Democrat Hillary Rodham Clinton pledged on Saturday to increase funding for research and education for autism to $700 million a year.

"Driven by their love and devotion, mothers and fathers across the country have raised awareness, demanded funding, and opened our eyes to the needs of so many children. It's up to us to reclaim the future for our children, and ensure that every child can live up to his or her God-given potential," she told a crowd of hundreds gathered at the Jesse E. Marshall Boys Club of Sioux City, the Associated Press reports.

Clinton has said autism is a disease with no cure for the moment and that little is known about it. No one knows for sure how to treat patients suffering from autism.

"We don't know how to cure it, and we don't even know the best ways to treat it. I think it's time we had a government and a president who recognized the seriousness of autism and addressed it head-on," Clinton said.

Number of children diagnosed with autism has risen from one in 10,000 in 1993 to one in 150 in 2007 meaning about 25,000 children diagnosed with autism each year, she said. She called the disease a national health crisis, which costs the nation at least $35 billion each year.

Clinton is not at her first time helping children with autism. She is known to have co-sponsored legislation called the Combating Autism Act in 2006 and earlier this year the Expanding the Promise for Individuals with Autism Act. She also criticized actual president George Bush for refusing to fully fund such efforts.

The democrat is promising to take other autism initiatives, if elected. She said she would expand research to identify the cause of autism; she would improve education and early detection and investigation, including creating a task force to investigate autism treatments and services and last but also important she would provide training for teachers to help them instruct and deal with children suffering from this disease.

"Senator Clinton's plan is a very important step in that direction, “said, in a statement provided by Clinton’s Campaign, Lee Grossman, president and CEO of the Autism Society of America, the AP reports.

Clinton took the chance to speak about health care, saying that she would provide a universal health care plan which would help families whose medical insurance didn’t cover “the right thing you need it for.”

"Parents will no longer be burdened by unmanageable premiums just because their children have autism," Clinton said.