On the recordFebruary 25, 2016
I thank the gentleman for his comments. I will add to that in the sense that about 10 people per hour die related to mental illness, and it is probably much more than we know of. I thank you for your good counsel, too. I may have been doing this 40 years, but I have a lot to learn in the field of mental health. I have learned a great deal from colleagues and from people like Paul Gionfriddo of Mental Health America or the leaders of the American Psychological Association, the American Psychiatric Association, and from Fuller Torrey. There is a whole host of names in this country who continue to write about and talk about this and show us research on this. Osteopaths, physical therapists--you name the field--and social workers are out there talking about the problems that we have with this. You are right. It is the most compassionate thing to make some changes on this. I know one of my colleagues who is also in the Energy and Commerce Committee with me, Susan Brooks, would like to comment on this as well and talk about our needs now, what we need to do in mental health.
