mr. pallone: thank you, madam speaker. at this time i'd like to yield initially such time as he may consume to the gentleman from massachusetts, mr. delahunt. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman will suspend for a minute. the gentleman from massachusetts is recognized. mr. delahunt: madam speaker, i thank the gentleman for yielding. it was some 13 years ago that a friend of mine at home approached me and described to me the characteristics and symptoms of a disorder he called fragile x. he demonstrated a familiarity with fragile x that was extraordinary. but he was talking about his son. i was embarrassed because i had no idea what he was talking about. but i was certainly not alone. i, like many americans, had never heard of fragile x, but his passion and our friendship motivated me to work with my colleagues to address this issue which is of such concern for so many in this country. and it is this lack of awareness that is at the heart of the problem. most people who exhibit the characteristics of fragile x are not tes

mr. pallone: madam speaker, i yield to myself such time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the chair recognizes the gentleman from new jersey. mr. pallone: thank you, madam speaker. house resolution 1499 honors the achievements of dr. robert m. campbell jr. to provide children with lifesaving medical care. i want to thank the sponsor of the bill, congresswoman debi wasserman schultz from florida for sponsor -- debbie wasserman schultz from florida, for sponsoring this bill and tireless efforts to get co-sponsors and what's necessary to bring this bill to the floor on a expedited basis today. i will leave it to the congresswoman to talk more about dr. robert m. campbell. let me just say that he is a pediatric orthopedic surgeon, affiliated for many years with the university of texas. and also now director of the thoracic insufficiency center at the children's hospital of philadelphia. in collaboration with other specialists he helped identify thoracic insufficiency syndrome, which is associated with a rare condition of congenital scleosis, fused ribs

mr. speaker, thank you, chairman pallone for your consideration and to the energy and commerce committee, mr. waxman and mr. gingrey for granting us this time to honor dr. robert m. campbell and to all the members who in the last few day, we have more than 100 co-sponsors of the legislation now which is really remarkable in a few days because i had a chance to talk with so many of our colleagues about dr. campbell's story and they wanted to join us in honoring him. dr. robert m. campbell dedicated his life to providing children with life-saving medical carism first learned about his work when a little boy in my district, devon alfonzo, was given a terminal diagnosis of terminal scoliosis. his spine and ribs were so bent that his heart had no room to grow. for some time, the devices had been available to fix this for adult but these devices weren't fit for the body of children. so often, these devices aren't small enough for children with scoliosis. even if smaller ones were created a growing child's body meant these would become too small. for years, physicians trying to treat children li