[Congressional Record Volume 165, Number 85 (Tuesday, May 21, 2019)]
[Senate]
[Pages S2996-S2997]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                     Mental Health Awareness Month

  Mr. CASSIDY. Madam President, this month is Mental Health Awareness 
Month, and the goal of Mental Health Awareness Month is to recognize 
the importance for personal well-being, the need for research and 
education, dispelling the stigmas associated with mental illness, and 
to improve mental healthcare to ensure that care is available to ensure 
that the first episode of mental illness is the last.
  A goal with Mental Health Awareness Month is the awareness that is 
necessary for the programs to be implemented so that that young person 
with their first episode is returned to wholeness, and, again, as I 
said earlier, the first episode is the last. It recognizes that mental 
health is a societal issue associated with homelessness, crime, 
suicide, physical health, and public health issues.
  Now, when you speak of mental health, it is a little bit almost like: 
Oh, my gosh, this is going to be a futile issue. It is so difficult for 
someone who has serious mental illness to return them to wholeness. It 
is so difficult that sometimes the individual, their family, and 
society throws up their hands and says: There is nothing to do, so why 
try.
  You see manifestations of that with the homeless people walking 
around this city and every city in the United States, many of whom are 
mentally ill; yet there can be hope.
  I called a person back home from Baton Rouge, LA, and asked her for a

[[Page S2997]]

story, if you will, of how someone with mental illness issues can be 
returned to wholeness, so let me tell you about Mary. When you walk 
with Mary, you can't help but feel happy, happy, happy. That is because 
Mary radiates the joy of how Capital Area Human Services helped change 
her life.
  Mary says:

       I go out and help the community every day. I became 
     successful in my life because of my faith in God and because 
     of the wonderful people at Capital Area Human Services. Today 
     I give back to the community what Capital Area has given to 
     me.

  It wasn't always this way. For nearly 20 years before being referred 
to Capital Area Human Services, Mary lived in group homes and was 
dependent upon others for basic needs.
  I am now quoting Mary:

       I weighed 340 pounds. I was sick all the time, was in and 
     out of hospitals. I was barely able to function. I was on so 
     many medicines I could not keep track.

  When Mary came to Capital Area Human Services in 2006, she was first 
helped at the Margaret Dumas Center at the Government Street location. 
She eventually entered the total health program, and even more dramatic 
changes began.
  Now, let me point out as a physician--I am a doctor--I have learned 
from folks such as the people I am quoting now that mental health is 
often associated with physical health problems. So someone who is 
seriously mentally ill is more likely to die in their 50s than they are 
in their 80s with untreated hypertension, diabetes, or perhaps, because 
they are homeless, subject to violence on the streets.
  So let me now go back to Mary's story. When she entered the total 
health program, she lost nearly 100 pounds, no longer needed to take 
blood pressure medicine, changed her diet, participated in fitness 
programs, and continued to attend mental health therapy sessions.
  Today Mary is a different person. She lives independently in her own 
apartment, attends Sacred Heart of Jesus Catholic Church, walks 2 hours 
every day to volunteer for various duties at the St. Agnes Catholic 
Church soup kitchen, where she also sings for the attendees. Mary 
credits the nuns at St. Agnes for teaching her how to cook, prepare 
meals, and serve.
  Also, Mary is a regular volunteer at the Society of St. Vincent de 
Paul and at the Baton Rouge General Hospital chapel, where she reads 
Scriptures for some of the services.
  Mary said she loves Capital Area Human Services, tells everyone she 
knows about the people who helped her, particularly Kesha, John, the 
staff at Margaret Dumas, the staff at the Government Street location, 
and former total health employees Roy and Ricky.
  She says:

       I was motivated and didn't give up. It made me happy to do 
     this for myself. I proved that I could do it, and I'm doing 
     it. It's winter, but I'm out there anyway.

  Now, I give that kind of personal story to give an example of someone 
with serious mental illness returned to wholeness. Now, I love that 
because I always tell folks when I speak that we in Washington, DC, can 
propose legislation, but unless there is local leadership, nothing good 
happens.
  In 2016, I collaborated with Chris Murphy, as well as Eddie Bernice 
Johnson and Tim Murphy in the House, to pass the Mental Health Reform 
Act. It increased access to mental healthcare for adults and children, 
it strengthened leadership and accountability for Federal mental health 
and substance abuse programs, and it established new programs for early 
intervention. It was called by Senator Alexander the largest reform to 
our mental health system in decades. I continue to work with President 
Trump's administration to implement these reforms.
  Now, none of this Federal legislation makes a difference unless there 
is State and local leadership, as was demonstrated in the story which I 
gave. Last October, I held a mental health summit in Baton Rouge and 
brought together Federal, State, and local leaders, and the purpose was 
to discuss proven methods in how to work together to improve the 
provision of mental health services in both Louisiana and the United 
States.
  There is still important work to do. If we are going to return these 
folks to wholeness, these folks--our family members, our neighbors, our 
fellow Americans.
  The Mental Health Parity bill became law 10 years ago, but patients 
still have trouble accessing mental healthcare in the same way they 
access physical healthcare, caused by, among other things, the lack of 
mental health providers, prior authorization requirements, and 
reimbursement rate setting. I am committed to ensuring patients have 
access to the treatment so they return to wholeness.
  We need the story of Mary not to be something so unusual that it is 
read upon the Senate floor, but something which is so common that we 
know it to be true. Instead of throwing up our hands--kind of, oh, my 
gosh, serious mental illness; there is nothing to do--instead we look 
to hope with a future for someone who could be returned to wholeness so 
that her first episode of mental illness is her last episode of mental 
illness.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Georgia.