Andre Carson: “I would like first and foremost to give honor to whom honor is due, and that is to the distinguished gentlewoman and my…”

“I would like first and foremost to give honor to whom honor is due, and that is to the distinguished gentlewoman and my friend from Texas (Ms. Jackson-Lee) and certainly to the honorable gentleman from Texas (Mr. Rodriguez). Mental health is an issue that has historically been kept quiet. It was sort of like a quiet storm within various households across this country and across this world. People were not inclined to talk about mental illness. They would pretend when they had a family member with mental health challenges to have been gone away on a visit or be in some place other than hospitalized because of their mental health challenges. That is not something that I have learned by reading a book; it is something that I have learned firsthand through my neighbors and through my churches. Prior to coming to the United States Congress, I was elected to township trustee. The reason I wanted to do that is because I wanted to buy a building which has since been named the Julia Carson Government Center in Indianapolis because it is set in a very nice neighborhood. But it had the highest number of homeless children in the whole of Marion County. It was the Mapleton-Fall Creek area as it is known. The kids were laying on the steps all night and all day. These were young children. They were 7 and 8 years of age.”