[Congressional Record Volume 161, Number 120 (Tuesday, July 28, 2015)]
[House]
[Page H8537]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                              {time}  1230
              HELPING FAMILIES IN MENTAL HEALTH CRISIS ACT

  (Mr. MURPHY of Pennsylvania asked and was given permission to address 
the House for 1 minute.)
  Mr. MURPHY of Pennsylvania. Mr. Speaker, I stand here today mourning 
Mayci Breaux and Jillian Johnson, buried yesterday by their families 
following the horrific killings in Louisiana. Yesterday we had a moment 
of silence to convey our respect and our prayers.
  But, as a House, we must break the silence because once again we have 
failed the American people with our broken mental health system. How 
many more people have to die before we take action?
  A person with severe mental illness is 15 times less likely to be 
violent when receiving proper treatment. Over the last 10 years, we 
have more suicides, more drug overdose deaths.
  We have replaced the hospital bed with a jail cell, the homeless 
shelter, and the cemetery. We cannot be silent anymore.
  The Helping Families in Mental Health Crisis Act, H.R. 2646, provides 
treatment before tragedy through comprehensive reforms.
  Let not our offer of comfort be mere silence, but let it move us to 
comprehensive action. Otherwise, our passivity makes us partners to 
these tragedies.
  I urge our Nation to not be silent, but to speak up. I urge my 
colleagues to cosponsor H.R. 2646.

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