on Government Reform and chairman of the Subcommittee on Health and Human Rights, held a number of hearings regarding mercury in vaccines and what kind of an impact it had on children. When we first started having the hearings, we were concerned that there was an epidemic of autism and other neurological disorders in children, and we found from scientists who testified before the committee over the years that there was no doubt that one of the major contributing factors to neurological problems, including autism among children, was the mercury in vaccines under the title of Thimerosal, which is a preservative. Thimerosal is a preservative which contains 50 percent ethyl mercury, and as children got more and more vaccinations, as many as 30 now before they start in the first grade, the incidence of neurological disorders, autism and other childhood mental problems, grew dramatically. It used to be 1 in 10,000 children were autistic, according to the Centers for Disease Control. Now it is 1 in 150. We have an absolute epidemic of autism.”