[Congressional Record Volume 157, Number 137 (Thursday, September 15, 2011)]
[Senate]
[Page S5676]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                            COMBATING AUTISM

  Mr. MENENDEZ. Mr. President, I want to address a very important issue 
that is currently before the Senate. This past Tuesday I submitted a 
bill to the Senate--the Combating Autism Reauthorization Act, S. 1094--
for a unanimous consent agreement. Since then, the Republicans have 
blocked this bi-partisan bill from passing. The Health, Education, 
Labor and Pensions Committee reported this legislation unanimously on 
September 7, 2011.
  My legislation is a simple 3-year extension of the Combating Autism 
Act, CAA, of 2006. This original legislation was passed out of the 
Senate by unanimous consent on December 7, 2006, and signed into law 
shortly thereafter. This landmark legislation included provisions 
relating to the diagnosis and treatment of persons with autism spectrum 
disorders, ASD, and expanded and intensified biomedical research on 
autism, including a focus on possible environmental causes. 
Additionally, it provides for detailed surveillance by the Centers for 
Disease Control and Prevention, CDC, of the increasing prevalence of 
autism spectrum disorders, ASD. The Act also reconstitutes the 
Interagency Autism Coordinating Committee to advise the Secretary, 
coordinate the federal response to autism and develop the annual 
strategic plan for autism research.
  I am greatly disappointed that my colleagues on the other side are 
playing politics with this bill. On September 30, just a couple of 
short weeks from now, the programs authorized under the CAA sunset, and 
with them the myriad programs which have helped families better 
understand, treat and live with ASD. Now is not the time for politics. 
Now is the time to reauthorize the Combating Autism Act so families 
living with ASD can continue receiving the care and support they 
deserve.

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