Re: Rep Dan Burton's testimony about autism with Congress ~ Mercury Vaccines

[Guest guest]

:Rep. Dan Burton Addresses the House of Representatives – Says Mercury

in Vaccines Causes Autism More Info

Cites New Research Showing Mercury Causes Autism

To View This Message on our Web Site Click HERE or go here:

_http://tinyurl.http://tin_ (http://tinyurl.com/2pr6op)

To Send a Message to Asking Congress to Hold Hearings on Vaccines and

Autism Click HERE or go here: _http://tinyurl.http://tin_

(http://tinyurl.com/3a4e4a)

Rep. Dan Burton Addresses Congress on Mercury

Cites New Evidence Showing Mercury Connection to Autism

For Links To Rep. Burton's Letter to Vacine Court and To Read the

DeSoto Study Click Here : _http://a-_ (http://a-/)

champ.org/vaccinecochamp.org/vchamp.org/vac

BLOOD LEVELS OF MERCURY ARE RELATED TO DIAGNOSIS OF AUTISM -- (House

of Representatives - December 11, 2007)

The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the

gentleman from Indiana (Mr. Burton) is recognized for 5 minutes.

Mr. BURTON of Indiana. Madam Speaker, it's late at night here in the

Capitol, and most of my colleagues are in their offices or have gone

home. But I want to talk about an issue that's very, very important

that we've been talking about now for the last 8 years.

I was chairman of the Government Reform Committee for 6 years, and

during that time, my grandson became autistic; and we checked to find

out what was the cause, trying to find out, because my daughter and

her husband were just extremely upset about it, as we were as

grandparents. And we found that he had received nine shots in one

day, seven of which had a product called themarasol, a preservative,

in it. And the themarasol was 50 percent ethylmercury. And so I

decided to have hearings to try to find out if the ethylmercury in

those vaccines had anything to do with the autistic problem my

grandson had. And we found, by having many, many hearings over a 4-

year period, we found that scientists from all over the world and

leading doctors and educators here that work with autistic children,

that the mercury in the vaccines did contribute to the autistic

epidemic that we had.

We used to have one in 10,000 children that were diagnosed as being

autistic. One in 10,000. Today the Centers for Disease Control will

tell you it's one out of 150. It's an absolute epidemic in this

country. And we have been fighting and fighting and fighting to make

sure that those families who have been damaged and those children who

have been damaged by autism get some kind of compensation. And that's

why, and I think in 1986 we passed what was called the Vaccine Injury

Compensation Fund, and it took some of the money from the

pharmaceutical companies when they sold their vaccine products to put

into this fund to take care of people who are damaged by vaccines.

And one of the reasons we did that was because of the issue of

autism, although at that time I didn't know much about it.

In any event, the Vaccine Injury Compensation Fund has about $3

billion in it, and the people who's children have been adversely

affected by mercury and have autism have not been able to get

anything out of that. They have to go through a process and see a

special master, and he has to judge whether or not the information

that he has and the information they have lead them to believe that

the mercury in the vaccines caused autism. And so far the special

masters have not been able to ascertain, according to them, that the

mercury in the vaccines does cause autism.

Well, last week, 2 years ago, let's see, 4 years ago there was a

report, 2004, that said that there was definitely no connection

between the mercury and the vaccinations and the children getting

autism. Well, this past November, just last month, two doctors, Dr.

DeSoto and Dr. T. Hitlan, both very renowned doctors

across this country, they have Ph.D.s in medicine, they wrote an

article in the Journal of Child Neurology. And you can't discount

this. What they're saying is fact. I want to read to you the summary

of what they said. They said: ``The question of what is leading to

the apparent increase in autism is of great importance. Like the link

between aspirin and heart attack, even a small effect can have a

major health implication. If there is any link between autism and

mercury, it is absolutely crucial that the first reports of the

question are not falsely stated and that no link occurs.''

Now, get this: ``We have reanalyzed the data set forth originally

reported in 2004 and have found that the original P value was in

error and that a significant relation does exist between the blood

levels of mercury and diagnosis of an autism spectrum disorder.

Moreover, the hair sample analysis results offer some support for the

idea that persons with autism may be less efficient and more variable

at eliminating mercury from the blood.''

The fact of the matter is the mercury in the vaccines causes autism.

It's not the only cause of autism. But now we have scientific

evidence by two leading doctors in the Journal of Child Neurology

that says without doubt, the mercury in the vaccines does cause

autism, is a major contributing factor.

Well, I've written, contacted Congressman Kucinich, who's chairman of

the subcommittee that deals with this in the Capitol, and I've also

contacted the special masters that decide these cases and have urged

them to re-evaluate all of these cases where people who have autistic

children have found that the mercury in the vaccines may have been a

major cause.

Now we know that it is a cause of autism, and those people who have

suffered, and those kids who have suffered need to be compensated out

of the Vaccine Injury Compensation Fund.

So I'd like to say to my colleagues, I hope you will join me in

making sure that the information I just read gets out to everybody.

These kids are going to live to be 50, 60, 70 years old, and unless

there's some help for them, they're going to be a real burden on the

taxpayers and on society. We have an obligation to make sure they're

taken care of.

I hope all of my colleagues will read this statement tonight and help

us to change the attitude of our health agencies and the special

masters dealing with this problem.

In November 2007, the well-respected scientific journal, the Journal

of Child Neurology, published an article authored by Drs. M.

DeSoto and T. Hiltlan (PhDs), detailing their

findings on the relationship between mercury and autism spectrum

disorders. The article was entitled ``Blood Levels of Mercury are

Related to Diagnosis of Autism: A Reanalysis of an Important Data

Set.''

To summarize the article, Drs. DeSoto and Hiltlan reanalyzed a data

set the subject of a 2004 study that found no relationship between

mercury and autism. By reexamining the data set, Drs. DeSoto and

Hiltlan determined that the conclusions of the 2004 study were wrong,

and that a relation does exist between the blood levels of mercury

and diagnosis of an autism spectrum disorder.

As Drs. DeSoto and Hiltlan noted in their article, there has been a

marked increase in the diagnosis of autism in this country over the

last 20 years. In fact we have gone from an autism rate of 1 in

10,000 to 1 in 150. So, answering the question of what is (and is

not) a possible contributing cause of autism is crucial, not only to

the millions of American families currently affected by autism but to

future generations.

We simply cannot dismiss or downplay scientific research, which has

the potential to unlock the mysteries surrounding what is causing our

Nation's autism crisis. We owe it

to the thousands of families living with autism to follow the science

wherever it may lead.

That's why in late November, I wrote to the Chairman of the House

Subcommittee on Domestic Policy, Representative Dennis Kucinich; and

the Special Masters assigned to the Congressionally-the Special Maste

Vaccine Program within the U.S. Court of Federal Claims, alerting

them to the findings in Drs. DeSoto and Hiltlan's latest research.

Specifically, I asked the Special Masters to take Drs. DeSoto and

Hiltlan's latest findings into consideration as they carry out their

mandate of managing and adjudicating childhood vaccine claims. I

asked Chairman Kucinich to hold a hearing on the environmental risks

of mercury in childhood vaccines before the 110th Congress ends.

Given the high stakes involved, scientific reports discussing a

connection between blood mercury levels and autism deserve serious

consideration and review by the medical and scientific community.

During my tenure as Chairman of the House Committee on Government and

Reform, I spent 6 years researching and hearing testimony from the

autism advocacy and scientific communities about the autism epidemic

sweeping our country. Over and over again, questions of causation,

namely the use of thimerosal--namely the use of thimerosal--<WBR>the men

in childhood vaccines were raised.

Here's what I learned:

A number of credible national and international scientists testified

before the Committee that mercury in vaccines is a contributing

factor in developing neurological disorders, including, but not

limited to, modest declines in intelligent quotient, autism, and

Alzheimer's disease. And the body of evidence to support that

conclusion gets larger everyday.

Experience tells us that, as with any other epidemic, while there may

be underlying genetic susceptibilities, there usually is also some

type of environmental trigger as well--be it exposure to a virus,

fungus, heavy metal, or pollutant. There has never, to the best of my

knowledge, been a purely genetic epidemic.

Genetics alone cannot explain how we went from 1 in 10,000 children

with autism spectrum disorders 20 years ago to 1 in 150 today. The

increase happened far too quickly for a genetic shift.

As mercury is a known bio-accumulative neurotoxin, it is biologically

plausible that it is a contributing factor to our Nation's autism

epidemic.

Autism has no cure, and while it is a life-changing condition, it is

not a life-threatening disease. This means that the autistic children

of today will be the autistic adults and autistic seniors, 20, 30,

50, even 70 years from now. Our Nation is ill prepared to deal with

the complex educational, financial, housing, and health care

challenges posed by a generation of autistic individuals.

My only grandson is autistic, so this is an issue that is very close

to my heart; and for the last several years I have fought hard to

raise awareness of this disease, and increase research into the

causes of autism, as well as new treatments for those suffering with

autism.

As a Nation, I believe, we have a collective responsibility to do

everything we can to not only stop the further spread of this disease

but to help the millions of children, adults and families afflicted

with it.

--END--

**************************************See AOL's top rated recipes

(http://food.aol.com/top-rated-recipes?NCID=aoltop00030000000004)

[Guest guest]

---

Thank you for sharing this our way, I truly enjoyed reading this

post.

" sorry for my duplicate post in regards to our military "

-candy reyes

In Texas-Autism-Advocacy , and Trina Sherman

wrote:

>

> And then God hits you on the head with a sledge hammer and says " It

> would be so much easier if you just listened! " Someday soon I think

the

> sledgehammer will fall and we will have a huge sigh of relief at

our

> house and a big hug for Representative Burton. .....T

> >

> >

> > :Rep. Dan Burton Addresses the House of Representatives †" Says

Mercury

> > in Vaccines Causes Autism More Info

> >

> > Cites New Research Showing Mercury Causes Autism

> >

> > To View This Message on our Web Site Click HERE or go here:

> > _http://tinyurl.http://tin_ <http://tinyurl.http://tin_>

> > (http://tinyurl.com/2pr6op <http://tinyurl.com/2pr6op>)

> > To Send a Message to Asking Congress to Hold Hearings on Vaccines

and

> > Autism Click HERE or go here: _http://tinyurl.http://tin_

> > <http://tinyurl.http://tin_>

> > (http://tinyurl.com/3a4e4a <http://tinyurl.com/3a4e4a>)

> >

> > Rep. Dan Burton Addresses Congress on Mercury

> >

> > Cites New Evidence Showing Mercury Connection to Autism

> >

> > For Links To Rep. Burton's Letter to Vacine Court and To Read the

> > DeSoto Study Click Here : _http://a-_ (http://a-/)

> > champ.org/vaccinecochamp.org/vchamp.org/vac

> >

> > BLOOD LEVELS OF MERCURY ARE RELATED TO DIAGNOSIS OF AUTISM --

(House

> > of Representatives - December 11, 2007)

> > The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the

> > gentleman from Indiana (Mr. Burton) is recognized for 5 minutes.

> >

> > Mr. BURTON of Indiana. Madam Speaker, it's late at night here in

the

> > Capitol, and most of my colleagues are in their offices or have

gone

> > home. But I want to talk about an issue that's very, very

important

> > that we've been talking about now for the last 8 years.

> >

> > I was chairman of the Government Reform Committee for 6 years, and

> > during that time, my grandson became autistic; and we checked to

find

> > out what was the cause, trying to find out, because my daughter

and

> > her husband were just extremely upset about it, as we were as

> > grandparents. And we found that he had received nine shots in one

> > day, seven of which had a product called themarasol, a

preservative,

> > in it. And the themarasol was 50 percent ethylmercury. And so I

> > decided to have hearings to try to find out if the ethylmercury in

> > those vaccines had anything to do with the autistic problem my

> > grandson had. And we found, by having many, many hearings over a

4-

> > year period, we found that scientists from all over the world and

> > leading doctors and educators here that work with autistic

children,

> > that the mercury in the vaccines did contribute to the autistic

> > epidemic that we had.

> >

> > We used to have one in 10,000 children that were diagnosed as

being

> > autistic. One in 10,000. Today the Centers for Disease Control

will

> > tell you it's one out of 150. It's an absolute epidemic in this

> > country. And we have been fighting and fighting and fighting to

make

> > sure that those families who have been damaged and those children

who

> > have been damaged by autism get some kind of compensation. And

that's

> > why, and I think in 1986 we passed what was called the Vaccine

Injury

> > Compensation Fund, and it took some of the money from the

> > pharmaceutical companies when they sold their vaccine products to

put

> > into this fund to take care of people who are damaged by vaccines.

> > And one of the reasons we did that was because of the issue of

> > autism, although at that time I didn't know much about it.

> >

> > In any event, the Vaccine Injury Compensation Fund has about $3

> > billion in it, and the people who's children have been adversely

> > affected by mercury and have autism have not been able to get

> > anything out of that. They have to go through a process and see a

> > special master, and he has to judge whether or not the information

> > that he has and the information they have lead them to believe

that

> > the mercury in the vaccines caused autism. And so far the special

> > masters have not been able to ascertain, according to them, that

the

> > mercury in the vaccines does cause autism.

> >

> > Well, last week, 2 years ago, let's see, 4 years ago there was a

> > report, 2004, that said that there was definitely no connection

> > between the mercury and the vaccinations and the children getting

> > autism. Well, this past November, just last month, two doctors,

Dr.

> > DeSoto and Dr. T. Hitlan, both very renowned

doctors

> > across this country, they have Ph.D.s in medicine, they wrote an

> > article in the Journal of Child Neurology. And you can't discount

> > this. What they're saying is fact. I want to read to you the

summary

> > of what they said. They said: ``The question of what is leading to

> > the apparent increase in autism is of great importance. Like the

link

> > between aspirin and heart attack, even a small effect can have a

> > major health implication. If there is any link between autism and

> > mercury, it is absolutely crucial that the first reports of the

> > question are not falsely stated and that no link occurs.''

> >

> > Now, get this: ``We have reanalyzed the data set forth originally

> > reported in 2004 and have found that the original P value was in

> > error and that a significant relation does exist between the blood

> > levels of mercury and diagnosis of an autism spectrum disorder.

> > Moreover, the hair sample analysis results offer some support for

the

> > idea that persons with autism may be less efficient and more

variable

> > at eliminating mercury from the blood.''

> >

> > The fact of the matter is the mercury in the vaccines causes

autism.

> > It's not the only cause of autism. But now we have scientific

> > evidence by two leading doctors in the Journal of Child Neurology

> > that says without doubt, the mercury in the vaccines does cause

> > autism, is a major contributing factor.

> >

> > Well, I've written, contacted Congressman Kucinich, who's

chairman of

> > the subcommittee that deals with this in the Capitol, and I've

also

> > contacted the special masters that decide these cases and have

urged

> > them to re-evaluate all of these cases where people who have

autistic

> > children have found that the mercury in the vaccines may have

been a

> > major cause.

> >

> > Now we know that it is a cause of autism, and those people who

have

> > suffered, and those kids who have suffered need to be compensated

out

> > of the Vaccine Injury Compensation Fund.

> >

> > So I'd like to say to my colleagues, I hope you will join me in

> > making sure that the information I just read gets out to

everybody.

> > These kids are going to live to be 50, 60, 70 years old, and

unless

> > there's some help for them, they're going to be a real burden on

the

> > taxpayers and on society. We have an obligation to make sure

they're

> > taken care of.

> >

> > I hope all of my colleagues will read this statement tonight and

help

> > us to change the attitude of our health agencies and the special

> > masters dealing with this problem.

> >

> > In November 2007, the well-respected scientific journal, the

Journal

> > of Child Neurology, published an article authored by Drs. M.

> > DeSoto and T. Hiltlan (PhDs), detailing their

> > findings on the relationship between mercury and autism spectrum

> > disorders. The article was entitled ``Blood Levels of Mercury are

> > Related to Diagnosis of Autism: A Reanalysis of an Important Data

> > Set.''

> >

> > To summarize the article, Drs. DeSoto and Hiltlan reanalyzed a

data

> > set the subject of a 2004 study that found no relationship between

> > mercury and autism. By reexamining the data set, Drs. DeSoto and

> > Hiltlan determined that the conclusions of the 2004 study were

wrong,

> >

> > and that a relation does exist between the blood levels of mercury

> > and diagnosis of an autism spectrum disorder.

> > As Drs. DeSoto and Hiltlan noted in their article, there has been

a

> > marked increase in the diagnosis of autism in this country over

the

> > last 20 years. In fact we have gone from an autism rate of 1 in

> > 10,000 to 1 in 150. So, answering the question of what is (and is

> > not) a possible contributing cause of autism is crucial, not only

to

> > the millions of American families currently affected by autism

but to

> > future generations.

> >

> > We simply cannot dismiss or downplay scientific research, which

has

> > the potential to unlock the mysteries surrounding what is causing

our

> > Nation's autism crisis. We owe it

> >

> > to the thousands of families living with autism to follow the

science

> > wherever it may lead.

> >

> > That's why in late November, I wrote to the Chairman of the House

> > Subcommittee on Domestic Policy, Representative Dennis Kucinich;

and

> > the Special Masters assigned to the Congressionally-the Special

Maste

> > Vaccine Program within the U.S. Court of Federal Claims, alerting

> > them to the findings in Drs. DeSoto and Hiltlan's latest research.

> >

> > Specifically, I asked the Special Masters to take Drs. DeSoto and

> > Hiltlan's latest findings into consideration as they carry out

their

> > mandate of managing and adjudicating childhood vaccine claims. I

> > asked Chairman Kucinich to hold a hearing on the environmental

risks

> > of mercury in childhood vaccines before the 110th Congress ends.

> >

> > Given the high stakes involved, scientific reports discussing a

> > connection between blood mercury levels and autism deserve serious

> > consideration and review by the medical and scientific community.

> >

> > During my tenure as Chairman of the House Committee on Government

and

> > Reform, I spent 6 years researching and hearing testimony from the

> > autism advocacy and scientific communities about the autism

epidemic

> > sweeping our country. Over and over again, questions of causation,

> > namely the use of thimerosal--namely the use of thimerosal--

<WBR>the men

> > in childhood vaccines were raised.

> >

> > Here's what I learned:

> >

> > A number of credible national and international scientists

testified

> > before the Committee that mercury in vaccines is a contributing

> > factor in developing neurological disorders, including, but not

> > limited to, modest declines in intelligent quotient, autism, and

> > Alzheimer's disease. And the body of evidence to support that

> > conclusion gets larger everyday.

> >

> > Experience tells us that, as with any other epidemic, while there

may

> > be underlying genetic susceptibilities, there usually is also some

> > type of environmental trigger as well--be it exposure to a virus,

> > fungus, heavy metal, or pollutant. There has never, to the best

of my

> > knowledge, been a purely genetic epidemic.

> >

> > Genetics alone cannot explain how we went from 1 in 10,000

children

> > with autism spectrum disorders 20 years ago to 1 in 150 today. The

> > increase happened far too quickly for a genetic shift.

> >

> > As mercury is a known bio-accumulative neurotoxin, it is

biologically

> > plausible that it is a contributing factor to our Nation's autism

> > epidemic.

> >

> > Autism has no cure, and while it is a life-changing condition, it

is

> > not a life-threatening disease. This means that the autistic

children

> > of today will be the autistic adults and autistic seniors, 20, 30,

> > 50, even 70 years from now. Our Nation is ill prepared to deal

with

> > the complex educational, financial, housing, and health care

> > challenges posed by a generation of autistic individuals.

> >

> > My only grandson is autistic, so this is an issue that is very

close

> > to my heart; and for the last several years I have fought hard to

> > raise awareness of this disease, and increase research into the

> > causes of autism, as well as new treatments for those suffering

with

> > autism.

> >

> > As a Nation, I believe, we have a collective responsibility to do

> > everything we can to not only stop the further spread of this

disease

> > but to help the millions of children, adults and families

afflicted

> > with it.

> >

> > --END--

> >

> > **************************************See AOL's top rated recipes

> > (http://food.aol.com/top-rated-recipes?NCID=aoltop00030000000004

> > <http://food.aol.com/top-rated-recipes?NCID=aoltop00030000000004>)

> >

> >

[Guest guest]

---

Thank you for sharing this our way, I truly enjoyed reading this

post.

" sorry for my duplicate post in regards to our military "

-candy reyes

In Texas-Autism-Advocacy , and Trina Sherman

wrote:

>

> And then God hits you on the head with a sledge hammer and says " It

> would be so much easier if you just listened! " Someday soon I think

the

> sledgehammer will fall and we will have a huge sigh of relief at

our

> house and a big hug for Representative Burton. .....T

> >

> >

> > :Rep. Dan Burton Addresses the House of Representatives †" Says

Mercury

> > in Vaccines Causes Autism More Info

> >

> > Cites New Research Showing Mercury Causes Autism

> >

> > To View This Message on our Web Site Click HERE or go here:

> > _http://tinyurl.http://tin_ <http://tinyurl.http://tin_>

> > (http://tinyurl.com/2pr6op <http://tinyurl.com/2pr6op>)

> > To Send a Message to Asking Congress to Hold Hearings on Vaccines

and

> > Autism Click HERE or go here: _http://tinyurl.http://tin_

> > <http://tinyurl.http://tin_>

> > (http://tinyurl.com/3a4e4a <http://tinyurl.com/3a4e4a>)

> >

> > Rep. Dan Burton Addresses Congress on Mercury

> >

> > Cites New Evidence Showing Mercury Connection to Autism

> >

> > For Links To Rep. Burton's Letter to Vacine Court and To Read the

> > DeSoto Study Click Here : _http://a-_ (http://a-/)

> > champ.org/vaccinecochamp.org/vchamp.org/vac

> >

> > BLOOD LEVELS OF MERCURY ARE RELATED TO DIAGNOSIS OF AUTISM --

(House

> > of Representatives - December 11, 2007)

> > The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the

> > gentleman from Indiana (Mr. Burton) is recognized for 5 minutes.

> >

> > Mr. BURTON of Indiana. Madam Speaker, it's late at night here in

the

> > Capitol, and most of my colleagues are in their offices or have

gone

> > home. But I want to talk about an issue that's very, very

important

> > that we've been talking about now for the last 8 years.

> >

> > I was chairman of the Government Reform Committee for 6 years, and

> > during that time, my grandson became autistic; and we checked to

find

> > out what was the cause, trying to find out, because my daughter

and

> > her husband were just extremely upset about it, as we were as

> > grandparents. And we found that he had received nine shots in one

> > day, seven of which had a product called themarasol, a

preservative,

> > in it. And the themarasol was 50 percent ethylmercury. And so I

> > decided to have hearings to try to find out if the ethylmercury in

> > those vaccines had anything to do with the autistic problem my

> > grandson had. And we found, by having many, many hearings over a

4-

> > year period, we found that scientists from all over the world and

> > leading doctors and educators here that work with autistic

children,

> > that the mercury in the vaccines did contribute to the autistic

> > epidemic that we had.

> >

> > We used to have one in 10,000 children that were diagnosed as

being

> > autistic. One in 10,000. Today the Centers for Disease Control

will

> > tell you it's one out of 150. It's an absolute epidemic in this

> > country. And we have been fighting and fighting and fighting to

make

> > sure that those families who have been damaged and those children

who

> > have been damaged by autism get some kind of compensation. And

that's

> > why, and I think in 1986 we passed what was called the Vaccine

Injury

> > Compensation Fund, and it took some of the money from the

> > pharmaceutical companies when they sold their vaccine products to

put

> > into this fund to take care of people who are damaged by vaccines.

> > And one of the reasons we did that was because of the issue of

> > autism, although at that time I didn't know much about it.

> >

> > In any event, the Vaccine Injury Compensation Fund has about $3

> > billion in it, and the people who's children have been adversely

> > affected by mercury and have autism have not been able to get

> > anything out of that. They have to go through a process and see a

> > special master, and he has to judge whether or not the information

> > that he has and the information they have lead them to believe

that

> > the mercury in the vaccines caused autism. And so far the special

> > masters have not been able to ascertain, according to them, that

the

> > mercury in the vaccines does cause autism.

> >

> > Well, last week, 2 years ago, let's see, 4 years ago there was a

> > report, 2004, that said that there was definitely no connection

> > between the mercury and the vaccinations and the children getting

> > autism. Well, this past November, just last month, two doctors,

Dr.

> > DeSoto and Dr. T. Hitlan, both very renowned

doctors

> > across this country, they have Ph.D.s in medicine, they wrote an

> > article in the Journal of Child Neurology. And you can't discount

> > this. What they're saying is fact. I want to read to you the

summary

> > of what they said. They said: ``The question of what is leading to

> > the apparent increase in autism is of great importance. Like the

link

> > between aspirin and heart attack, even a small effect can have a

> > major health implication. If there is any link between autism and

> > mercury, it is absolutely crucial that the first reports of the

> > question are not falsely stated and that no link occurs.''

> >

> > Now, get this: ``We have reanalyzed the data set forth originally

> > reported in 2004 and have found that the original P value was in

> > error and that a significant relation does exist between the blood

> > levels of mercury and diagnosis of an autism spectrum disorder.

> > Moreover, the hair sample analysis results offer some support for

the

> > idea that persons with autism may be less efficient and more

variable

> > at eliminating mercury from the blood.''

> >

> > The fact of the matter is the mercury in the vaccines causes

autism.

> > It's not the only cause of autism. But now we have scientific

> > evidence by two leading doctors in the Journal of Child Neurology

> > that says without doubt, the mercury in the vaccines does cause

> > autism, is a major contributing factor.

> >

> > Well, I've written, contacted Congressman Kucinich, who's

chairman of

> > the subcommittee that deals with this in the Capitol, and I've

also

> > contacted the special masters that decide these cases and have

urged

> > them to re-evaluate all of these cases where people who have

autistic

> > children have found that the mercury in the vaccines may have

been a

> > major cause.

> >

> > Now we know that it is a cause of autism, and those people who

have

> > suffered, and those kids who have suffered need to be compensated

out

> > of the Vaccine Injury Compensation Fund.

> >

> > So I'd like to say to my colleagues, I hope you will join me in

> > making sure that the information I just read gets out to

everybody.

> > These kids are going to live to be 50, 60, 70 years old, and

unless

> > there's some help for them, they're going to be a real burden on

the

> > taxpayers and on society. We have an obligation to make sure

they're

> > taken care of.

> >

> > I hope all of my colleagues will read this statement tonight and

help

> > us to change the attitude of our health agencies and the special

> > masters dealing with this problem.

> >

> > In November 2007, the well-respected scientific journal, the

Journal

> > of Child Neurology, published an article authored by Drs. M.

> > DeSoto and T. Hiltlan (PhDs), detailing their

> > findings on the relationship between mercury and autism spectrum

> > disorders. The article was entitled ``Blood Levels of Mercury are

> > Related to Diagnosis of Autism: A Reanalysis of an Important Data

> > Set.''

> >

> > To summarize the article, Drs. DeSoto and Hiltlan reanalyzed a

data

> > set the subject of a 2004 study that found no relationship between

> > mercury and autism. By reexamining the data set, Drs. DeSoto and

> > Hiltlan determined that the conclusions of the 2004 study were

wrong,

> >

> > and that a relation does exist between the blood levels of mercury

> > and diagnosis of an autism spectrum disorder.

> > As Drs. DeSoto and Hiltlan noted in their article, there has been

a

> > marked increase in the diagnosis of autism in this country over

the

> > last 20 years. In fact we have gone from an autism rate of 1 in

> > 10,000 to 1 in 150. So, answering the question of what is (and is

> > not) a possible contributing cause of autism is crucial, not only

to

> > the millions of American families currently affected by autism

but to

> > future generations.

> >

> > We simply cannot dismiss or downplay scientific research, which

has

> > the potential to unlock the mysteries surrounding what is causing

our

> > Nation's autism crisis. We owe it

> >

> > to the thousands of families living with autism to follow the

science

> > wherever it may lead.

> >

> > That's why in late November, I wrote to the Chairman of the House

> > Subcommittee on Domestic Policy, Representative Dennis Kucinich;

and

> > the Special Masters assigned to the Congressionally-the Special

Maste

> > Vaccine Program within the U.S. Court of Federal Claims, alerting

> > them to the findings in Drs. DeSoto and Hiltlan's latest research.

> >

> > Specifically, I asked the Special Masters to take Drs. DeSoto and

> > Hiltlan's latest findings into consideration as they carry out

their

> > mandate of managing and adjudicating childhood vaccine claims. I

> > asked Chairman Kucinich to hold a hearing on the environmental

risks

> > of mercury in childhood vaccines before the 110th Congress ends.

> >

> > Given the high stakes involved, scientific reports discussing a

> > connection between blood mercury levels and autism deserve serious

> > consideration and review by the medical and scientific community.

> >

> > During my tenure as Chairman of the House Committee on Government

and

> > Reform, I spent 6 years researching and hearing testimony from the

> > autism advocacy and scientific communities about the autism

epidemic

> > sweeping our country. Over and over again, questions of causation,

> > namely the use of thimerosal--namely the use of thimerosal--

<WBR>the men

> > in childhood vaccines were raised.

> >

> > Here's what I learned:

> >

> > A number of credible national and international scientists

testified

> > before the Committee that mercury in vaccines is a contributing

> > factor in developing neurological disorders, including, but not

> > limited to, modest declines in intelligent quotient, autism, and

> > Alzheimer's disease. And the body of evidence to support that

> > conclusion gets larger everyday.

> >

> > Experience tells us that, as with any other epidemic, while there

may

> > be underlying genetic susceptibilities, there usually is also some

> > type of environmental trigger as well--be it exposure to a virus,

> > fungus, heavy metal, or pollutant. There has never, to the best

of my

> > knowledge, been a purely genetic epidemic.

> >

> > Genetics alone cannot explain how we went from 1 in 10,000

children

> > with autism spectrum disorders 20 years ago to 1 in 150 today. The

> > increase happened far too quickly for a genetic shift.

> >

> > As mercury is a known bio-accumulative neurotoxin, it is

biologically

> > plausible that it is a contributing factor to our Nation's autism

> > epidemic.

> >

> > Autism has no cure, and while it is a life-changing condition, it

is

> > not a life-threatening disease. This means that the autistic

children

> > of today will be the autistic adults and autistic seniors, 20, 30,

> > 50, even 70 years from now. Our Nation is ill prepared to deal

with

> > the complex educational, financial, housing, and health care

> > challenges posed by a generation of autistic individuals.

> >

> > My only grandson is autistic, so this is an issue that is very

close

> > to my heart; and for the last several years I have fought hard to

> > raise awareness of this disease, and increase research into the

> > causes of autism, as well as new treatments for those suffering

with

> > autism.

> >

> > As a Nation, I believe, we have a collective responsibility to do

> > everything we can to not only stop the further spread of this

disease

> > but to help the millions of children, adults and families

afflicted

> > with it.

> >

> > --END--

> >

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> >