[Congressional Record Volume 152, Number 24 (Wednesday, March 1, 2006)]
[Senate]
[Pages S1575-S1576]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                        AUTISM SPECTRUM DISORDER

  Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, each year roughly 24,000 children in the 
United States are born with an autism spectrum disorder. Over my short 
lifetime in medicine, the last 30 years, it has been remarkable to see 
the increase in autism spectrum disorder, a disorder which we don't 
understand today. We have made progress, but we don't understand it. 
The symptoms are tragic in many ways. They can be severe, or they have 
the spectrum from mild to severe. Autistic infants display abnormal 
reactions to various sensory stimuli, whether it is light or touch or 
smells, where touches can be experienced as being very painful, smells 
can be experienced as being very unpleasant. Loud noises and bright 
lights may cause reactions that involve a range of emotions, including 
weeping.
  As the child grows older, they sometimes avoid cuddling or touching 
even close family members--again, this is a broad spectrum--many times 
preferring to stay alone, to play by themselves. By adolescence, these 
symptoms can become unbearably acute. You can imagine the impact this 
has on parents who become bewildered. Some lose hope. It is more common 
than childhood cancer today.
  A lot of people don't realize that the incidence and prevalence of 
this has increased to the point that it surpasses childhood cancer. It 
can tear apart families--even the strongest families. The reason I 
bring it to the floor today is, I spent a good part of today talking to 
various people whose families have been affected. My own family has 
been affected by it. And as a physician, a doctor, as somebody who has 
devoted the majority of his adult life not to politics but to healing, 
I do believe that that combination of physician and legislator gives me 
certain responsibilities but also certain opportunities to push the 
frontiers of health, especially when we don't know the cause, the 
etiology.
  That is why 6 years ago I sponsored the Children's Health Act of 
2000. That was the first bill that looked at a whole spectrum of 
childhood diseases, one of which was autism. The legislation directed 
the National Institutes of Health to expand, to intensify, and to 
coordinate research into autism--this very complex, very poorly 
understood disorder. Progress has been made, but now the time has come 
to reauthorize that legislation.
  Under the Children's Health Act, the NIH established the interagency 
coordinating committee to coordinate all autism-related activities at 
the Health

[[Page S1576]]

and Human Services Agency. The committee represents a broad range of 
interests, including parents, doctors, and researchers engaged with 
this disease. The NIH also created eight Centers of Excellence in 
autism research across the country to conduct basic clinical research 
into the cause, diagnosis, early detection, prevention, control, and 
treatment of autism. These eight centers have shown and demonstrated 
true success.
  In 2001, NIH spent about $56 million on autism-related research. 
Three years later, that number went up to $100 million. What is 
especially remarkable is what the private sector, through philanthropy 
and organizations, has done in complementing and supplementing those 
funds. Unfortunately, we still don't know what causes autism, but we 
know that we must find a cure. It is time for us to reauthorize the 
autism provisions in the Children's Health Act. I look forward to 
working with my colleagues to do that. Children are our Nation's most 
precious resource. We must continue to push for a sustained investment 
and commitment to curing this heartbreaking disorder.

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