[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 153 (2007), Part 2]
[Senate]
[Pages 1985-1986]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                              HEALTH CARE

  Mr. SMITH. Mr. President, it is always an exciting time when a new 
Congress takes its oath of office and the President comes to Capitol 
Hill to give his State of the Union Address. It is a time when our 
Nation takes its pulse and checks its health.
  As we contemplate what the President might say and the agenda that 
this Congress might pursue, it occurs to me that this is a good time to 
express what I hope will be a priority of this Congress, and it relates 
to health.
  I think, undoubtedly, the President will focus some of his remarks on 
Iraq. That continues as a major focus of public attention and a 
legitimate cause of its concern. But I think the American people would 
also very much appreciate our turning our focus to home, on things that 
affect the lives of everyday Americans and their families and on their 
individual concerns.
  There is probably no greater individual concern than health care. I 
do hope the President will address health care because I know moms and 
dads are addressing it every day.
  There are three issues I would like to speak to as it relates to 
health care, to what I hope will be a focus of the 110th Congress.
  When I think of health care in this Congress, the issues that come to 
mind are stem cells, mental health, and the uninsured. When I think of 
stem cells, I immediately think of some of the most loathesome diseases 
that affect humankind. Obviously, Parkinson's disease, which has 
certainly taken its toll in my family; Alzheimer's, which afflicts so 
many of our seniors and puts incredible burdens upon their caregivers; 
and diabetes. It is heartrending to meet with children afflicted with 
diabetes at an early age, that directs them down a path of lifelong 
suffering and dependence upon injections.
  I think of cardiovascular disease. Heart disease is probably our 
greatest killer as a people. Then, of course, there are those who, 
through accidents or other causes, suffer spinal cord injuries. All of 
these terrible afflictions have mystified our best and brightest minds 
in the scientific community, and yet stem cell research, in all of its 
forms--embryonic, adult stem cells, and some of the new breakthroughs 
that have been discovered through amniotic fluid--all hold great 
promise.
  It does seem to me that one of the first steps of this Congress ought 
to be to return to this debate. The time is now to make progress. The 
time is now for us as a people to have the vast majority view heard and 
enacted into law. It is important for the Federal Government to show up 
to work on this issue. It is important because the Federal Government 
can provide the seed money. The Federal Government can provide the 
moral boundaries. The Federal Government can help to provide world 
leadership on this important biomedical ethical issue.
  So as we enter this Congress, I do hope that by large majorities in 
the House and the Senate, we will pass embryonic stem cell research and 
further those other avenues in stem cell research that hold out so much 
promise. I have always believed that an ethic of life includes concern 
for the living as well. I believe it is time for us to unshackle the 
hands of our scientists so that we can unlock with the key of science 
these great mysteries.
  Next, Mr. President, I speak of mental health. It has always been 
troubling to me, but especially in light of my family's history, that 
physical health is held at one level but mental health has always 
occupied a subordinate level. Because of the embarrassment and then the 
shame that attends mental health, a great stigma has attached to this 
issue, and because stigma attaches to it, society has caused those who 
suffer debilitating mental health issues not to seek treatment or to 
hide their afflictions. Yet it seems to me obvious that such issues as 
schizophrenia, bipolar condition, postpartum depression--it is hard to 
imagine anyone in this modern day and age who says these are not 
legitimate afflictions of humankind. And if they are legitimate, then 
the Congress of the United States should begin to treat them as 
legitimate.
  It seems to me that in all of its manifestations, these biases 
against mental health need to be removed. We find them in our statutes 
relative to Medicaid and Medicare. When it comes to copays, when it 
comes to reimbursement, the Federal Government has a prejudice against 
mental health. Why would that be? If you do not have mental health but 
you have physical health, you do not have health. The mind and body 
interact in a very direct way, and both are necessary if the American 
people are to have health.
  I do believe the Congress needs to address the biases against mental 
health. I do believe we should enact mental health parity in insurance 
law. It is a source of pride to me that my own State of Oregon this 
past legislative session enacted mental health parity, so that on 
January 1 of this year, all Oregonians woke up to know that as a matter 
of law their health care covers mental health as well. And we should do 
no less as the Federal Government. We need to change this aspect. We 
need to change it in Medicaid, Medicare, in insurance law, in teaching 
parity in our medical schools, in our pharmaceutical policies--all of 
these things must elevate mental health to the same level as physical 
health.

[[Page 1986]]

  Another part of mental health, in my own calculation, is a very 
personal passion of mine; that is, the reauthorization and full funding 
of the Garrett Lee Smith Memorial Act. There is a plague in this 
country, an epidemic, if you will, of youth suicide. It begins as 
depression and sometimes leads to the most tragic of results. It is my 
hope that this 110th Congress, the House and the Senate, united, will 
reauthorize and fully fund this great and important act. It is not the 
whole answer, but it is an important beginning because it incentivizes 
States to enact prevention and intervention programs--not just States 
but tribes, colleges, universities--to be able to respond to this issue 
which is costing the lives of over 3,000 young people a year. I hope we 
will do that. It is one of the actions the Congress before took which 
was truly bipartisan, which truly has made a difference in saving 
hundreds, perhaps thousands, of lives.
  Finally, let me speak to access. I think it is a source of some 
national shame that 46 million Americans are uninsured. It is true that 
probably half of that number are uninsured by choice. They tend to be 
young people who would want to spend their money in other ways. But of 
that 46 million, 9 million of these are children, and that is a 
national shame.
  I believe we need to reauthorize the SCHIP program. SCHIP, along with 
Medicaid, is one of the central strands in our public safety net. I 
believe we need to do this because of the 6 million children who are 
insured by this, some 3 million more are eligible but are not enrolled.
  I believe, in addition to this, we need to look at all the good ideas 
we can find in this Congress to provide insurance coverage for the 
uninsured. Senator Wyden of Oregon and I have a proposal for universal 
catastrophic coverage. We believe that, at least in America, if you 
lose your health, you should not lose your home.
  Mr. President, I believe my time is up. I thank you for the time, and 
I focus our Nation's attention on a most pressing and urgent family and 
national urgency, which is health care.
  I yield the floor.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The Senator from Texas.

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