John Sarbanes: “I want to thank Chairman Pallone for his leadership of our committee with respect to all of these bills, particularly…”

“I want to thank Chairman Pallone for his leadership of our committee with respect to all of these bills, particularly the health bills we are talking about today, and, also, Ranking Member Walden. As you know, many of these are bipartisan. They reflect the input and work of Members over a period of years. I am very pleased that H.R. 2075, the School-Based Health Centers Reauthorization Act, is on the floor today. I introduced this bill with our colleagues, Representatives Stefanik, Tonko, and Upton. I want to thank them for their work and the bipartisan dimension of this effort. This would reauthorize, as was indicated, Federal support for school- based health centers through 2024. These are institutions that provide critical primary and mental health services to vulnerable children and youth. ``Institutions'' may not be the best word. Teams of professionals, I think, is how you describe these school-based health centers across the country. These health centers really marshal response to the needs of young people in schools in a way that you really can't replicate anywhere else in the community. That is why they are so vital. They offer comprehensive healthcare to youth, delivering it in a setting where they already spend, obviously, much of their time, a captive audience, in a sense. Let's take advantage of that and provide the services that they need.…”