[Congressional Record Volume 159, Number 9 (Thursday, January 24, 2013)]
[Senate]
[Page S291]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mr. BEGICH (for himself, Mr. Blumenthal, Ms. Ayotte, Mr. 
        Bennet, Mr. Rubio, Mrs. Shaheen, Mr. Reed, Mr. Blunt, Ms. 
        Stabenow, Mr. Tester, and Mr. Coons):
  S. 153. A bill to amend section 520J of the Public Health Service Act 
to authorize grants for mental health first aid training programs; to 
the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions.
  MR. BEGICH. Mr. President, today I rise to introduce a very important 
piece of legislation--the Mental Health First Aid Act of 2013. The bill 
authorizes grants for mental health first aid, similar to the first aid 
training offered by Red Cross chapters across the United States.
  I introduced this bill last Congress and focused on higher education 
because many common mental illnesses happen at late adolescence or 
young adulthood. However, as the recent tragedy in Newtown reminded us 
in horrific detail, violence is not limited to college campuses.
  My colleague on the House side, Rep. Ron Barber of Arizona, has 
already introduced a companion bill in the House of Representatives. As 
you know, he was critically wounded in a tragic shooting 2 years ago 
with then Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords.
  Mental health first aid teaches the warning signs and risk factors 
for schizophrenia, major clinical depression, panic attacks, anxiety 
disorders, trauma, and other common mental disorders, crisis de-
escalation techniques and equips college and university staff with a 
five-step action plan to help individuals in psychiatric crisis connect 
to professional mental health care.
  One in four adults and 10 percent of children in the United States 
will suffer from a mental illness this year. We know what to do if 
someone has a heart attack, but how do we react to someone having a 
panic disorder? Why do we wait for a tragic event to take notice and 
then bring out emergency measures?
  When I was Mayor of Anchorage, we worked with local mental health 
organizations to train our police in Crisis Intervention Teams, a great 
improvement for police officers responding to a crisis. But now we need 
to go further.
  You have heard me say this before, and it is not something to be 
proud of: In Alaska we have one of the highest suicide prevalence rates 
in the country. Further, we are a very rural State, where access to 
mental health care and medical services is often very difficult.
  Even today, it is not widely known that fully \2/3\ of Alaska can 
only be accessed by airplane. By educating the general public about the 
warning signs of common mental disorders, we can intervene early, 
facilitate access to care, improve clinical outcomes, reduce costs, and 
maybe save lives.
  Mental disorders are more common than heart disease and cancer 
combined and a recent Governing magazine article reports that many 
States and localities are moving ahead--teaching their employees how to 
recognize the signs of mental health problems and how to help. Wouldn't 
you run to perform the Heimlich maneuver if a person was choking in a 
restaurant? Of course. We should all learn how to intervene with 
someone who is having a mental health crisis.
  In the Alaska tradition, I seek to work across the aisle and believe 
this legislation merits bipartisan support. I am honored to be joined 
by my cosponsors on this bill, Senators Blumenthal, Bennett, Ayotte, 
Rubio, Shaheen, Blunt, Stabenow and Jack Reed. I invite you and all of 
our colleagues to join me in supporting this vital program. My great 
hope is it will avert suffering, prevent violence and ultimately save 
lives.

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