[autismaba] The Eli Lilly Protection Act of 2002 (aka the Homeland Security Act) [Autism] (fwd)

[Guest guest]

Thought that some might be interested in the below.

Joe

---------- Forwarded message ----------

Date: Fri, 13 Dec 2002 19:35:52 EST

From: Eshleman <JWESHLEMAN@...>

Reply- " Behavior2000: Behavior and Digital Technology List "

<BEHAVIOR2000@...>

BEHAVIOR2000@...

Subject: The Eli Lilly Protection Act of 2002 (aka the " Homeland " Security

Act) [Autism]

Well, isn't this interesting:

<A

HREF= " http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2002/12/12/eveningnews/main532886.shtml " >ht\

tp://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2002/12/12/eveningnews/main532886.shtml</A>

THE MAN BEHIND THE VACCINE MYSTERY

Washington, Dec. 12, 2002

It's been a mystery in Washington for weeks. Just before

President Bush signed the homeland security bill into law an

unknown member of Congress inserted a provision into the

legislation that blocks lawsuits against the maker of a

controversial vaccine preservative called " thimerosal, " used in

vaccines that are given to children.

Drug giant Eli Lilly and Company makes thimerosal. It's the

mercury in the preservative that many parents say causes autism

in thousands of children -- like Kate Kilpatrick.

Asked if she thinks her daughter is a victim of thimerosal,

Kate's mother, Kathy Kilpatrick, says, " I think autism is mercury

poisoning. "

But nobody in Congress would admit to adding the provision,

reports CBS News Correspondent Jim Acosta -- until now.

House Majority Leader Dick Armey tells CBS News he did it to keep

vaccine-makers from going out of business under the weight of

mounting lawsuits.

" I did it and I'm proud of it, " says Armey, R-Texas.

" It's a matter of national security, " Armey says. " We need their

vaccines if the country is attacked with germ weapons. "

Rep. Dan Burton, R-Ind., isn't buying it. The grandfather of an

autistic child, Burton says Armey slipped the provision in at the

last minute, too late for debate.

" And I said, 'Who told you to put it in?' " He said, 'No, they

asked me to do it at the White House.' "

Critics say the Bush family and the administration have too many

ties to Eli Lilly. There's President Bush's father, who sat on

the company's board in the 1970's; White House budget director

Mitch s, once an Eli Lilly executive; and Eli Lilly CEO

Sidney Taurel, who serves on the president's homeland security

advisory council.

Officials at the drug giant insist they did nothing wrong. " No

one, not our CEO, not myself, not anyone who works with me asked

the White House to insert this legislation, " said Eli Lilly

spokeswoman Debra Steelman.

But Kathy Kilpatrick and her husband argue that the

thimerosal provision is not designed to protect the nation, but

rather to protect Eli Lilly.

Asked what he'd say to a congressman who came forward and

admitted he was responsible for inserting the provision,

Kilpatrick says, " I would ask him if he knew he was protecting

mercury being shot into our kids. "

Kathy Kilpatrick asks, " Why would anyone want to save Eli Lilly

on our children's backs? "

Because Armey is retiring at the end of the year, some say the

outgoing majority leader is the perfect fall guy to take the heat

and shield the White House from embarrassment.

It's a claim both the White house and Armey deny.

=======================================

(According to what I've found out, they no longer put mercury, a known

neurotoxin and the ingredient behind the very real Mad Hatter's disease

back in the 1800s too by the way, into the vaccine preservative any longer.)

But, that's somewhat besides the point. Isn't it interesting, the mysterious

ways in which " democracy " (yeah, right) works? Sneaking in provisions,

totally unrelated to " homeland " security, at the last minute, without

debate, without discussion, without hearings, without even the

Congressional representatives voting on this even knowing it was in

the bill they were voting on! Most of them didn't even read the bill

before voting on it.

Whether or not the mercury in the vaccine causes neurological

changes, such as autism, is now somewhat moot, given that

the manufacturer has been granted an even more powerful

immunization -- legal immunity!

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