Political Quotes

“Mr. President, I urge my colleagues to oppose this amendment. I share my colleague's concern with the current state of mental health and substance abuse policies in the United States. Our health care system in many ways has failed to treat those who need care most desperately. However, as deeply as I believe we must strengthen mental health, I believe we have to do it right. Consideration of mental health legislation should be thoughtful and should examine the real barriers to appropriate treatment. Simply throwing more money at the problem has proven time and again to be ineffective. That is why I am proud of the work being done by the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee. Chairman Alexander, Ranking Member Murray, and 26 other Senators, including me, support the Mental Health Awareness and Improvement Act. That bill takes important steps to increase mental health awareness, prevention, and education; encourages the sharing of relevant mental health information; and assesses the barriers to integrating mental and behavioral health into primary care. It is a good step and should be done through the committee process. I thank Senator Shaheen for offering this amendment and support the intent, but it has to be done right. And this increases taxes. Mr. President, the pending amendment No. 2892 offered by Senator Shaheen would cause the underlying legislation to exceed the authorizing committee's 302(a) allocation of new budget authority or outlays.…”