Pete Domenici: “I rise today with my friend Senator Kennedy to introduce the ``Senator Paul Wellstone Mental Health Equitable Treatment…”

“I rise today with my friend Senator Kennedy to introduce the ``Senator Paul Wellstone Mental Health Equitable Treatment Act of 2003.'' I have mixed emotions today, because, while we are once again fighting for parity, my long time partner, Paul Wellstone is not standing across the aisle from me. Unfortunately, my colleagues are to aware of Senator Wellstone's tragic passing last year. So, while I feel a profound sense of sadness, I also have a renewed determination to win a parity victory for the millions of Americans affected by these dreaded diseases. The time has come to end this blatant pattern of discrimination against people merely because they suffer from a mental illness. The human brain is the organ of the mind and just like the other organs of our body, it is subject to illness. And just as we must treat illnesses to our other organs, we must also treat illnesses of the brain. Building upon that, I would ask the following question: what if forty years ago our Nation had decided to exclude heart disease from health insurance coverage?”