Chris Smith: “I thank my good friend, the chair, Mr. Pitts, for yielding and for his leadership on all issues relating to health, and…”

“I thank my good friend, the chair, Mr. Pitts, for yielding and for his leadership on all issues relating to health, and in particular on autism. I do want to thank Speaker Boehner and Majority Leader Cantor for bringing the bill to the floor. Without them, it wouldn't be on the floor today. And I also thank Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Fred Upton. And of course, again, Chairman Pitts. And I want to thank my good friend Mr. Doyle. We have worked on this for well over a decade. We formed the Autism Caucus. It has over 100 members. It is totally bipartisan. It has been a pleasure to work with him, and I thank him for his leadership as well. Mr. Speaker, I do rise in support of this bill, H.R. 2005, the Combating Autism Reauthorization Act of 2011. This legislation is critically important to continue without interruption the progress that has been achieved to date in understanding autism and in developing interventions that will have the greatest impact in helping individuals affected by autism or other developmental disabilities. When I first got elected to Congress in 1980, the autism community accepted that autism prevalence rates in the United States were something on the order of 3 in 10,000. Today it is estimated to be 1 in 110, and in some places like New Jersey, the data suggests 1 in 94, for a total of about 1.5 million individuals in the U.S. who are suffering from autism.…”