[Congressional Record Volume 167, Number 127 (Tuesday, July 20, 2021)]
[House]
[Page H3678]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




          BUILD BACK BETTER THROUGH COMMUNITY PROJECT FUNDING

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentlewoman from 
Pennsylvania (Ms. Scanlon) for 5 minutes.
  Ms. SCANLON. Madam Speaker, I rise today to share with you some of 
the important projects we have nominated as part of the community 
project funding process, 10 projects that will bring more than $8.4 
million in critical funding to my district and which have now been 
included in the House Appropriations Committee's fiscal year 2022 
funding bill.
  It is my honor to represent the residents of PA-05 in Congress, and I 
am thrilled to have secured funding for these projects that were 
submitted by nonprofit and government agencies in our region and that 
met the rigorous funding criteria laid out by Congress.
  The projects our office nominated for inclusion address some of the 
most pressing needs in our region: economic development, climate 
resilience, treatment for opioid use disorder, and expanding mental 
health resources.
  Each of these projects will also help deliver on House Democrats' and 
President Biden's promise to build back better, to set the table for 
success for the American people, now and in the future.
  Today, I would like to shine the spotlight on two projects I am 
particularly proud of.
  The Delaware County Mobile Crisis teams project will provide an 
alternative response for emergency calls involving people suffering 
from mental illness. For too long, our mental health system has been 
woefully underfunded. As a result, all too frequently, people living 
with mental illness or cognitive disabilities have ended up in our 
criminal justice system, often with fatal consequences. We can do 
better.
  Around the country, communities have begun to address this dearth of 
mental health resources and overreliance on the criminal justice system 
by developing programs to provide alternatives to and diversion from 
arrest, abuse, and incarceration.
  At the Federal level, I am proud to have introduced the Mental Health 
Justice Act, which would make it easier for State and local governments 
to develop these programs and send trained mental health professionals 
instead of police when someone calls 911 because an individual is 
experiencing a mental health crisis.
  At the local level, I am proud to support Delaware County's 
application to fund just such a project in this year's appropriations 
bill, a project to address the mental and behavioral health challenges 
of residents who might otherwise find themselves in the criminal 
justice system.

                              {time}  1045

  The county proposal will create mobile crisis teams stationed with 
the county's Emergency Services Department. These teams will be 
dispatched in conjunction with law enforcement in response to requests 
for help for persons known or suspected to be suffering from mental 
illness with the goal of diverting them from the criminal justice 
system into treatment with access to prioritized admission and to 
properly address their underlying needs.
  This program is a collaboration among Delaware County's human 
services, health adviser, district attorney, and public defender. I 
commend these county leaders for looking forward, and I look forward to 
seeing the positive impact mobile crisis teams can have on our 
community.
  Another project that I was proud to secure funding for in the fiscal 
year `22 appropriations bill is for the restoration and reopening of 
the historic Lansdowne Theater.
  The 1927 Lansdowne Theater is an Art Deco gem that will be 
rehabilitated into a regional concert hall and spur investment in the 
surrounding community. The $1.5 million in Federal funding we have 
secured in the appropriations bill will be the final dollars for this 
$15 million project so that it can immediately start the restoration 
needed to bring this community treasure back to life.
  We anticipate the project will create 51 jobs to operate the theater 
and 100 permanent jobs in businesses nearby, in addition to over 100 
jobs for the trades during construction. Once completed, the theater 
will breathe new economic life into the community and attract more arts 
and culture to PA-5.
  It will create opportunities for enhanced educational programs for 
area students through internships and access to different genres of 
music.
  This transformational investment is integral to a broader plan to 
create an anchor in the community to restore, enhance, and spur 
economic activity in this part of the Baltimore Pike commercial 
district.
  The community project funding program is a win for the American 
people. It gives our communities the opportunity to make their case 
directly to Congress for funding to make bold, progressive investments 
that are exactly what our community and communities across the country 
need to recover and rebuild.
  This is what keeping a promise looks like. I look forward to 
continuing to fight for the people with these new investments.

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