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Clock ticking on autism legislation
Thursday, September 28, 2006
By ELISE
YOUNG
STAFF
WRITER
The Combating Autism Act is Congress's $1 billion effort to chase
down the cause of the disorder and treat those in its grip.
Onboard are New Jersey's two senators and 11 of its 12
representatives -- Rep. Scott Garrett, R-Wantage, has not taken a
position and the 13th seat is vacant. It has huge support from the
country's most influential autism groups and advocates.
The legislation passed unanimously in the Senate on Aug. 3. Yet it
is running out of time in the House of Representatives, where
sponsors have mere days to introduce it before Congress goes into
recess Oct. 6. The bill needs a majority of 218 representatives to
pass. It has 190, according to a list compiled by CombatAutism.org,
a coalition of advocates.
"We would like to pursue this this year," said Lisa Cohen, chief of
staff for Rep. Diana DeGette, the Colorado Democrat who is a primary
sponsor. "We're hopeful, because the bill has broad bipartisan
support both in the House and the Senate."
Over five years, the bill aims to direct $643 million for research
through the National Institutes of Health, $210 million for therapy
and other services for autistic youth and adults and $75 million for
public education. It calls for the screening of every child in
America, because therapies for autism work best when started at a
young age. It demands that the director of the National Institutes
of Health make autism a priority, with annual reports to Congress.
The research money could be a boon for autism specialists at the
University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey and Rutgers and
Princeton universities.
"Clearly, New Jersey, as a leader in this field for more than four
decades, would benefit both in the health-related context as well as
in the potential biomedical research and related sciences that are
actually being conducted here," said Sen. Robert Menendez, D-N.J.,
one of the bill's sponsors. "If it went through the full Congress
this year, it seems like the benefits could begin to flow at the end
of next year."
Of course, President Bush's signature is crucial -- and he has not
publicly committed to the legislation. And some believe that
election-year politics is making some House members leery of
committing to a $1 billion expenditure.
"The reason it's being held up in the House has to do with how much
money the present majority wants to spend on health care in
general," said Rep. Steve Rothman, D-Fair Lawn. "They don't want to
come up with a figure before the election."
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Rep. William J. Pascrell Jr., D-Paterson, said his colleagues have
no time to spare, particularly when some research suggests that
autism is caused by environmental factors -- a great concern in a
state with the country's highest number of Superfund sites.
"I think that while this is far from what we need, we need to get it
passed immediately," Pascrell said of the bill. "The House of
Representatives is like a dinosaur. It needs its tail whacked so
many times."
New Jersey's one holdout is Garrett.
"It's still under consideration for him," said his press secretary,
Audrey Jones. "Often he doesn't say how he's going to vote ahead of
time."
A Republican colleague and longtime advocate of autism causes, Rep.
Christopher H. Smith of Mercer County, said the House could save
time and scrap its version of the bill.
"At this point, this late in the game, just take the Senate bill and
pass that," he said. "Avoid a conference. I'm saying, 'Mr. Speaker,
post the Senate bill.' The sooner this gets down to the president,
the better. Get it down to the president. He'll sign it in an
instant."
But the Bush administration wouldn't confirm that.
"We don't have an official position on the bill," said Peter
Watkins, a White House spokesman.
E-mail:
younge@northjersey.com
Copyright
© 2006
North Jersey Media Group Inc.
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