[Congressional Record Volume 149, Number 50 (Thursday, March 27, 2003)]
[House]
[Page H2404]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




           HONORING CRAIG DURFEY FOR HIS FIGHT AGAINST AUTISM

  (Ms. LORETTA SANCHEZ of California asked and was given permission to 
address the House for 1 minute and to revise and extend her remarks.)
  Ms. LORETTA SANCHEZ of California. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor 
Craig Durfey for his tireless work in the fight against autism.
  Craig is the founder of Parents for the Rights of Developmentally 
Disabled Children. As a father of children with autism, he knows 
firsthand the difficulties that come with dealing with this dreaded 
disease.
  Today autism is a national crisis that affects nearly 1.5 million 
children. According to recent studies, as many as one in every 250 
children born today will be diagnosed with autism. Autism costs the 
Nation between $20 billion and $60 billion annually, and the projection 
for the next 10 years will be that it will cost $400 billion.
  Autistic children go to doctors three times more often than normal 
children, and many times families must travel hundreds of miles to see 
a knowledgeable doctor that understands autism.
  Craig has been working tirelessly to provide funding for programs in 
my community and in the Nation that would train social service and law 
enforcement personnel on how to identify children with this type of 
disability.
  I applaud Craig for his efforts, and I will continue to work on his 
behalf with my colleagues in the Congressional Coalition for Autism 
Research and Education to increase funding for ideas like Craig's and 
to find a cure for autism.

                          ____________________