[Congressional Record Volume 170, Number 78 (Monday, May 6, 2024)]
[House]
[Pages H2868-H2871]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




 SHINING A LIGHT ON MENTAL HEALTH EMERGENCIES AND SUICIDES AMONG BLACK 
                                 YOUTH

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under the Speaker's announced policy of 
January 9, 2023, the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Jackson) is 
recognized for 60 minutes as the designee of the minority leader.


                             General Leave

  Mr. JACKSON of Illinois. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that 
all Members may have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend 
their remarks and include any extraneous material on the subject of 
this Special Order hour.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentleman from Illinois?
  There was no objection.
  Mr. JACKSON of Illinois. Mr. Speaker, I, too, acknowledge the 
tremendous loss that those families have incurred, and I thank them for 
their service.
  Mr. Speaker, it is with great honor that I rise today to co-anchor 
this Congressional Black Caucus Special Order hour, along with my 
distinguished colleague, Representative Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick.
  For the next 60 minutes, members of the Congressional Black Caucus 
have an opportunity to speak directly to the American people on the 
topic of mental health, an issue of great importance to the 
Congressional Black Caucus, the Congress and the constituents we 
represent, and all of America.
  Mr. Speaker, it is now my privilege to yield to the gentlewoman from 
New Jersey, the honorable Congresswoman Watson Coleman.
  Mrs. WATSON COLEMAN. Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague from Illinois 
for yielding and organizing this Special Order hour on what I think is 
a very important topic.
  Five years ago, I founded and chaired the CBC's Emergency Task Force 
on Black Youth Suicide and Mental Health.
  Mental health emergencies and suicides among young Black youth have 
been on the rise, but this troubling trend had gone mostly unnoticed 
outside of the mental health field. Steadily and quietly, our children 
were dying, succumbing to depression, anxiety, and loneliness.
  So I and several of my colleagues, who will speak here tonight, came 
together to get to the bottom of this problem. We brought in experts, 
including psychologists, psychiatrists, social workers, teachers, 
school administrators, and students to help us paint a picture of this 
problem.
  The picture was grim.
  Between 2007 and 2020, a Black child died by suicide every 3 days. 
The suicide rate among Black youth ages 10 to 17 increased by a 
staggering 144 percent. Among young children ages 5 to 12, Black youth 
were twice as likely to die by suicide, and the suicide rate for 
teenage girls increased by almost 7 percent each year.
  These findings would make anyone sick to their stomach.
  It inspired the task force members to write the Pursuing Equity in 
Mental Health Act, which would surge funding to the National Institutes 
of Health and the National Institute on Minority Health and Health 
Disparities, and to develop an outreach and education plan to reduce 
the stigma associated with mental health conditions and substance 
abuse.
  Flash forward 5 years and the devastating impact of COVID has brought 
this crisis to everyone's attention. The social isolation, the constant 
fear of getting sick, and watching loved ones die have taken an 
unparalleled toll on all of us.
  Our Nation suffered a collective trauma made up of millions of 
individual crises.
  However, the pandemic fell especially heavily on Black women. The 
expectation of Black women to be pillars of their families and 
communities, combined with the greater likelihood of being essential 
workers increased the vulnerability to both physical and mental health 
problems.
  As a result, 50 percent of Black women experienced elevated levels of 
depression and 20 percent reported experiencing severe psychological 
distress. While other groups rebounded steadily after the pandemic, 
unemployment among Black women stayed high, even increasing at times 
when overall unemployment was falling. This persistent unemployment 
created additional stress on already struggling communities.
  It is our responsibility to ensure that overburdened communities, 
especially in impoverished urban and rural areas of the country, have 
access to mental health care.
  Since the task force was convened, we have addressed bits and pieces 
of this issue like improving and simplifying the process of accessing 
the suicide crisis hotline by calling 988, but so much more work needs 
to be done.
  Our children have been given neither the tools to maintain their 
health nor the care that they need to cope.
  It does not have to be this way. Children who have access to help can 
thrive. They have shown an ability to bounce back and become strong, 
happy, and resilient; to be active and productive in their communities. 
We have the capacity to create the conditions in which all of our 
children have a shot at happy, fulfilling lives.
  No matter your race, your background, or your gender, each one of us 
wants--no, indeed, we pray--for our children to grow up healthy. We 
must have and we need our Black women to be mentally and physically 
equipped to provide that growth that is so necessary.
  When we see them struggle, we struggle. When they are in pain, we 
feel that pain deeply. We know this to be true; Democrats, Republicans, 
and Independents, it doesn't matter what your party affiliation is.
  Yet here we are. Fifty-two months after the introduction of the 
Pursuing Equity in Mental Health Act and 7 months after the 
introduction of the Youth Mental Health Research Act, bipartisan bills 
to get our children the care they so desperately need, and we still 
can't come together.
  Look around the country. People are fed up with this Congress, the 
least productive Congress in decades. Surely, we can come together for 
the sake of our children. I implore my colleagues to take this 
situation seriously, to put aside our differences, and to show our 
children that we care and get them the help that they need.

  Mr. JACKSON of Illinois. Mr. Speaker, I thank the Honorable Bonnie 
Watson Coleman, Congresswoman from the great State of New Jersey in the 
12th District, for her remarks.
  Mr. Speaker, it is now my privilege to yield to the gentleman from 
the great State of Nevada, the honorable chairman of the Congressional 
Black Caucus,   Steven Horsford of the Fourth Congressional District.
  Mr. HORSFORD. Mr. Speaker, good evening. I thank Jonathan Jackson for 
co-anchoring this important discussion on tonight's Special Order hour 
for the Congressional Black Caucus and to Representative Sheila 
Cherfilus-McCormick for her tremendous leadership on all of our Special 
Order hours.
  Mr. Speaker, I rise today with my colleagues of the Congressional 
Black Caucus to recognize the month of May as Mental Health Awareness 
Month.
  I thank Congresswoman Bonnie Watson Coleman for her tremendous 
leadership on this very important issue, as well as each of our members 
for their work in addressing mental health, specifically in the Black 
community.

[[Page H2869]]

  Today, it is estimated that one out of every five American adults 
experiences mental health illnesses each year.
  In the United States, 21 percent of Black Americans reported having a 
mental illness, however, just 39 percent received mental health 
services.
  In recent years, the suicide rate among Black youth has been found to 
be increasing faster than any other racial or ethnic group.
  According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, suicide 
is now the third leading cause of death for Black male adolescents and 
young adults in our country.
  Over the last 30 years, we have seen a 160 percent rise in the 
suicide rate for young Black men. The statistics regarding mental 
health in the Black community are alarming, yet it has received very 
little attention from this Congress.
  So it is time for us to address mental health and, in fact, to focus 
on mental wellness, the same as in any other health issue. It is time 
to remove the stigma that too often surrounds mental health, especially 
for members of our community who are less likely to receive mental 
health care services to begin with.

                              {time}  2045

  This means addressing the systemic economic barriers our community 
faces to mental health care services, the lack of culturally competent 
care, and the root causes of declining mental health, including racism 
and implicit biases in daily life, high poverty rates, disparate 
economic participation, and low access to quality psychological and 
psychiatric services.
  It also means addressing the lack of diversity in our healthcare 
system. Often, when Black patients seek mental health services, they 
prefer a same-race healthcare professional, who are vastly 
underrepresented in this space.
  As legislators, we have a responsibility to the communities that we 
serve to find solutions to longstanding disparities that negatively 
impact our communities and to ensure that no one gets left out or left 
behind.
  As we can see, the research is clear, and the crisis before us is 
urgent. There are solutions. My colleague, Representative Watson 
Coleman, discussed just two that are bipartisan and have the support of 
Members on both sides.
  I know that there are efforts to pass bills in days when the majority 
wants them to, and we are asking you to make mental health the 
priority, especially in this month.
  In order to remedy these disparities, reverse these trends, and save 
lives, we have to address them head-on by providing access to better 
and more affordable healthcare, improving economic conditions in our 
communities, and moving toward more culturally competent and evidence-
based care.
  We have to take action now. Lives are on the line. It is possible. It 
can be done by focusing on Mental Health and Wellness Month in a way 
that lifts up all communities and the services and support that they 
need.
  Mr. JACKSON of Illinois. Mr. Speaker, I thank the Honorable   Steven 
Horsford from the Fourth Congressional District of the great State of 
Nevada.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from New York (Mr. Bowman).
  Mr. BOWMAN. Mr. Speaker, I thank Representative Jackson for his 
leadership on this very important issue.
  Mr. Speaker, prior to coming to Congress, I worked in education for 
20 years. I started my career as an elementary school teacher in the 
South Bronx before becoming a high school dean of students and guidance 
counselor and before having the privilege of opening my own school and 
running it as a middle school principal for 10\1/2\ years.
  The year before I decided to run for Congress, 34 children died 
within the K-12 school system in the Bronx, and 17 died via suicide. No 
one was making the connection between these horrible outcomes for our 
children and families with the historical neglect and trauma of their 
communities and the policies that come not just from local government 
or State government but also from the Federal Government.
  As mentioned by Chairman Horsford, it is incredibly difficult to 
access mental health resources in historically marginalized communities 
because of historical underfunding and historical neglect.
  It is tremendously urgent and incumbent upon us here in the House of 
Representatives to pass transformational, revolutionary legislation as 
it relates to supporting the mental health of every single person in 
our country. We need to make sure that we are not simply passing 
legislation but that we are also providing the resources and funding to 
build out the mental health ecosystem so that we can have more 
professionals working within the mental health system as professionals 
supporting the American people, particularly those who are most 
vulnerable.
  A couple of weeks ago, we introduced the Improving Access to Mental 
Health Act, which seeks to invest many more resources into our 
minority-serving institutions, Hispanic-serving institutions, and 
historically Black colleges so that we can build out the mental health 
programs in these particular institutions.
  We need more counselors. We need more psychologists. We need more 
psychiatrists. We need trauma specialists. We need many more mental 
health professionals in our schools and communities.
  When we make these investments, what we see is a dramatic decrease in 
the number of people who are incarcerated in our communities because 
many of the people who are incarcerated suffer from mental health 
challenges that have gone untreated.
  Many of the people who are incarcerated have experienced intense 
trauma, what professionals call toxic stress and chronic trauma, in 
their lives that needed to be responded to by a mental health 
professional, but it never was. As a result, they then commit harm in 
their communities. When they are going through harm within their own 
bodies and minds and spirits without receiving the care that they need, 
they are more likely to commit harm.
  Investing in our mental health as part, I might add, of a universal 
healthcare system dramatically decreases the costs for our jail and 
prison system, decreases the costs for our overall healthcare system, 
and improves education and economic outcomes. It is a win-win-win-win 
when we pass legislation as it relates to mental health and invest in 
supporting our children and families with their mental health.
  I will close with this. I mentioned toxic stress and chronic trauma. 
We have certain communities in our country--rural and urban, 
historically underserved, historically underfunded, historically 
marginalized, and historically neglected--because of lack of access and 
opportunity, many of those communities have been redlined on purpose by 
this very institution.
  When children are born into those communities, they are much more 
likely to experience toxic stress and chronic trauma.
  Mr. Speaker, when our babies from prenatal to age 3 experience toxic 
stress and chronic trauma, do you know that the prefrontal cortex of 
the brain doesn't develop accordingly? As a result, their regulatory 
skills, as well as their higher thinking skills, are compromised, which 
leaves them more likely to experience an adverse mental health event or 
to be diagnosed with a mental health condition. It also makes them more 
likely to be placed in special education in our school system and makes 
it more likely for them to be a part of the school-to-prison pipeline.

  That is why it is not just about investing in mental health. It is 
about investing in universal childcare and universal pre-K because when 
we invest in universal childcare and universal pre-K, we are ensuring 
our kids are growing up and are nurtured in the most nurturing 
conditions imaginable, and they are less likely to experience the 
stress and trauma that I talked about.
  When they don't experience the stress and trauma, their prefrontal 
cortex develops properly, which leads to better education and economic 
outcomes and keeps them off the school-to-prison pipeline.
  Investing in our mental health is a matter of national security. If 
we really care about foreign countries and how they are maybe 
responding to us and spying on us and kicking our butts when it comes 
to technology, when we invest in all Americans, especially the most 
vulnerable ones, we are going to

[[Page H2870]]

have incredible economic, social, and health outcomes on the back end.
  I thank Representative Jackson for his leadership and for allowing me 
to say a few words.
  Mr. JACKSON of Illinois. Mr. Speaker, I thank the Honorable 
Congressman Jamaal Bowman for those insightful words.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Rhode Island (Mr. Amo).
  Mr. AMO. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to discuss an issue that is 
critically important for Rhode Islanders and for all Americans: the 
need for greater investment in our mental health care system. The topic 
is timely, of course, especially as we recognize May as Mental Health 
Awareness Month.
  Here in Congress, we have a duty and responsibility to act on mental 
health. We must reduce the stigma associated with mental health while 
ensuring that it is both taken seriously and seriously addressed.
  That is why I am proud to join my colleagues in the Congressional 
Black Caucus tonight as we shine a light on the current state of mental 
health in America. Together, we are committed to reducing disparities 
and access, expanding coverage for mental health care, and reversing 
trends that have worsened over the past few years.
  First, we must be clear-eyed about the numbers. Right now, one out of 
every five Americans is struggling with mental illness. Think about 
that. These are our neighbors, friends, coworkers, and loved ones.
  Yet, as we acknowledge that mental health conditions are far more 
common than we think, we must recognize that different communities have 
different levels of access to treatment. As I have said, one out of 
every five Americans lives with a mental illness, a number that remains 
roughly equal when broken down amongst race and ethnicity. However, 
despite Black communities reporting relatively equal rates of mental 
illness, the percentages of them receiving mental health services 
register far lower than their fellow Americans.
  Mr. Speaker, it is clear that mental health is an issue that does not 
discriminate. It does not see color or background, and it affects 
struggling Americans the same. Yet, access to care is not the same for 
all Americans. Simply put, the barriers are higher for Black Americans, 
whether it is because of stigma for seeking help or lack of accessible 
and affordable providers.
  It is clear that we must do more to bring down those barriers. After 
all, if we are to live up to the words of our founding document, 
``life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness,'' then we must close the 
racial disparities in coverage and treatment, particularly as Americans 
are experiencing rates of loneliness so high that the Surgeon General 
has declared it a public health crisis.
  Congress must lead by example. To that end, I am proud to lift up 
legislation that would expand investments for mental health in schools 
and reduce racial gaps in treatment. I thank Congresswoman Bonnie 
Watson Coleman for her leadership on the second point.
  However, I would be remiss if I didn't mention my home State of Rhode 
Island as a model to be aware of. I am thankful for the work of 
committed nonprofits like the Mental Health Association of Rhode Island 
and the National Alliance on Mental Illness, Rhode Island.
  Our State was recently named the fifth best State for mental health 
care in America, but that is not enough.
  Over the past year, we have seen enormous progress on this front due 
to increased State-level advocacy and initiatives that ensure and 
increase access.
  Yet, as we highlight these protections being codified into law, we 
must keep up our efforts to close the equity gaps in our system.
  Every American, no matter the color of their skin or the background 
that they come from, deserves to be treated with dignity and respect.
  Every patient, regardless of what they are struggling with, deserves 
the support and services they need to live their best lives. By asking 
and listening to each other, by arming ourselves with the facts, and by 
using them to push for greater access to care, we can make a real 
difference in the mental health of Americans all across our country.
  Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleagues, again, for their leadership and 
for hosting this critical Special Order tonight.

                              {time}  2100

  Mr. JACKSON of Illinois. Mr. Speaker, I thank the Honorable 
Congressman from the great State of Rhode Island, Congressman Gabe Amo, 
for his remarks.
  Mr. Speaker, I rise tonight because in the midst of the sound and 
fury of our current political climate, there remains a profoundly 
unaddressed and underestimated crisis raging in the hearts and homes of 
this country's African-American citizens.
  It is a melancholy truth that too often what ails the hearts and 
minds of Black people in this Nation goes unnoticed. Thankfully, May is 
Mental Health Awareness Month, and we are therefore afforded the rare 
opportunity to acknowledge and address the mental health of African 
Americans as we would any other health crisis that threatens our 
quality of life.
  While it is true that the mental health of any community must be of 
grave importance, since none of this Nation's social or economic 
benefits can truly be appreciated apart from peace of mind, in the case 
of African Americans, however, the effects of the long history of 
systemic and outright political terror must be of singular importance.
  It must be of singular importance because life has become more 
complicated, alienation has become more common, and political violence 
has become more threatening. The times in which we live necessitate a 
greater emphasis and consideration of the mental health of this 
country's most vulnerable citizens.
  At a time when social media proliferates our lives with doomscrolling 
and mean world syndrome, we would be foolish to underestimate the 
impact and influence of what living in the digital age happens to be 
doing to our minds.
  I rise tonight because it is time for us to raise greater awareness 
about the confluence of mental health issues stalking two generations 
of African Americans like never before.
  I rise tonight because we must henceforth remove the stigma of openly 
dealing with a public health issue we cannot avoid. The time for our 
accommodating silence must come to an end. The time for us to assign 
shame is over.
  The time for us to portray Black people as super-human protagonists 
who move through the American drama unbothered and unaffected must be 
challenged in every way. Black people are as human as everybody else. 
We suffer from death, dread, disease, and despair like every other 
community. We may be strong and we may be resilient, but we are not 
without the scars and stripes that any community with our history would 
have to bear.
  Perhaps there was a time when we were unaware of what the effects of 
mental health were doing to our very lives and our bodies, but now we 
know that one out of every five American adults are now suffering from 
some mental health crisis or concern.
  We know that in the United States of America, 21 percent of African 
Americans reported struggling with mental illness, and we also know 
that just 39 percent of them received the mental health services that 
they deserve.
  Subsequently, it should not surprise us that in recent years the 
suicide rate among African-American young people has increased faster 
than other racial or ethnic groups. It should not surprise us that 
young people across racial lines are suffering with anxiety, various 
forms of dysmorphia, and other issues at rates never seen before in the 
long history of this great country.
  According to the Department of Health and Human Services minority 
office, African-American adults are more likely than White adults to 
report persistent symptoms of emotional distress, such as sadness and 
feeling like everything is an effort. In fact, according to the same 
findings, Black adults living below the poverty line are more than 
twice as likely to report serious psychological distress than those 
with more financial security.
  What this shows us is that the negative mental health of Black people 
in this country is often the result of a devious and devastating 
confluence of issues. That is to say, members of the

[[Page H2871]]

Black community, in addition to dealing with social media, the human 
predicament, and a history of repression, must also face the kind of 
structural racism that creates barriers to being able to access the 
care and treatment they both need and deserve.
  It is no wonder, then, that only one of every three African Americans 
living with a mental illness receive any kind of treatment at all. Only 
one in three. Additionally, in 2020, it was reported that 10 percent of 
African Americans still do not have health insurance and are among the 
chronically uninsured. Even with the Affordable Care Act firmly in 
place--and thank God that we have it--we must do more to get members of 
the Black community insured. They need both access and the 
affordability of care.
  It should not be the case that just a little over 10 percent of the 
Black community still cannot get the medical services they require. The 
overall survival of Black people in this country is far too contingent 
and tenuous for them not to have this one area of certainty in their 
life, access to care and mental health care.

  Needless to say, without insurance, treatment for mental illness is 
as unlikely as it is statistically uncommon. These are some of the 
unique challenges Black people face in an effort to live beyond the 
choking grip of mental illness, and that is why this month of awareness 
is so important.
  The victims of mental illness should not have to fight this battle 
alone. They should not have to struggle in the shadows of American 
life, and Black people in this country who struggle with mental illness 
should not have to bear this cross with crowns of thorns while all the 
world goes free.
  If every community is susceptible to the vicissitudes of mental 
illness, then certainly every community should have equal access to the 
things that make for peace.
  The current disparity in access to care is as unacceptable as it is 
un-American. I say to every African American suffering from mental 
illness, you have nothing to be ashamed of. You have done nothing 
wrong. You are not guilty of anything, and you need not be shamed into 
greater levels of unnecessary suffering.
  Let the word go forth from this moment forward, mental illness is a 
health concern compounded by social factors and not the result of a 
deficiency in character or personal responsibility. People are not 
suffering from mental illness because they are bad people. And to be 
sure, people are not suffering from mental illness because they are 
somehow ethically weak or deficient in their capacity to try harder, as 
it were.
  We have to stop assigning responsibility to the victim when it comes 
to mental illness the way we used to do with drug addiction and the 
like. Mental illness could care less about how emotionally strong or 
morally consistent you are. There is a reason why we call it an 
illness, and we call it an illness because all of us are potentially 
susceptible to falling victim to it under the right set of tragic 
conditions and circumstances.
  To the millions of people in America, and particularly to the 
millions of African Americans, who are suffering from mental illness, I 
see you, I hear you, I honor your courage, I value your life.
  Perhaps, most of all, I stand in solidarity with the possibility of 
your healing. You are not alone in this time. Your struggle and your 
sacrifices have not gone unnoticed, and we stand in this solemn place 
to affirm the dignity of your persistent efforts to be heard and 
recognized by your government.
  I want you to know that your labor has not been in vain. Today, we 
ask faith leaders in the Black community to help us remove the stigma 
that prevents people from getting therapy and treatment. Church 
leaders, mosque leaders, and synagogue leaders are essential elements 
for the successful recovery of someone getting the help they need.
  Prayer and spirituality can help in the effort to eradicate isolation 
and give victims access to communities of healing, but these benefits 
must be supported by proven treatments.
  There is no reason the Black church and Black mental health 
professionals cannot work together to bring relief and restoration to 
the millions of Black people who need it.

                              {time}  2110

  Today we call upon the formation of a broad and interdisciplinary 
approach to mental illness that will not only address the problem but 
also leave the dignity of the person intact because struggling people 
are still people, citizens of this country.
  Men and women who, in spite of the difficulties they face, are no 
less worthy of our love and our devotion because this country is only 
as strong as the weakest among us.
  A country that cannot secure the health and well-being of the weak 
will never be able to protect and sustain the longevity of the strong.
  I am convinced that we must do everything in our power to support the 
expansion of culturally competent care.
  In fact, this government should incentivize the practice of creating 
an army of Black mental health professionals who work on the front 
lines in this emerging war because whether we know it or not, the 
future of this Nation and our communities might well depend upon it.
  This is not a crisis in the making. This is a crisis already amongst 
us, and what we do about this issue might well determine the direction 
of this meandering Republic in days and years to come.
  Let us gather the best of the American spirit to accomplish this 
work. Let us summon the proverbial angels of our better nature.
  Let us join hands and lock arms and dedicate our resources so we 
might preserve all notions of domestic tranquility and let the 
oppressed go free.
  Mr. Speaker, you have heard from my distinguished colleagues about 
the topic of mental health and all issues of great importance to the 
Congressional Black Caucus, our constituents, Congress, and all 
Americans tonight.
  Mr. Speaker, I thank you for your kindness, and I yield back the 
balance of my time.

                          ____________________