Chris Smith: “I thank my good friend for yielding and for his leadership and that of my colleague on the other side of the aisle. Mr.…”

“I thank my good friend for yielding and for his leadership and that of my colleague on the other side of the aisle. Mr. Speaker, it all started in September 1997, 27 years ago, with Brick Township, New Jersey, parents Bobbie and Billy Gallagher and their indomitable commitment to help their two children, Austin and Alanna, and everyone else with autism. We met several times and continue to plan and strategize to this day. We invited the CDC to Brick, New Jersey, only to realize that Federal autism programs were woefully inadequate. Frankly, they were nonexistent. They spend $287,000 per year on autism. That is it, a straight line for 5 years. It was a nothing burger, and they did nothing really of substance. So I introduced the Autism Statistics, Surveillance, Research, and Epidemiology Act, the ASSURE Act, in 1998 and again in 1999. In the second one, we had 199, almost one-half of the House of Representatives, as cosponsors. That would have established three to five autism centers of excellence, authorized serious prevalence studies, and established an autism advisory committee, which we now call IACC. I am deeply grateful that the ASSURE Act was incorporated in large part by Chairman Mike Bilirakis as title I of the Children's Health Act of 2000. Mr.…”