What is the Autism Caucus?
(From Unlocking Autism)

The House of Representatives is comprised of 435 Members. In order to pass standard legislation, you need to have a majority rule or 218 Members, minimum, must vote in favor of the bill.

When Members sit on a caucus they are updated regularly regarding the issues pertinent to the focus of the caucus, in this case autism. Ordinarily, the caucus would meet a minimum of four times a year to discuss issues and bills that were important for that community. This year, with all the terrorists and the war and recession, Congress has had other housekeeping issues to deal with.

The reason it is important to get as many people signed up for the Caucus as we can is so that we can get legislation passed more quickly. For example, if we have 300 Member of Congress signed up for the caucus, and 82 of them have some sort of conflict of interest with a particular piece of legislation, if the other 218 are present at voting and vote yes, the bill will pass.

It just makes it easier for us to communicate our issues to Congress and the more participants we have the easier it will be for us to pass legislation in the future. One thing that is going for our community is that autism affects everyone. It affects families directly and indirectly. It affects people regardless of race or creed or age. And you know as well as we do that each Congressman in this country has people with autism in their district and should therefore be a part of this caucus.

Your district doesn't have representation in the Caucus unless you make sure that your Congressman is participating! That is up to you! Don't rely on anyone else to ask him or her to join.

If your Congressman is NOT a member of the caucus, call their office. Contact information is available at www.house.gov. Ask to speak with the health staffer, or the staff person that handles the issue of autism. Tell them that you would like to see your Congressman participating on the caucus. Tell them that Congressman Mike Doyle from Pennsylvania and Congressman Chris Smith from New Jersey are the co-chairs of the caucus.

If they say that they don't want to participate, politely thank them for their time and then ask them to send you a response in writing explaining why they choose not to sit on the caucus. This is what being an American is all about...the pleasure and privalege of participating in the political system and having an opportunity to voice your opinion. Remember that our opinions are just as important and influential as the next person's, we just have to take the time to make ourselves heard.

Help us get 50% of the Congress of the United States seated on the Autism Caucus today.

Back to Autism Caucus Page