Patrick J. Kennedy: “If this is truly a national issue, not just a State issue, then we should approach it on a national basis.”

What we're trying to do is make the spirit of parity a practical reality.

Our family believes in democracy. We believe in the fact that my uncles, one of whom laid down his life in World War II fighting Hitler over Germany, got shot down.

We ought to be encouraging people in this country to seek mental health. That should not be a disqualifying factor.

When we have an emergency, FEMA comes in. They've got housing, job opportunities, support of this and that. We need a strategy that understands that housing is critical to address the homeless epidemic of people with severe mental illness…