[Congressional Record Volume 150, Number 120 (Wednesday, September 29, 2004)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1721]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

[[Page E1721]]


                   S. 2634, THE GARRETT LEE SMITH ACT

                                 ______
                                 

                           HON. TAMMY BALDWIN

                              of wisconsin

                    in the house of representatives

                      Tuesday, September 28, 2004

  Ms. BALDWIN. Mr. Speaker, I rise to bring attention to a tragic issue 
that faces our country today: youth suicide. On September 9th, the 
House of Representatives passed, with my full support, S. 2634, the 
Garrett Lee Smith Act. The Act was named in honor of Senator Gordon 
Smith's son who committed suicide last year. This legislation 
establishes grants for suicide prevention efforts directed at young 
people, authorizes the creation of a technical assistance center to 
help local and state providers of suicide prevention programs; and 
establishes a grant program for suicide prevention programs on college 
campuses. I am proud to support for this bill and confident that it 
will make a difference in the lives of countless young people in south 
central Wisconsin and across our Nation.
  We must do all we can to nurture and support our Nation's greatest 
asset--our children. Suicide is currently the third leading cause of 
death among teenagers in the United States. Too many young people think 
they are facing lives that lack hope and promise. We must do everything 
we can to help our youth through difficult times and teach them that 
life is indeed worth living. The Garrett Lee Smith Act will go a long 
way to help in that effort.
  Youth suicide is at epidemic proportions. All youth are at risk. But 
I want to speak about a group of youth who are sometimes invisible, 
ignored, or worse--condemned for simply being who they are. I am 
talking about America's gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender youth.
  Allow me to tell you a true story. When the people of Wisconsin first 
elected me to Congress, I received a letter from an 18 year-old from a 
small town in southern Illinois--population forty-four hundred. This 
young man had a passion for public service. He wrote, ``I was president 
of my graduating class, treasurer of the student council, and senior 
board member on a local community service youth group . . .'' Here was 
a young man who cared about others, and who was already a valuable, 
productive member of his community. But then I read the next lines of 
his letter, and was devastated. It read, ``I was following my dreams, 
until I realized that I am gay. At that point, I gave up.''
  Luckily, this story has a happy ending. Surfing the internet one day, 
this young man read an article about my being the first out lesbian 
elected to Congress. Thankfully he realized that he could be honest 
about himself as an openly gay man and still devote his life to public 
service. But, he went on in his letter to explain the real reason he 
was writing me. He told me that by reading about my story, ``You not 
only saved my hopes and dreams, you saved my life. I have never told 
anyone this. I was on the edge before I read that article. The 
pressures had built up in me to the point of suicide. I was going to 
give up, not only on my hopes and dreams, but on my life altogether.'' 
The pressures he was talking about were not only the difficulties that 
all American youth face today, but the steady drip, drip, drip of 
intolerance and discrimination he experienced as he tried to live his 
life honestly as a gay man.

  That young man needed and did not have access to adequate suicide 
prevention services. According to the Massachusetts Youth Risk Behavior 
Survey, lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender youth are four times 
more likely to report attempting suicide than their heterosexual peers. 
Along with the growing acceptance of gay, lesbian, bisexual and 
transgender Americans, the Garrett Lee Smith Act will help ensure that 
all young people, including our LGBT youth, have access to high quality 
and effective suicide prevention services.
  None of America's youth should consider suicide as an option to end 
pain in their lives. I am thankful for the passage of the Garrett Lee 
Smith Act, and am committed to doing all I can to combating youth 
suicide.

                          ____________________