Political Quotes

“Madam Speaker, I rise today in strong support of H.R. 2877, the BIG Act. Without question, we have all seen how the mental health issues in America have been growing, and they have been exacerbated by the COVID- 19 pandemic. The urgency to address this crisis has become more dire as we are seeing how fear, anxiety, financial problems, and particularly isolation have compounded these issues. We see this across the board but particularly with our young people. We must tackle these issues head-on, and that is why I am honored to support the BIG Act. This straightforward bill works to provide local communities and educational systems with the tools that they need to help identify mental health needs before it is too late. As a healthcare provider, I can tell my colleagues that early intervention is vitally important, and putting teams together that recognize the needs and see the problems with students before it is too late is important. The last thing that we want to see our students go through is the process of dropping out of school because of issues or problems with behavior or with their classmates. Most importantly, we never want to see them do harm to themselves or to others. This bill provides the resources and the best practices from around the country in one site where school districts and different organizations can come together to put together the programs that will work best for them.…”