[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 157 (2011), Part 5]
[House]
[Pages 7036-7037]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                     SUPPORTING MENTAL HEALTH MONTH

  (Mrs. NAPOLITANO asked and was given permission to address the House 
for 1 minute.)
  Mrs. NAPOLITANO. Madam Speaker, May is Mental Health Month, and as 
the cochair of the Mental Health Caucus, I bring to you information, 
especially on the military.
  Since 2001 to current date, we have had 2,103 military service 
personnel die by suicide, suicide, my friends, in the Iraq and Afghan 
wars. In the Afghan war alone, it is over 1,000, more than some of the 
figures we have listened to recently.
  One in five servicemembers suffer from major depression, 
posttraumatic syndrome, or traumatic brain injury, TBI. It affects the 
military and their families, their children. There's lots of divorce 
because of this and substance abuse that continues as they age.
  We must expand mental health services to our military personnel and 
their families. Through their blood and their service they have earned 
it. We owe it to them. We've made some strides, but

[[Page 7037]]

 we've got a long way to go, Mr. Speaker. We need to reduce the stigma, 
accept it as the illness that it is, and expand mental health services.
  I ask my colleagues to join me in recognizing the military members 
and their families during May, Mental Health Month.

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