[Congressional Record Volume 149, Number 137 (Wednesday, October 1, 2003)]
[House]
[Pages H9075-H9076]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                               THIMEROSAL

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from Indiana (Mr. Burton) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. BURTON of Indiana. Madam Speaker, as we approach the flu season, 
many of my colleagues will visit the doctor's office here on Capital 
Hill and receive a flu shot. And before they go, I think all my 
colleagues ought to know that that flu shot contains mercury, which is 
a substance that is toxic to the human brain. That is not to say you 
should not get your flu shot if you want to, but there is a lot of 
neurological disorders that have been caused by mercury, and I think 
everyone should know there is mercury in that vaccine.
  That is not the only vaccine that contains thimerosal. From anthrax 
to hepatitis, from lyme disease to DTaP, which is given to infants to 
protect against diptheria, tetanus and whooping cough, numerous 
vaccines exist that contain mercury, a harmful preservative. And 
parents around this country, I am sure, would be very upset if they 
knew that.
  Scientific evidence continues to accumulate regarding the 
biologically-plausible connection between mercury and thimerosal, 
autism, and other neurological developmental disorders. Yet several 
well-known and firmly established pharmaceutical companies continue to 
put mercury into vaccines as a preservative, and it has never been 
tested. That is very interesting. Although the U.S. Food and Drug 
Administration asked vaccine manufacturers to begin removing the 
mercury-latent thimerosal from vaccines in 1999, they did not order 
them to do it. So the pharmaceutical companies continue to put that in 
our vaccines.
  During my tenure as chairman of the House Committee on Government 
Reform and Oversight, a myriad of scientists testified at a series of 
hearings before the committee that mercury in vaccines is a 
contributing factor to developing neurological disorders, including 
Alzheimer's disease and autism in children. Fifteen years ago, one out 
of every 10,000 children were autistic. Now it is one out of 150. And 
many scientists believe that is because of the mercury in vaccines.
  In May of this year, the California Department of Developmental 
Services released a report entitled ``Autistic Spectrum Disorders, 
Changes in the California Caseload: 1999 to 2002.'' And the findings 
are very alarming. California's autistic population has nearly doubled 
in 4 years, from 10,360 cases in 1998 to over 20,000 cases in 2002.
  This growth rate represents a 97 percent increase in just 4 years and 
a nearly 100 percent increase in California's case law since 1999. And 
they are not alone. The rate of growth in the population of persons 
with autism across this country is really horrible, and it is very bad 
in States such as Georgia, Minnesota, and Massachusetts. We have an 
absolute epidemic on

[[Page H9076]]

our hands. And if this trend is allowed to continue at a constant rate, 
we could have as many as 4 million autistic children in America in the 
next 10 years.
  Despite a growing body of science linking autism to mercury and 
thimerosal, and the protests of hundreds of thousands of concerned 
parents across the country, the pharmaceutical industry continues to 
put mercury into vaccines for both children and adults even though they 
know mercury is toxic to the human brain. Pharmaceutical companies are 
concerned that they may be held liable in potential class action 
lawsuits for brain damage caused by the mercury-based preservative, 
which is still found in childhood vaccines diptheria, hepatitis B and 
the flu shots. Because of these liability concerns, language was 
inserted at the last minute under the cover of darkness in the homeland 
security bill to protect the pharmaceutical industry from class action 
lawsuits. However, because we caught it, we were able to get it out of 
there because a lot of Members of the House and Senate thought it was 
terrible what they did.
  Numerous scientists have testified there is a simple way to prevent 
this, and that is to go to single-shot vials. Those little glass 
containers. They would not have to put thimerosal or any preservative 
in if they did that. Moving to single-shot vials could have an 
enormously positive impact in helping to minimize, perhaps even 
eliminate, some of the cases of Alzheimer's and autism and other 
neurological disorders linked to mercury.
  This is something that the pharmaceutical companies must address. Our 
Food and Drug Administration and our health agencies are asleep at the 
switch. They are letting children and adults be damaged day after day 
after day by allowing mercury to continue to be put into vaccines for 
adults and children.
  We have a growing number of people who are becoming Alzheimer's 
patients, a dramatically growing number. We have one in 10,000 children 
10 years ago that were autistic, now it is one in 150. And scientists 
before my committee say it is in large part because of the mercury in 
the vaccines. We have to get the FDA on the stick. They have to demand 
that pharmaceutical products having mercury be taken out of them very, 
very quickly. If not, we are going to continue to have an epidemic on 
our hands that America does not need and should not tolerate.

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