[Congressional Record Volume 169, Number 45 (Thursday, March 9, 2023)]
[House]
[Page H1234]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                          MENTAL HEALTH CRISIS

  (Mr. CICILLINE asked and was given permission to address the House 
for 1 minute.)
  Mr. CICILLINE. Mr. Speaker, America's youth are in crisis. According 
to a recently released report by the CDC, more than one in five LGBTQ 
teenagers have attempted suicide in 2021, and one in three teenage 
girls seriously considered suicide in that year.
  It should be no surprise that students are struggling in a country 
where certain politicians refuse to regulate the guns that kill their 
classmates and fight to ban books that tell their stories. There is a 
mental health crisis throughout our country that we need to address 
now.
  President Biden and Democrats in Congress enacted the Restoring Hope 
for Mental Health and Well-Being Act to save lives by expanding access 
to mental health and substance abuse disorder treatment. Now, my 
Republican friends are calling to cut Federal funding to FY22 levels, 
slashing funding for vital youth mental health programs when the 
assistance they provide is so desperately needed.
  For too long, Americans struggling with mental illness and substance 
abuse have suffered in silence, intimidated by stigma and unable to 
access treatment. We must change this. I invite my Republican friends 
to join us as we fight to change this in our country for young people.

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