[Congressional Record Volume 161, Number 106 (Thursday, July 9, 2015)]
[House]
[Page H4963]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




              HELPING FAMILIES IN MENTAL HEALTH CRISIS ACT

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from 
Pennsylvania (Mr. Murphy) for 5 minutes.
  Mr. MURPHY of Pennsylvania. Mr. Speaker, yesterday, in a terrible 
attack, over 200 people were killed across these United States. This 
headline should lead every TV news show, hit the front pages, and 
generate outrage from across the country, but it did not appear. This 
is not make-believe. The news is real, but no one reported it.
  We lose more than 80,000 people a year now to suicide and drug 
addiction overdose. That is over 200 people a day. Where is the news?
  Now, these are the sudden and tragic deaths. Then there are the slow-
motion deaths which we can't even count, those who have a mental 
illness and ended up homeless, or have a co-occurring chronic illness, 
such as diabetes or heart disease, and face that slow-motion death 
sentence. In fact, people with serious mental illness tend to die 25 
years earlier than their cohorts.
  And then there are the mentally ill who are victims of attacks. Last 
week, The Washington Post revealed how, in the first 6 months of this 
year, a person who was in mental health crisis was shot and killed 
every 36 hours by police. The vast majority were armed, but, in most 
cases, the police officers who shot them were not responding to reports 
of a crime. More often, they were called by relatives, neighbors, or 
other bystanders, worried that a mentally fragile person was behaving 
erratically. The crisis built, and it ended in death.
  Further, the mentally ill are more likely to be the victims of 
violence, robberies, beatings, rape, and other crimes. These 
individuals are also 10 times more likely to be in jail than in a 
hospital.
  If you are a minority, chances are your mental health treatment comes 
in a prison, not in a community health center.
  Have we become so numb we no longer notice? Are we so numb, we no 
longer care?
  Tragically, government tries to help, but, frankly, it is a mess. The 
chaotic patchwork of current government programs and Federal laws make 
it impossible for those with severe psychosis, schizophrenia, and 
serious mental illness, to get meaningful care.
  For example, when someone with serious mental illness is haunted by 
delirium and hallucinations and doesn't even know they are ill, they 
frequently stop taking their needed medication. They don't follow up on 
appointments and their health declines. Our Federal laws prevent a 
caregiver from getting their loved one to the next appointment or to 
follow up on their care.
  We need to provide treatment before tragedy and get these individuals 
help before their loved ones dial 911. The Helping Families in Mental 
Health Crisis Act, H.R. 2646, provides millions of families the tools 
needed for effective care.
  H.R. 2646 empowers parents and caregivers to access care before the 
mental illness reaches the most severe stage. It fixes the shortage of 
inpatient beds, so patients in mental health crisis can get proper 
care, not be sent to a jail, not tied to an emergency room gurney, and 
not sent home.
  It helps reach underserved and rural populations. It expands the 
mental health workforce. It drives evidence-based care. It provides 
alternatives to institutionalization. It integrates primary and 
behavior care.
  It increases physician volunteerism, advances critical medical 
research, brings accountability to mental health and substance abuse 
parity, and it also provides crisis intervention grants for police 
officers and first responders. This training helps law enforcement 
officials recognize individuals who have a serious mental illness and 
learn how to properly intervene.
  My bill eliminates wasteful and ineffective programs and directs 
money where it is needed most. It restructures the Federal mental 
health system to focus on serious mental illness rather than behavioral 
wellness and feel-good fads that yield no meaningful results yet cost 
taxpayers millions each year.
  My bill elevates effective programs and helps communities adopt 
programs to stop the revolving door of mental health crisis, violence, 
incarceration, ER visits, and abandonment.
  This bipartisan legislation, now with more than 50 cosponsors, marks 
a new dawn for mental health in America. I urge my colleagues to join 
me in this effort by cosponsoring the Helping Families in Mental Health 
Crisis Act, H.R. 2646. Let's no longer turn a blind eye and, instead, 
help those that need it the most.
  Whether on the fast road or the slow road, the 200-plus deaths per 
day, the 80,000 deaths per year and unknown number of victims is far, 
far too many. Compassion calls us to act--and act now. The cost of 
delay is deadly. For those families who are suffering, how can we look 
them in the eye and defend our delays to act?

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