Political Quotes

“Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of the Helping Families in Mental Health Crisis Act, H.R. 2646, and wish to thank Chairman Upton, Ranking Member Pallone, and the two driving sponsors of this measure, Congressman Tim Murphy and Congresswoman Eddie Bernice Johnson, who have adeptly navigated this bill through very choppy legislative waters. The bill takes head-on one of the most compelling and unaddressed health challenges of our society: the suffering, the anguish, the travails, the plight of the seriously mentally ill. The bill will empower parents and caregivers, drive innovation, advance early- intervention and prevention programs, and offer alternatives to institutionalization, and provide the first step in a long time to show respect and real treatment alternatives to Americans living with mental illness. It is no secret our prisons have become the domiciles for the mentally ill. This bill rings out: ``No more, no more.'' Sadly, psychiatric care has become the responsibility of our prison system. Three of the largest mental health ``hospitals'' in our country are incarceration facilities. Speak to any local sheriff. They will tell you their jails are overcrowded with the mentally ill.…”