Mr. Speaker, on Thursday, February 25, 2016, I was absent during rollcall vote No. 89. Had I been present, I would have voted ``no'' on Final Passage of H.R. 3624--Fraudulent Joinder Prevention Act of 2015. ____________________

Mr. Speaker, on Thursday, February 25, 2016, I was absent during rollcall No. 90. Had I been present, I would have voted ``no'' on the Motion on Ordering the Previous Question on the Rule providing for consideration of H.R. 2406. The…

Mr. Speaker, let me close with these statements. With 60 million Americans out there with some form of mental illness this year and 10 million or so with severe mental illness, they all have families. I hope those families wake up and…

I thank the gentleman so much for his kindness and his support for this legislation. As has been said, whenever one of these tragic killings occur or when some tragedy occurs, we have our moment of silence, and then we do nothing. We have…

I thank the gentleman for his comments. I will add to that in the sense that about 10 people per hour die related to mental illness, and it is probably much more than we know of. I thank you for your good counsel, too. I may have been…

Thank you, Doctor. I appreciate your comments and your support for this bill and, of course, your practice in the field and understanding our needs. A couple of points you made there I want to elaborate on. You said that there are 112…

I thank my friend from New York in his ongoing support for these issues dealing with mental illness. Now I would like to call upon my friend from the State of Oregon, Earl Blumenauer, who has been a great champion on these issues as well…

Mr. Speaker, I thank my friend, Mrs. Brooks. I might say that we have all heard those stories from families. I am sure there are families watching tonight, Mr. Speaker, who will consider contacting a Member of Congress and share that story…

Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for his support. While waiting for my friend John Katko of New York to come forward, I want to reflect on how long it has taken us to do this. What we used to do up through the 1800s is just throw people…

Mr. Speaker, how much time do I have remaining? The SPEAKER pro tempore. The gentleman from Pennsylvania has 2 minutes remaining.

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days within which to revise and extend their remarks. The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the gentleman from Pennsylvania? There was no…

Mr. Speaker, let me start off with some sobering news. I call it the body count. Last year, 2015, in the United States, there were 41,000 suicide deaths in this country. There were 45,000 deaths from drug overdoses. Many of those folks…

I thank Dr. McDermott. He has been, really, a champion of mental health issues in his career and on this bill as well. I want to point out, the bill he is referring to is our Helping Families in Mental Health Crisis Act, H.R. 2646. It is…

I appreciate my friend from Pennsylvania (Mr. Perry) for leading this Special Order to highlight, Mr. Speaker, what is at stake in this latest proposal by President Obama. As you can see from the passion that my friend from South Carolina…

Madam Chair, I want to thank my friend from Virginia for yielding and for his leadership in bringing the SHARE Act forward. I rise in strong support of this legislation that protects the rights of sportsmen and protects the rights of gun…

Mr. Speaker, Benjamin Franklin said: ``Those who would give up essential liberty, to purchase a little temporary safety, deserve neither liberty nor safety.'' A Federal judge now has ordered that Apple take an unprecedented step developing…

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize the legacy of a dear friend and long-time public servant, Steve Vermillion, who passed away in 2012 from acute myeloid leukemia. Steve began his career here in the House in 1986, working for…

Mr. Chairman, I rise in opposition to the so-called Fraudulent Joinder Prevention Act. The main purpose of the bill is to make it easier to remove State cases to Federal courts where large corporate defendants have numerous advantages over…