[Congressional Record Volume 171, Number 202 (Wednesday, December 3, 2025)]
[House]
[Page H5014]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




            ADDRESSING SOUTH CAROLINA'S MENTAL HEALTH CRISIS

  (Mrs. BIGGS of South Carolina asked and was given permission to 
address the House for 1 minute and to revise and extend her remarks.)
  Mrs. BIGGS of South Carolina. Mr. Speaker, Anderson County is facing 
a heartbreaking reality. They have experienced 55 suicide deaths this 
year alone, the highest number ever recorded.
  Mr. Speaker, 55 families are shattered; and a community is left 
grieving. The pain reaches across South Carolina's Third District and 
across America.
  Having counseled hundreds of patients and as a psychiatric mental 
health nurse practitioner, I have seen what suffering looks like when 
it hides behind a smile. We often notice the physical scars, but we 
miss the wounds below the surface, the inward scars, the ones that ache 
in silence. We don't like asking the hard question: Are you thinking 
about ending your life? We have to, though.
  I ran on the promise to help heal our Nation, and that healing starts 
with the unshakeable belief that every single life and every soul is 
created by God and with a purpose.
  Mr. Speaker, if someone is hurting right now, I ask them to please 
reach out. They are not alone. They are seen. They are loved. They are 
worth it.

                          ____________________