[Congressional Record Volume 147, Number 166 (Tuesday, December 4, 2001)]
[Senate]
[Page S12366]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




 DEPARTING NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF MENTAL HEALTH DIRECTOR: DR. STEVEN E. 
                                 HYMAN

 Mr. KENNEDY. Mr. President, it is a privilege to take this 
opportunity to commend Steven E. Hyman for his distinguished leadership 
at the National Institute of Mental Health at NIH for the past 5 years. 
Dr. Hyman will soon be turning his immense talents to his new duties as 
the Provost at Harvard University, and I wish him well in this new 
chapter of his outstanding career.
  Steven Hyman was remarkably effective in bringing issues to the 
national agenda that for too long have met with shame and stigma. As a 
renowned neuroscientist, he used his considerable talent, reputation, 
and communication skills to demonstrate to the entire Nation the 
progress that is being made in understanding and healing mental 
illnesses. He worked closely with the Surgeon General in his efforts to 
bring this profoundly important message to the attention of the 
country.
  It is because of efforts like these that we are closer than ever 
before to providing fair treatment for patients and their families, who 
have suffered from discrimination because mental illness for so long 
has been treated unfairly. Under Dr. Hyman's leadership, the NIMH has 
charted a bold course, initiating new clinical trials that will not 
exclude patients who are coping with difficulties so often associated 
with mental illness. He has insisted on including members of the public 
in the Institutes' research planning, including the groups reviewing 
grant applications. He has increased the Institute's research emphasis 
on areas of critical need, such as children and the elderly. He has 
worked skillfully to guarantee that greater effort is made to translate 
research into practice.
  I know that the National Institute of Mental Health will miss Dr. 
Hyman's bold and brilliant presence, and so will the nation, as he 
takes up his eminent new position at Harvard I commend him for his 
outstanding service to this country.

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