[Congressional Record Volume 158, Number 164 (Wednesday, December 19, 2012)]
[House]
[Page H7280]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                              {time}  1230
                RECENT DECREASE IN MENTAL HEALTH FUNDING

  (Ms. KAPTUR asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute.)
  Ms. KAPTUR. Madam Speaker, in view of what has happened in Newtown, 
Connecticut, it is important to place on the Record the fact that our 
Nation has been experiencing the largest reduction in State mental 
health services of this generation. According to the National Alliance 
on Mental Illness, States have cumulatively cut over $1.8 billion from 
their mental health services between 2009 and 2011. This is the largest 
reduction in State mental health services in half a century.
  With 1 in 17 people in America living with a serious neurological 
condition, how is this tremendous decrease in funding possible or 
humane?
  Often, those who suffer the most are angels of destiny. According to 
a report from the Federal Bureau of Justice statistics, more than half 
of our country's prison population suffers or has suffered from mental 
disorders, but only a fraction of that population receives treatment 
during their incarceration. And, in fact, individuals with mental 
illness are far more likely to be victims of crime than the 
perpetrators.
  Newtown is a national tragedy, Madam Speaker, but it reveals again 
our shared responsibility to support and treat those in this country 
who need our help so desperately. I urge our colleagues to support a 
more constructive Federal role in assuring proper and early diagnosis 
and intervention of affected youth and appropriate treatment.
  I congratulate President Obama and Vice President Biden for their 
leadership in moving our Nation to a better day for us all. So many of 
us here in Congress wish to join them in this great national challenge.

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