Political Quotes

“Mr. President, I come to the floor today to talk about the 800-pound gorilla in the room that people don't want to talk about, and that is our broken mental health treatment system in this country. Years ago, we made the mistake of institutionalizing people with mental illness, and then we made the mistake of deinstitutionalizing people with mental illness, with nowhere to go and no access to treatment. But I have introduced legislation that I hope will help begin this conversation anew, one that we will have a hearing on next week in the Senate Judiciary Committee. The legislation is called, simply, the Mental Health and Safe Communities Act. It has two overarching goals. First, it will help those suffering from mental illness and their families to find a way forward and to get the support that they need. Second, it will equip law enforcement, teachers, judges, and people with the knowledge and skill sets to spot the early signs of mental illness and give them the means by which to respond effectively. Sadly, we know that mental illness is a common thread through many senseless acts of violence that we have witnessed across the country. But this problem is more than about just that. I know some of our colleagues say they don't want to talk about how to improve access to mental health treatment if it is going to involve any discussion of guns, but I don't think we can talk about this topic without talking about these incidents of mass violence.…”