[Congressional Record Volume 168, Number 98 (Wednesday, June 8, 2022)]
[House]
[Page H5344]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                   MENTAL HEALTH CRISIS IN OUR NATION

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from 
Texas (Mr. Tony Gonzales) for 5 minutes.
  Mr. TONY GONZALES of Texas. Madam Speaker, I rise today to raise 
awareness for the severe mental health crisis in our country.
  Two weeks ago, there was a terrible incident that occurred in Uvalde, 
Texas; 19 innocent children were murdered and two of their teachers 
alongside them. Uvalde is in my district, Texas' 23rd District.
  Over a year ago, after I got elected, I visited Uvalde and I sat down 
with the county judge, who is a Democrat, and the mayor, who is a 
Republican, and the local sheriff. I sat down with them, and I said, If 
I could do one thing, what would that be, gentlemen? And they go: Tony, 
we need a mental health hospital.
  They identified this crisis over a year ago. Last year, we 
appropriated over $2 million toward that hospital. It is a $25-million 
project, and I am working on the remaining $23 million to get that over 
the finish line. This is something that that community asked for.
  There is so much division here in Congress. There is so much hate and 
rhetoric that gets spewed. I think mental health is an area that can 
bring us together, that can unite us as we go forward, not only as we 
reflect on what happened in Uvalde, but across the country.
  COVID did something to this country. We are coming out of that, and I 
think part of the mental health crisis that is going on in our country 
has to be addressed. It is heartbreaking to see what happened, to be 
there as the Uvalde community heals and comes together. What I will say 
is, this mental health crisis goes beyond those that are looking to 
cause harm to themselves and others.
  Madam Speaker, I would argue everyone in that community needs to sit 
down with a mental health provider; my staff, included. Our team 
essentially had turned into a mini FEMA office where we were answering 
all kinds of different claims every day and having to hear these 
horrendous stories and having to hear the issues that our community was 
dealing with.
  So this crisis is very deep and it is very sad. It is an issue that 
this body needs to address. It needs to start early on, not wait until 
when an incident occurs. We have to start very early on. This shooter, 
this gunman, was a troubled young man for a very long time. It was no 
surprise to a lot of people what occurred. If we could have got ahead 
of the issue instead of waiting until the problem happened, I think 
that is critical.
  Another thing a lot of people don't realize, the day of the shooting, 
there was actually a young lady that had suicide ideations, and two of 
the local law enforcement officers had taken her to San Antonio. This 
was hours before the shooting.
  What does that mean? That means the community of Uvalde has a very 
deep mental health issue that is popping up every single day. And 
Uvalde isn't unique. It isn't just this one small town and this one 
incident. We have seen it happen all over the country.
  Madam Speaker, I urge this body to come together. I urge Congress to 
come together and use this terrible incident to unite us in finding 
real, tangible solutions. Part of those solutions is identifying mental 
health resources which we can provide directly to the communities of 
need.

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