[Congressional Record Volume 167, Number 108 (Tuesday, June 22, 2021)]
[House]
[Page H2989]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




      CALLING ON NEED FOR COMPREHENSIVE MENTAL HEALTH LEGISLATION

  (Ms. KAPTUR asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute.)
  Ms. KAPTUR. Madam Speaker, I rise this evening to call my colleagues' 
attention to the dire need for Congress to continue building upon 
recent progress to unlock the mysteries of the human brain and serious 
mental illness. Along with other legislation we are working on in the 
field of health, we have to create and pass robust mental health 
legislation.
  Alongside other members of our Congressional Mental Health Caucus and 
the Bipartisan Addiction and Mental Health Task Force, we are pulling 
together legislation to establish a comprehensive Mental Health Crisis 
Response Act.
  I invite all of our colleagues to please work with our bipartisan 
working group. America has waited too long. The fundamentals of our 
social economy depend on the good health of our citizenry, and their 
ability to access quality and affordable behavioral health services has 
for too long been ignored.
  Countless constituents face insurance barriers when accessing mental 
health services, and we must address the negative social and physical 
determinants of health that cause trauma and tragic illnesses.
  It is time for us to take meaningful action. Again, I invite my 
colleagues to join us in preparing this important legislation.

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