[Congressional Bills 106th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Res. 19 Introduced in House (IH)]







106th CONGRESS
  1st Session
H. RES. 19

 Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives with respect to 
the seriousness of the national problems associated with mental illness 
and with respect to congressional intent to establish a `Mental Health 
                          Advisory Committee'.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                            January 6, 1999

   Mrs. Roukema (for herself and Ms. Kaptur) submitted the following 
      resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Commerce

_______________________________________________________________________

                               RESOLUTION


 
 Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives with respect to 
the seriousness of the national problems associated with mental illness 
and with respect to congressional intent to establish a `Mental Health 
                          Advisory Committee'.

Whereas mental illness is not a character flaw, but a tangible and treatable 
        illness as real as epilepsy, hypertension, cancer or heart disease;
Whereas great strides are being made in the diagnosis and treatment of mental 
        illness;
Whereas there remain gaping holes in the network of Federal, State and local 
        services designed to identify and treat people with mental illness;
Whereas millions of Americans suffer from the debilitating effects of serious 
        mental illnesses;
Whereas, more and more, America is witnessing violence resulting from untreated 
        mental illness and a failed policy of deinstitutionalization without any 
        proper community follow-up;
Whereas, all too often, we hear of situations where an individual with a mental 
        disorder has not received adequate treatment and has reacted violently 
        and endangered himself or herself, or, tragically, taken the life of 
        another;
Whereas such a situation occurred at the Capitol last year when officer Jacob J. 
        Chestnut and Special Agent John Gibson tragically lost their lives;
Whereas last year alone, over 1,000 homicides were directly attributable to 
        improperly treated mental illnesses;
Whereas far too many lives are being lost because our country and our 
        communities are not providing early diagnosis, adequate protection, or 
        treatment to individuals with mental illnesses;
Whereas although the treatment of the mentally ill is primarily a function of 
        the separate States, there is a significant sharing of costs between the 
        Federal Government and the States for such treatment, and there are some 
        joint responsibilities of the Federal Government and the States for such 
        treatment;
Whereas Federal issues involving the mentally ill fall under the jurisdiction of 
        several committee jurisdictions, including Education and the Workforce, 
        Ways and Means, Judiciary, Commerce, Veterans' Affairs, Appropriations 
        and Banking through such issues as Medicaid/SSI, housing, 
        nondiscrimination, prison care, health coverage, the mental health block 
        grants;
Whereas overlapping legal and administrative authorities with respect to the 
        diagnosis and treatment of mental illness make reform of the current 
        system very complex;
Whereas it is necessary to conduct an in-depth analysis of the effectiveness of 
        mental health block grants and of the Federal prison costs attributed to 
        mental illness; and
Whereas it is also necessary to conduct an in-depth analysis of issues relating 
        to reciprocity between the States: Now, therefore, be it
    Resolved, That it is the sense of the House of Representatives that 
there should be established a `Mental Health Advisory Committee' that 
would be responsible for probing the serious national dimensions of the 
mentally ill, including determining the extent to which individuals 
with mental illness are not receiving proper treatment and the extent 
to which violence is resulting from the lack of such treatment and 
prepare a report to the Committees of jurisdiction outlining options 
for more effective diagnosis and treatment.
                                 <all>