[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 157 (2011), Part 10]
[Senate]
[Pages 13746-13747]
[From the U.S. 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

[[Page 13747]]

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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