[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 160 (2014), Part 4]
[House]
[Page 6055]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                        MENTAL ILLNESS RESEARCH

  (Ms. KAPTUR asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute.)
  Ms. KAPTUR. Mr. Speaker, with the tragic shooting at Fort Hood this 
past week, our country has once again been ravaged by the convergence 
of mental instability and gun rampages.
  As President Obama did today, let us honor those lost to this 
terrible tragedy--Sergeant First Class Danny Ferguson, Sergeant Timothy 
Owens, and soldier Carlos Lazaney--and continue to pray for the injured 
as they recover, as well as all those in uniform who serve our Nation.
  As this is now the second shooting at Fort Hood in recent years, 
Americans and we, in Congress, must again ask ourselves: Isn't it time 
for a national conversation on untreated mental illness?
  As a member of the Appropriations Defense Subcommittee, we must use 
this moment to support early diagnosis, as well as pathbreaking 
neurological research, building on the President's BRAIN Initiative. We 
must probe the undiscovered functions of the human mind and human 
performance.
  Advanced research and treatment will benefit both our deserving 
veterans and all Americans who struggle with the unknown reaches of the 
unquiet mind.
  Again, I lend my support to honor the heroes lost at Fort Hood, and I 
implore my colleagues to make certain this latest tragedy is, indeed, 
the last tragedy. Let us measure up to this worthy challenge.

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