On the recordSeptember 28, 2022
Mr. President, despite the gridlock that occasionally grips this Chamber, the Senate has managed to advance some great bipartisan bills since the beginning of this Congress. All of the attention seems to focus on our disagreements, not where we agree, and there is no question that there are big disagreements here and for good reasons. But the media seems to miss the smaller but no less important bills that earn bipartisan support every day. Over the last couple of years, the Senate has unanimously-- unanimously--approved bills that I have introduced to support victims of child abuse, provide tax relief to survivors of human trafficking, strengthening our trade relationships with Canada and Mexico, and building safer and healthier communities. It is no secret that our country is in the midst of a mental health crisis. We do not have a mental health delivery system in America. We made some great strides recently with the Mental Health and Safe Communities Act that made an unprecedented investment in community- based mental health care. We all know that the mental health crisis does not discriminate. It affects people of all ages, from all walks of life, and it is creating serious challenges for law enforcement who are often the first to respond when someone is experiencing a mental health crisis.…