Political Quotes

“I appreciate your courtesy in permitting me to join you this evening, and I appreciate the conversation that we have had. Dr. McDermott's experience in the 1960s and 1970s really touched me. I started in my political career when I was much smarter than I am now and was part of the deinstitutionalization movement in my State of Oregon, where it was quite clear that we could provide better quality services that were less intrusive and more cost-effective through a program of deinstitutionalization. It made perfect sense on paper. What happened--and, luckily, karma intervened. I was a local official when it hit full force. The commitments that had been made to help with medication, to help with housing, to help with counseling, and to be able to provide the support services weren't ironclad guarantees. It was easy for subsequent legislators to erode them, and people were out on their own. This was a process that took place across the country, and we have seen the impact, as Dr. McDermott mentioned. I really appreciate you sinking your teeth in here to bring this forward. There are some elements that are clearly controversial. I have found over the course of 2 years that we have been talking about this a willingness to engage in conversation and to be open to refinement because we are all seeking the same objectives. One of the things that has just become clearer and clearer to me is that there needs to be stronger provisions to deal with assisted outpatient treatment programs.…”