By Sulaiman Abdur-Rahman, Trentonian Staff Writer - 

President Donald Trump advanced bipartisan legislation this week even as the tweeter-in-chief accused the Biden family of being corrupt and hammered congressional Democrats for launching an impeachment inquiry following his controversial phone call with Ukraine’s leader.

“Today, I was proud to sign the Autism CARES Bill!” Trump said Monday in a tweet. “We support research for Americans with Autism and their families. You are not forgotten, we are fighting for you!”

Sponsored by GOP Congressman Chris Smith of New Jersey, the Autism CARES Act of 2019 amends the Public Health Service Act “to enhance activities of the National Institutes of Health with respect to research on autism spectrum disorder” and bolsters programs relating to autism.

The new law, also known as the Autism Collaboration, Accountability, Research, Education, and Support Act of 2019, received total support from Republicans and Democrats in both legislative chambers, including U.S. Sen. Bob Menendez (D-New Jersey), a fierce Trump administration critic.

PHOTO - President Trump holds up Rep. Chris Smith's autism legislation, House
of Representatives 1058 (HR 1058), after he signed it into law on Sept. 30, 2019.

“The signing of this important legislation into law,” Menendez said Tuesday in a press statement, “ensures the federal government will continue to fund and drive critical research into what causes autism spectrum disorder and the development of innovative treatment and supports to help individuals with ASD reach their full, God-given potential.”

Smith, as the primary sponsor and author of the original Autism CARES Act in 2014, recently described the 2019 rendition as a “comprehensive reauthorization and strengthening of America’s whole-of-government autism spectrum disorder initiative.”

In a July 24 U.S. House speech, Smith said: “This bipartisan legislation powerfully supports and pursues durable remedies and effective interventions for the approximately 1.5 million children with ASD. That is an estimated one in 59 children in the U.S. In my home state of New Jersey, that is one in 34. We do have the highest rate, according to the CDC. This bill also helps adults with autism who were and are today often misdiagnosed, underdiagnosed and overlooked. Language throughout the bill emphasizes that causes, diagnosis, detection, prevention and treatment of autism spectrum disorder must be throughout the lifespan of that person.”

The Autism CARES Act of 2019 authorizes more than $1.8 billion of appropriations over a five-year period from Oct. 1, 2019, through Sept. 30, 2024. The money would bolster America’s autism research efforts.

In a Monday tweet storm, Trump called 2020 Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden and son Hunter Biden “corrupt,” alleged the “Fake News Media wants to stay as far away as possible from the Ukraine and China deals made by the Bidens,” bashed a Washington whistleblower and suggested he did nothing wrong in his July 25 phone call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

Trump declassified a transcript of the telephone conversation. It confirms he had invited Zelenskyy to “look into” the Bidens, but the Ukrainian president later told reporters that “no one can pressure me, and no one will pressure me.”