[Congressional Record Volume 166, Number 99 (Wednesday, May 27, 2020)]
[House]
[Page H2292]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                       SUICIDE PREVENTION HOTLINE

  (Mr. STEWART asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. STEWART. Madam Speaker, I recently had an experience with a group 
of, maybe, 50 people, and I asked them: How many of you have been 
impacted by suicide or an attempted suicide, someone in your family, 
someone that you love and care about? Nearly every hand went up.
  We are experiencing a crisis among our youth, a crisis among our 
veterans, and now with COVID-19, a crisis among the general population 
as we go into our social isolation. It is worse now than it was, and it 
has been a crisis for a long time.
  There is a tool that will help. The Suicide Prevention Hotline number 
that creates a national hotline number, 988. No matter where you are in 
the country, if you are in the middle of a mental health crisis you can 
get help.
  We have been working on this for 3 years. It is bipartisan, it is 
bicameral, it will save thousands of lives, especially now in the midst 
of this other crisis that is creating so much emotional stress on so 
many Americans.
  Madam Speaker, I am asking the leadership, bring it up, finish it, 
give us unanimous consent today. Let's make this tool available to help 
Americans who need the help, please.

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