[Congressional Bills 108th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Con. Res. 292 Introduced in House (IH)]






108th CONGRESS
  1st Session
H. CON. RES. 292

    Expressing the sense of Congress that Congress should adopt and 
implement the goals and recommendations provided by the President's New 
   Freedom Commission on Mental Health through legislation or other 
  appropriate action to help ensure affordable, accessible, and high 
             quality mental health care for all Americans.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                            October 2, 2003

 Mrs. Napolitano submitted the following concurrent resolution; which 
          was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce

_______________________________________________________________________

                         CONCURRENT RESOLUTION


 
    Expressing the sense of Congress that Congress should adopt and 
implement the goals and recommendations provided by the President's New 
   Freedom Commission on Mental Health through legislation or other 
  appropriate action to help ensure affordable, accessible, and high 
             quality mental health care for all Americans.

Whereas the National Institute of Mental Health has found that 22.1 percent of 
        Americans ages 18 and older suffer from a diagnosable mental disorder 
        each year;
Whereas the National Institute of Mental Health has found that 4 of the 10 
        leading causes of disability in the United States are mental disorders;
Whereas approximately 90 percent of the 30,000 people who commit suicide in the 
        United States every year have a diagnosable mental disorder;
Whereas the President created the New Freedom Commission on Mental Health on 
        April 29, 2002 to study the mental health service delivery system and 
        make recommendations to enable people with serious mental illness to 
        live, work, learn, and participate fully in their communities;
Whereas the Commission identified 6 goals to begin transforming mental health 
        care in America: (1) to help all Americans understand that mental health 
        is essential to overall health; (2) to make mental health care consumer 
        and family driven; (3) to eliminate disparities in mental health 
        services; (4) to make early mental illness screening, assessment, and 
        referral to services common practice; (5) to ensure delivery of 
        excellent mental health care and acceleration of mental illness 
        research; and (6) to use technology to access mental health care and 
        information;
Whereas the Commission has made a number of recommendations to Congress to 
        implement its goals;
Whereas the Commission has recommended that to implement its first goal of 
        helping Americans understand that mental health is essential to overall 
        health, Congress should address mental health with the same urgency as 
        physical health, as well as develop and advance a national strategy for 
        suicide prevention and a national campaign aimed at reducing the stigma 
        attached to seeking mental health care;
Whereas the Commission has recommended that to implement its second goal of 
        making mental health care consumer and family driven, Congress should 
        support the practice of developing an individualized plan of care for 
        every individual with a serious mental illness, encourage mental health 
        care providers to involve consumers and families in the mental health 
        system and the path toward recovery, take action to realign relevant 
        Federal programs to improve consumer access and accountability for 
        mental health services, support the States in developing extensive, 
        coordinated mental health systems, and encourage the protection and 
        enhancement of the rights of people with mental illness;
Whereas the Commission has recommended that to implement its third goal of 
        eliminating disparities in mental health services, Congress should 
        support improved access to quality care in rural and geographically 
        remote areas and ensure that mental health care providers are trained to 
        work effectively with culturally diverse populations;
Whereas the Commission has recommended that to implement its fourth goal of 
        making early screening, assessment, and treatment of mental illness a 
        common practice, Congress should help promote children's mental health 
        by improving and expanding school mental health programs, encouraging 
        screenings for mental disorders (including co-occurring substance use 
        disorders) in primary health care, and supporting appropriate referral 
        to treatment and integrated treatment strategies;
Whereas the Commission has recommended that to implement its fifth goal of 
        ensuring the delivery of excellent mental health care and the 
        acceleration of mental illness research, Congress should encourage the 
        acceleration of research to promote recovery, cures, and prevention, the 
        advance of evidence-based practices using dissemination and 
        demonstration projects, the improvement and expansion of the workforce 
        which provides these services, and the development of a base of 
        knowledge in understudied areas;
Whereas the Commission has recommended that to implement its sixth goal of using 
        technology to access mental health care and information, Congress should 
        encourage the use of health technology and telehealth to improve access 
        and coordination of mental health care, particularly for Americans in 
        remote areas or in underserved populations, and the development and 
        implementation of integrated electronic health records; and
Whereas these goals are interrelated and must be pursued together as quickly as 
        possible: Now, therefore, be it
    Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate concurring), 
That it is the sense of Congress that Congress should act immediately 
to adopt and implement the goals and recommendations highlighted in the 
final report of the President's New Freedom Commission on Mental 
Health, ``Achieving the Promise: Transforming Mental Health Care in 
America'' through legislation or other appropriate action to help 
ensure affordable, accessible, and high quality mental health care for 
all Americans.
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