Bush signs three bills on health issues
Published 9:00 pm Tuesday, December 19, 2006
WASHINGTON – President Bush on Tuesday signed bills to raise federal funding for autism, shift AIDS money to rural areas and create a government unit to oversee response to a bird flu pandemic or bioterrorism attack.
The autism bill increases federal funding by 50 percent for the disorder, now diagnosed in one in 166 children. Congress voted earlier this month to authorize $945 million over five years for autism research, screening and treatment.
The AIDS legislation Bush signed will shift care and treatment money to rural areas and the South. The House on Dec. 9 agreed by voice vote to renew the $2.1 billion-per-year Ryan White CARE Act.
Lawmakers from some urban areas feared losing money under a five-year renewal of the law. The final deal renews it for three years.
The president also signed a bill to create a new agency within the Health and Human Services Department to oversee the development of medicine and equipment to respond to a bird flu pandemic or a bioterrorism attack.
