[Congressional Record Volume 145, Number 79 (Monday, June 7, 1999)]
[House]
[Page H3744]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                WHITE HOUSE CONFERENCE ON MENTAL HEALTH

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentlewoman from California (Mrs. Capps) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mrs. CAPPS. Mr. Speaker, today I had the great honor of taking part 
in the landmark White House Conference on Mental Health. This 
conference brought together mental health providers, consumers and 
people from the private sector, and our goal was to develop strategies 
to eliminate the existing stigmas and encourage an environment of 
health where people with mental illness can thrive. The conference 
highlighted promising practices to limit discrimination, improve 
prevention and treatment and explore new steps so that we can take 
positive direction in helping people with mental illness. The 
conference was downlinked to over 6,000 sites around this country, 
including one in Santa Barbara, California, so that communities can 
come together in these important issues.
  Earlier this year I introduced House Resolution 133, a bipartisan 
resolution which currently has 100 cosponsors to focus public attention 
on this historic event. I was proud to have a constituent here to take 
part in the conference, Annmarie Cameron. She is the Executive Director 
of the Santa Barbara Mental Health Association, and brought her 
expertise from the central coast of California here to Washington, D.C. 
Working with the Santa Barbara Mental Health Association Board, 
Annmarie has been instrumental in affecting public policy on numerous 
issues. She has focused her considerable skills on increasing funding 
for mental health services, diverting persons with mental health 
disabilities from the criminal justice system, developing special needs 
housing for the homeless mentally ill. Her hands-on experience and 
professional expertise was a great asset to today's discussions.
  I want to commend the President and especially Mrs. Tipper Gore for 
convening this conference. As Mental Health Policy Adviser to the 
President, Mrs. Gore brings knowledge and understanding of this complex 
subject and has devoted much of her life to raising awareness of mental 
health related issues. Just recently she took the brave step of 
publicizing her own battle with depression and her family history of 
mental illness. Her work will benefit people all around the country who 
have so long suffered in silence.
  At today's conference I cochaired a panel on the Education and 
Training for Health Care Providers. There were many good panels. In 
ours, we focused how we can train our front-line medical providers as 
well as teachers to spot the signs of mental illness in children and 
then refer them for necessary care.
  As a school nurse for 20 years, I know that the signs of mental 
illness are sometimes difficult to detect. The people who work with our 
kids and young adults need to be proactive in screening for mental 
illness. If we detect problems earlier, we have a much better chance of 
giving our children a better opportunity to live a healthier life.
  As we think about the school environment we provide for our children 
and our local communities, we are mindful of the kind of resources our 
young people need as they grow and develop.
  School violence is the tip of the iceberg, but of course it catches 
our attention, and it should. I have proposed increasing the funding 
within the Safe and Drug-Free Schools Act to provide more counselors 
for our middle schools. In California, we have the fewest number per 
student in the Nation.
  At this time there are 10 million adults in our Nation who suffer 
serious and chronic effects from mental illness, but for years the 
problem of mental illness has been swept under the rug. Sadly, people 
in need of help fall through the cracks of our mental health system 
every day.
  Some cases, like the shooting in the Capitol or the New York subway 
incident grab headlines, but this systemic failure is repeated all too 
often throughout our country in so many daily tragic situations for 
people who suffer from mental illness as well as their families, their 
friends, and their communities. Our goal must be to attain greater 
insight into the troubling nature of mental illness and formulate 
policies to address these needs.
  Today's landmark conference was an excellent step in the right 
direction by engaging in meaningful dialog on these issues which affect 
so many Americans. We are educating ourselves. With education comes 
understanding, and hopefully with understanding will come treatment and 
relief for the millions of people and their families who suffer mental 
illness every day.

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