Tuesday, October 10, 2006

Your Action is needed on the Combating Autism Act!

House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Joe Barton (TX) has refused to release the Senate passed Combating Autism Act from his House Energy and Commerce committee for consideration by the full House this session. He is abusing his position as Chairman of the Energy & Commerce Committee and has stated publicly (on CNN) that he will not consider the CAA until and unless the Senate passes his NIH Reform bill. 

A few background facts:

• The CAA passed the Senate by unanimous consent on August 3rd and went on to the House.
• Currently, the CAA Bill is co-sponsored by 227 (a majority) House members and will easily pass once it gets to the floor of the House.
• Before it gets to the floor of the House it must first pass through the Energy and Commerce Committee. Until this committee passes it to the floor for a vote, the hope and research that come from this bill are all but dead. Please note that 32 of 54 members of the committee are co-sponsors.

Chairman Barton, Majority Leader Boehner and Speaker Hastert must hear from us and their colleagues in the House that this is unacceptable! You’ll need to make four phone calls.

1st call - Call your Republican Congressman and ask him or her to call Chairman Barton, Majority Leader Boehner, and Speaker Hastert today!  Have them ask to put S.843 on the floor as soon as they return in November.  Ask them to make a promise to our children and their parents who are going to vote on November 7. If your Congressman is a Republican, call him or her and say you won’t vote for a Congressman that doesn’t actively support families struggling with autism. By “actively support” we mean calling upon Chairman Barton, Majority Leader Boehner, and Speaker Hastert today to insist that the Combating Autism Act, S.843, be brought to the floor for a vote as soon as Congress returns in November. 
Below are points that you can make to your Congressman that they can pass on to our Congressional leaders:

• Autism is an epidemic in this country.  1 in 166 children is diagnosed with autism, affecting 4 times as many boys as it does girls.  It is a lifelong disability for the vast majority with many requiring constant care.

• The Combating Autism Act (S. 843) authorizes over $900 million for autism research and services, and would for the first time coordinate Federal efforts into autism research. It also provides the critical oversight needed to ensure NIH and other agencies help the most children in the fastest way possible.

• We are asking for a very public commitment to move the Senate bill (S.843) in November.  While we appreciate the need to move the larger NIH Reform bill, autism deserves special attention not expressed in that bill. (Please note that the NIH Reform Bill does NOT fulfill the CAA, as his office will state when you call.)

• The CAA specifically addresses the link of autism to environmental factors that parents have sought for years. For the first time, we have the opportunity secure government funding  previously not available for this type of research.

• The CAA also directs funding into biomedical treatment options for autism. To date, many parents and organizations have found promising results in this arena, but more research is needed to reach needed proficiency to establish generally accepted practices to help all who live this disorder.

• The CAA establishes Centers of Excellence for this research. Offering a chance that the research will be done expediently and fairly.

Your Republican Congressman need not be a cosponsor to make this request. We are no longer asking for cosponsors since we have the majority of the House behind the bill. We need commitments from our Republican representatives to call the Leaders with this request. Remind them you will be voting on November 7. For your representatives’ contact information, go to www.combatautism.org. If your representative is one of the co-sponsors of the CAA bill and/or on the Energy and Commerce Committee (indicated by ** below) they can be especially helpful in getting Rep. Barton to release the bill from his committee.

2nd call - Keep up the pressure on Chairman Barton! We must not allow Mr. Barton to stop CAA. Call Mr. Barton today and let him know that it is unacceptable for elected officials to place their own political interests ahead of sick children! Call Chairman Barton today at 202-225-2002 and in his Texas office at 817-543-1000 and tell him we will not stop calling until he agrees to release S.843 for vote by the full House! Remind his office that as Chairman of the committee, all U.S. citizens are constituents. This is implied in his responsibility as chairman.

3rd call - Speaker of the House Dennis Hastert (IL) has thus far refused to intervene on our children’s behalf. His Office of the Speaker website states: “At home we put children first, and Republicans are doing just that in the House.”  Ask him to back that up and put S.843 on the House suspension calendar! Call Speaker Hastert at 202-225-0600 and ask him to do what’s right for children with autism.

4th call - Majority Leader John Boehner (OH) has been unwilling to stand up to Chairman Barton! Let him know you expect him to show the leadership it takes to do the right thing for hundreds of thousands of children and put S.843 on the House suspension calendar. Call Majority Leader Boehner at 202-225-4000 today and make your voice heard!

Our fight is far from over! Please make these 4 calls today—one to the Republican representative from your district, and all 3 Congressional Leaders and let them know we demand help for our children and we will vote November 7th!

Thank you for your support!

P.S. If you are in the Dallas/Ft. Worth area, we need your help. Several parents have said they are willing to stage a sit-in at Congressman Barton’s office. If parents do this, we will support your efforts by helping with press releases and media attention. Please reply back to info@... if you are willing to help.

P.P.S. If you want to write letters to the editor in Joe Barton’s district, here are the email addresses. Remember the letters that are picked to run in the newspaper or online are ones that are short, to the point, professional and hard-hitting.

Dallas Observer: http://news.dallasobserver.com/feedback/index.php?author_email=letters@...

Dallas Business Journal dallas@...

Dallas Morning News http://www.dallasnews.com/cgi-bin/lettertoed.cgi?nl

Ft. Worth Star Telegram letters@...

About The Combating Autism Act of 2006
The Combating Autism Act of 2006 builds on the provisions of the Children's Health Act of 2000 and would authorize approximately $920 million in federal funds over five years to combat autism through research, screening, intervention and education.

The Combating Autism Act of 2006 is supported by the following autism organizations:
Autism One
Autism Society of America
Autism Speaks
COSAC
Cure Autism Now
Dan Marino Foundation
Doug Flutie Jr. Foundation
First Signs
Generation Rescue
The Help Group
National Autism Association
Organization for Autism Research
S.A.F.E. Inc.
SafeMinds
Southwest Autism Research & Resource Center
Talk About Curing Autism
TalkAutism
The Deirdre Imus Environmental Center for Pediatric Oncology
Unlocking Autism
US Autism and Asperger Association