[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 146 (2000), Part 11]
[House]
[Page 15374]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]



                        MENTAL ILLNESS AWARENESS

  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Hulshof). Under a previous order of the 
House, the gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Holt) is recognized for 5 
minutes.
  Mr. HOLT. Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to associate myself with the 
remarks of the gentlewoman from Texas (Ms. Jackson-Lee), and I thank 
her for organizing this Special Order this evening to talk about an 
issue that is not getting enough attention, the issue of mental health. 
It is an issue that needs so much attention, because, as the speakers 
tonight have pointed out, we have a lot of work to do.
  We talk about health care a great deal here, but there is an aspect 
of health care that does not get much talk. Many of us can remember a 
day when we could not talk about cancer or about AIDS, how many people 
suffered; people who did not come forward for treatment because of 
those stigmas. Mental illness is really the last great health stigma. 
We need to continue this fight, to fight the ignorance, first of all, 
to fight the ignorance with information. All of us can think of 
Americans who have struggled with mental illness, whether it was 
Abraham Lincoln or William Styron or countless others.
  Mr. Speaker, the fact is, we do not need to look that far. All of us, 
every one of us knows someone who has had a mental health problem. In 
fact, 50 million Americans will experience a mental health problem at 
some point in their lives. Those Americans deserve our respect, our 
help, and our understanding. But because of the stigma associated with 
mental illness, the job is harder. We not only have to work to pass 
protections for those who suffer from mental illness, protections like 
a strong Patients' Bill of Rights, parity in insurance coverage for 
serious mental illness, guidelines for the use of restraints in mental 
health facilities; in addition, we have to educate people. We have to 
educate them about the misperceptions that are associated with mental 
illness, Mr. Speaker, to assure everyone that Americans can and should 
get the mental help they need to lead productive lives, whether they 
are suffering from depression, bipolar illness, or schizophrenia, 
because only 20 percent of people seek treatment for mental health 
conditions, and it is a tragedy. We must create a climate to change 
that. We need to help stress that early intervention, continued 
research at NIH, and the National Institutes of Mental Health will help 
lead to better treatment and a cure for mental illness.
  Mr. Speaker, we talk about the violence in schools, and, of course, 
there are many aspects to that. There are many facets to the violence 
that we have seen. It raises questions about our parenting, about our 
teaching, about our school administering, about our policing. It raises 
questions about almost every aspect of our society. But one thing that 
it clearly cries out for is more attention to the mental health of our 
children in school. School counselors are not just those who advise 
students on college admission. We should have counselors in ample 
supply in all of the schools to deal with the tough growing up 
problems, including mental health problems that our students 
experience. Most of all, we need to remind people that mental illness 
affects people and it affects families.
  So I am proud to join tonight with the gentlewoman from Texas (Ms. 
Jackson-Lee) to continue to call attention to this important subject. I 
am pleased to join the gentlewoman in recognizing the courage of those 
who are living productive lives with mental illness.
  Ms. JACKSON-LEE of Texas. Mr. Speaker, if the gentleman will yield.
  Mr. HOLT. Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to yield to the gentlewoman from 
Texas.
  Ms. JACKSON-LEE of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I want to thank the gentleman, 
first of all, for his leadership and adding to the discussion on the 
floor, which really is adding to the national debate that people are 
not living alone with mental illness or mental health needs, nor are 
their children. I thank the distinguished gentleman for all that he is 
doing, and I think that we can collectively do this in a bipartisan way 
to take the stigma, the harshness out of people who truly need help.
  Mr. HOLT. Mr. Speaker, the gentlewoman is very eloquent and has been 
very eloquent on the subject this evening, as she always is on every 
subject.

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