Political Quotes

“Today, I rise to urge my colleagues to support the bipartisan bill, H.R. 4585, the Campaign to Prevent Suicide Act, that I introduced with my friend, Greg Gianforte. September is Suicide Prevention Awareness Month, and for that very reason, this bill couldn't be more important. Suicide is the 10th leading cause of death in the United States and the second leading cause of death for 15- to 34-year-olds. Overall suicide rates increased 35 percent from 1999 through 2018. Suicide can be prevented, but unfortunately, it is still a taboo topic for much of American society. The stigma against discussing suicide and seeking help is a significant barrier to prevention. It is one of those things where if suicide happened in a family, then no one would ever talk about it. It is important to tackle this head-on. I can't tell you how many times I bring this up at an event--it is something that I have been working on with good friends like Greg--and there is this discomfort. People look away; they shuffle their feet; and some people slip out of the back of the room. Yet, every time at the end of the event people will come up and say: Thank you so much for talking about that. I lost my aunt. I lost my brother. Nobody talks about it. A change in social norms from a culture of avoidance to a culture of engagement is needed in order to ensure that those who need help can actually seek it.…”