Political Quotes

“Mr. Speaker, I thank Mr. Murphy for his leadership and his persistence in getting this historic legislation to the floor. When a person struggles with mental illness, he or she may lose her job, her friends, even her family, which can make the mental illness worse. And help for this person may be available, but she may not be able to navigate available resources alone or drive to her doctor's appointments regularly without help. Therefore, organizations providing mental health assistance must not only provide resources, they must make sure they actually connect people with people in need. When the Federal Government distributes mental health funding, it needs to go to programs that are doing this, and Congressman Murphy's bill is a step in the right direction. His bill will increase accountability so that we can better understand how Federal mental health and substance abuse treatment funds are used in each State. It would summarize best practice models in the States and do many other things, and this way we can highlight mental health programs that are most effective. I urge my colleagues to support the bill.”