[Congressional Record Volume 153, Number 100 (Wednesday, June 20, 2007)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1351]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                      THE OMNIBUS AUTISM HEARINGS

                                 ______
                                 

                            HON. DAN BURTON

                               of indiana

                    in the house of representatives

                         Tuesday, June 19, 2007

  Mr. BURTON of Indiana. Madam Speaker, I rise tonight to talk about 
the Omnibus Autism Hearing which started on June 11, 2007, down at the 
U.S. Federal Claims Court here in Washington, DC. At issue are the 
4,800 claims against the National Vaccine Injury Compensation Program 
filed by parents of autistic children who believe, as I do, that 
thimerosal--the mercury-based preservative in vaccines--caused their 
children's disorders.
  There are many people in our health agencies, in the pharmaceutical 
industry and here in Congress who say that there is no the scientific 
evidence linking thimerosal and autism. However, during my tenure as 
chairman of Government Reform Committee (1997-2002), and as chairman of 
the Subcommittee on Human Rights and Wellness (2003-2005), I chaired 
numerous hearings examining the alarming increase in autism in this 
country over the last several decades. In the 1980s, roughly one in 
10,000 American children was diagnosed with some kind of autism 
spectrum disorder. Today that number has risen to 1 in 150. I believe, 
as do many credible scientists and researchers, that the clear 
correlation between the dramatic rise in the number of autism cases, 
and the rapid expansion of the childhood vaccination schedule during 
that 20-year period, points to the mercury-based preservative 
thimerosal--routinely used in pediatric vaccines during the period--as 
a contributing factor to our country's literal epidemic of autism. In 
fact, I firmly believe my own grandson became autistic after receiving 
nine shots in 1 day, seven of which contained thimerosal. In fact, Dr. 
Bernard Rimland--founder and director of the Autism Research 
Institute--testified before the committee that classic autism, 
(noticeable from birth) has largely been replaced by late-onset or 
``acquired autism''; a form of autism in which children are born 
normally developing but later regress into autism in the second year of 
life. He was one of the first to point to environmental insult through 
vaccine injury as a possible leading contributing factor.
  The truth is that since the initiation of my vaccine investigation, 
two schools of science have evolved leading to two very different 
conclusions. The first, largely funded by the Centers for Disease 
Control, consist of epidemiological evaluations in Denmark that look at 
medical files in individuals who developed autism and deciding whether 
or not thimerosal exposure was more predominant in the autism patients. 
Those who have focused solely on the epidemiology research have 
concluded that there is no relationship between vaccine injury and the 
onset of autism. However, once published, these studies were discovered 
to have many methodological flaws. For example, using individuals in 
Denmark did not provide a true comparison to the U.S. vaccine schedule, 
and by the CDC's own admission, the study could not really provide any 
true conclusion as to whether or not a subset of the population--
because of vaccine exposure to mercury or some other vaccine injury--
developed autism.
  The second school of research has conducted so-called ``hard'' 
science; providing objective measures through laboratory and animal 
research. For example, Dr. Hornig at Columbia University replicated the 
thimerosal exposure in vaccines in a mouse study and discovered mice 
exposed to thimerosal had both behavioral and biological responses--
displaying autism like behaviors and exhibiting white matter changes in 
the brain that were measurable. Other laboratory research has shown 
that thimerosal exposure affects the protective sheath of the 
neurofibrals in the brain as well as the IGF-I molecule. And Dr. Jill 
James at the University of Arkansas has shown that thimerosal exposure 
affects the methylation process--the mechanism used to regulate genes 
and protect DNA from some types of damage.
  The most recent hard science study to be published is from Dr. 
Burbacher, a leading expert on mercury, who investigated the different 
affect methyl mercury and ethyl mercury had on primates. He found that 
ethylmercury--the form of mercury in thimerosal--stays in the brain 
(doing more harm) than methylmercury.
  The bottom line is that mercury is a base element and the most toxic 
substance known to science outside of radioactive materials; and each 
of these hard science studies, and more, show that it is biologically 
plausible for mercury exposure in vaccines to cause the onset of autism 
and provide tantalizing pieces in the puzzle about how.
  My support for the link between thimerosal and autism, especially in 
open congressional hearings has caused many people to throw around the 
accusation that I am ``anti-vaccine.'' My response to that is that 
vaccines are the only medications that are mandatory for Americans to 
receive and as such we have an even greater obligation to ensure that 
they are as safe as possible. In addition, experience tells us that, as 
with any other epidemic, while there may be underlying genetic 
susceptibilities, there usually is some type of environmental trigger 
as well, such as a virus, fungus, exposure to heavy metals, pollutants, 
or whatever. There has never, to the best of my knowledge, been a 
purely genetic epidemic. So, genetics alone simply cannot explain how 
we went from 1 in 10,000 children with autism spectrum disorders 20 
years ago to 1 in 150 today.
  No one has ever identified a positive health benefit to mercury in 
the human body. Thus, it was sound public health policy to eliminate 
mercury from thermometers, blood pressure gauges, light switches, 
cosmetics, teething powder, horse liniment, hat-making materials, 
smokestack emission, and mining operations. It would also be sound 
public health policy to eliminate mercury from all vaccines.
  But Madam Speaker, getting the mercury out of all vaccines is only 
the first step. We also have a responsibility to help all of the 
children who have already been injured by mercury in vaccines. That is 
why the outcome of the Omnibus Autism Hearing is so critically 
important. In the 1980s, Congress creating the Vaccine Injury 
Compensation Program to shield medical professionals and vaccine 
manufacturers from liability if an individual suffered an adverse event 
from receiving vaccines. The compensation fund, which currently 
contains about $2.5 billion, is financed by a tax on pediatric 
vaccines. We created VICP to protect the vaccine supply and to insure 
that all who were injured by a vaccine would receive compensation in 
what was supposed to be a no-fault, easy to use manner. Congress 
intended for families to be compensated quickly and fairly; and when 
the evidence was close as to whether or not the medical condition in 
question was vaccine related or not--as is the case with thimerosal--
the court should always err in favor of the injured. But over the years 
the system has broken and what was supposed to be quick and fair has 
become slow and contentious; which is why today 4,800 families are 
fighting in court to be heard. They have waited a long time for their 
day in court and I am pleased that the court is providing the 
transcripts online quickly and that audio streaming on the internet is 
being provided for the thousands of families who are not able to travel 
to Washington and actually be in the courtroom during the proceedings.
  As the Omnibus hearings proceed, I hope that all of the evidence 
regarding vaccine injury will be received by the courts and given a 
full and fair review. I believe the families of these autistic children 
deserve to be compensated for their vaccine injury as Congress intended 
when it created VICP. I believe the science is there to prove this case 
and I am hopeful that the court will agree and at the end of this 
arduous process these 4,800 families will finally get justice.

                          ____________________