[Congressional Record Volume 170, Number 78 (Monday, May 6, 2024)]
[House]
[Pages H2868-H2871]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
SHINING A LIGHT ON MENTAL HEALTH EMERGENCIES AND SUICIDES AMONG BLACK
YOUTH
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under the Speaker's announced policy of
January 9, 2023, the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Jackson) is
recognized for 60 minutes as the designee of the minority leader.
General Leave
Mr. JACKSON of Illinois. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that
all Members may have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend
their remarks and include any extraneous material on the subject of
this Special Order hour.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the
gentleman from Illinois?
There was no objection.
Mr. JACKSON of Illinois. Mr. Speaker, I, too, acknowledge the
tremendous loss that those families have incurred, and I thank them for
their service.
Mr. Speaker, it is with great honor that I rise today to co-anchor
this Congressional Black Caucus Special Order hour, along with my
distinguished colleague, Representative Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick.
For the next 60 minutes, members of the Congressional Black Caucus
have an opportunity to speak directly to the American people on the
topic of mental health, an issue of great importance to the
Congressional Black Caucus, the Congress and the constituents we
represent, and all of America.
Mr. Speaker, it is now my privilege to yield to the gentlewoman from
New Jersey, the honorable Congresswoman Watson Coleman.
Mrs. WATSON COLEMAN. Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague from Illinois
for yielding and organizing this Special Order hour on what I think is
a very important topic.
Five years ago, I founded and chaired the CBC's Emergency Task Force
on Black Youth Suicide and Mental Health.
Mental health emergencies and suicides among young Black youth have
been on the rise, but this troubling trend had gone mostly unnoticed
outside of the mental health field. Steadily and quietly, our children
were dying, succumbing to depression, anxiety, and loneliness.
So I and several of my colleagues, who will speak here tonight, came
together to get to the bottom of this problem. We brought in experts,
including psychologists, psychiatrists, social workers, teachers,
school administrators, and students to help us paint a picture of this
problem.
The picture was grim.
Between 2007 and 2020, a Black child died by suicide every 3 days.
The suicide rate among Black youth ages 10 to 17 increased by a
staggering 144 percent. Among young children ages 5 to 12, Black youth
were twice as likely to die by suicide, and the suicide rate for
teenage girls increased by almost 7 percent each year.
These findings would make anyone sick to their stomach.
It inspired the task force members to write the Pursuing Equity in
Mental Health Act, which would surge funding to the National Institutes
of Health and the National Institute on Minority Health and Health
Disparities, and to develop an outreach and education plan to reduce
the stigma associated with mental health conditions and substance
abuse.
Flash forward 5 years and the devastating impact of COVID has brought
this crisis to everyone's attention. The social isolation, the constant
fear of getting sick, and watching loved ones die have taken an
unparalleled toll on all of us.
Our Nation suffered a collective trauma made up of millions of
individual crises.
However, the pandemic fell especially heavily on Black women. The
expectation of Black women to be pillars of their families and
communities, combined with the greater likelihood of being essential
workers increased the vulnerability to both physical and mental health
problems.
As a result, 50 percent of Black women experienced elevated levels of
depression and 20 percent reported experiencing severe psychological
distress. While other groups rebounded steadily after the pandemic,
unemployment among Black women stayed high, even increasing at times
when overall unemployment was falling. This persistent unemployment
created additional stress on already struggling communities.
It is our responsibility to ensure that overburdened communities,
especially in impoverished urban and rural areas of the country, have
access to mental health care.
Since the task force was convened, we have addressed bits and pieces
of this issue like improving and simplifying the process of accessing
the suicide crisis hotline by calling 988, but so much more work needs
to be done.
Our children have been given neither the tools to maintain their
health nor the care that they need to cope.
It does not have to be this way. Children who have access to help can
thrive. They have shown an ability to bounce back and become strong,
happy, and resilient; to be active and productive in their communities.
We have the capacity to create the conditions in which all of our
children have a shot at happy, fulfilling lives.
No matter your race, your background, or your gender, each one of us
wants--no, indeed, we pray--for our children to grow up healthy. We
must have and we need our Black women to be mentally and physically
equipped to provide that growth that is so necessary.
When we see them struggle, we struggle. When they are in pain, we
feel that pain deeply. We know this to be true; Democrats, Republicans,
and Independents, it doesn't matter what your party affiliation is.
Yet here we are. Fifty-two months after the introduction of the
Pursuing Equity in Mental Health Act and 7 months after the
introduction of the Youth Mental Health Research Act, bipartisan bills
to get our children the care they so desperately need, and we still
can't come together.
Look around the country. People are fed up with this Congress, the
least productive Congress in decades. Surely, we can come together for
the sake of our children. I implore my colleagues to take this
situation seriously, to put aside our differences, and to show our
children that we care and get them the help that they need.
Mr. JACKSON of Illinois. Mr. Speaker, I thank the Honorable Bonnie
Watson Coleman, Congresswoman from the great State of New Jersey in the
12th District, for her remarks.
Mr. Speaker, it is now my privilege to yield to the gentleman from
the great State of Nevada, the honorable chairman of the Congressional
Black Caucus, Steven Horsford of the Fourth Congressional District.
Mr. HORSFORD. Mr. Speaker, good evening. I thank Jonathan Jackson for
co-anchoring this important discussion on tonight's Special Order hour
for the Congressional Black Caucus and to Representative Sheila
Cherfilus-McCormick for her tremendous leadership on all of our Special
Order hours.
Mr. Speaker, I rise today with my colleagues of the Congressional
Black Caucus to recognize the month of May as Mental Health Awareness
Month.
I thank Congresswoman Bonnie Watson Coleman for her tremendous
leadership on this very important issue, as well as each of our members
for their work in addressing mental health, specifically in the Black
community.
[[Page H2869]]
Today, it is estimated that one out of every five American adults
experiences mental health illnesses each year.
In the United States, 21 percent of Black Americans reported having a
mental illness, however, just 39 percent received mental health
services.
In recent years, the suicide rate among Black youth has been found to
be increasing faster than any other racial or ethnic group.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, suicide
is now the third leading cause of death for Black male adolescents and
young adults in our country.
Over the last 30 years, we have seen a 160 percent rise in the
suicide rate for young Black men. The statistics regarding mental
health in the Black community are alarming, yet it has received very
little attention from this Congress.
So it is time for us to address mental health and, in fact, to focus
on mental wellness, the same as in any other health issue. It is time
to remove the stigma that too often surrounds mental health, especially
for members of our community who are less likely to receive mental
health care services to begin with.
{time} 2045
This means addressing the systemic economic barriers our community
faces to mental health care services, the lack of culturally competent
care, and the root causes of declining mental health, including racism
and implicit biases in daily life, high poverty rates, disparate
economic participation, and low access to quality psychological and
psychiatric services.
It also means addressing the lack of diversity in our healthcare
system. Often, when Black patients seek mental health services, they
prefer a same-race healthcare professional, who are vastly
underrepresented in this space.
As legislators, we have a responsibility to the communities that we
serve to find solutions to longstanding disparities that negatively
impact our communities and to ensure that no one gets left out or left
behind.
As we can see, the research is clear, and the crisis before us is
urgent. There are solutions. My colleague, Representative Watson
Coleman, discussed just two that are bipartisan and have the support of
Members on both sides.
I know that there are efforts to pass bills in days when the majority
wants them to, and we are asking you to make mental health the
priority, especially in this month.
In order to remedy these disparities, reverse these trends, and save
lives, we have to address them head-on by providing access to better
and more affordable healthcare, improving economic conditions in our
communities, and moving toward more culturally competent and evidence-
based care.
We have to take action now. Lives are on the line. It is possible. It
can be done by focusing on Mental Health and Wellness Month in a way
that lifts up all communities and the services and support that they
need.
Mr. JACKSON of Illinois. Mr. Speaker, I thank the Honorable Steven
Horsford from the Fourth Congressional District of the great State of
Nevada.
Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from New York (Mr. Bowman).
Mr. BOWMAN. Mr. Speaker, I thank Representative Jackson for his
leadership on this very important issue.
Mr. Speaker, prior to coming to Congress, I worked in education for
20 years. I started my career as an elementary school teacher in the
South Bronx before becoming a high school dean of students and guidance
counselor and before having the privilege of opening my own school and
running it as a middle school principal for 10\1/2\ years.
The year before I decided to run for Congress, 34 children died
within the K-12 school system in the Bronx, and 17 died via suicide. No
one was making the connection between these horrible outcomes for our
children and families with the historical neglect and trauma of their
communities and the policies that come not just from local government
or State government but also from the Federal Government.
As mentioned by Chairman Horsford, it is incredibly difficult to
access mental health resources in historically marginalized communities
because of historical underfunding and historical neglect.
It is tremendously urgent and incumbent upon us here in the House of
Representatives to pass transformational, revolutionary legislation as
it relates to supporting the mental health of every single person in
our country. We need to make sure that we are not simply passing
legislation but that we are also providing the resources and funding to
build out the mental health ecosystem so that we can have more
professionals working within the mental health system as professionals
supporting the American people, particularly those who are most
vulnerable.
A couple of weeks ago, we introduced the Improving Access to Mental
Health Act, which seeks to invest many more resources into our
minority-serving institutions, Hispanic-serving institutions, and
historically Black colleges so that we can build out the mental health
programs in these particular institutions.
We need more counselors. We need more psychologists. We need more
psychiatrists. We need trauma specialists. We need many more mental
health professionals in our schools and communities.
When we make these investments, what we see is a dramatic decrease in
the number of people who are incarcerated in our communities because
many of the people who are incarcerated suffer from mental health
challenges that have gone untreated.
Many of the people who are incarcerated have experienced intense
trauma, what professionals call toxic stress and chronic trauma, in
their lives that needed to be responded to by a mental health
professional, but it never was. As a result, they then commit harm in
their communities. When they are going through harm within their own
bodies and minds and spirits without receiving the care that they need,
they are more likely to commit harm.
Investing in our mental health as part, I might add, of a universal
healthcare system dramatically decreases the costs for our jail and
prison system, decreases the costs for our overall healthcare system,
and improves education and economic outcomes. It is a win-win-win-win
when we pass legislation as it relates to mental health and invest in
supporting our children and families with their mental health.
I will close with this. I mentioned toxic stress and chronic trauma.
We have certain communities in our country--rural and urban,
historically underserved, historically underfunded, historically
marginalized, and historically neglected--because of lack of access and
opportunity, many of those communities have been redlined on purpose by
this very institution.
When children are born into those communities, they are much more
likely to experience toxic stress and chronic trauma.
Mr. Speaker, when our babies from prenatal to age 3 experience toxic
stress and chronic trauma, do you know that the prefrontal cortex of
the brain doesn't develop accordingly? As a result, their regulatory
skills, as well as their higher thinking skills, are compromised, which
leaves them more likely to experience an adverse mental health event or
to be diagnosed with a mental health condition. It also makes them more
likely to be placed in special education in our school system and makes
it more likely for them to be a part of the school-to-prison pipeline.
That is why it is not just about investing in mental health. It is
about investing in universal childcare and universal pre-K because when
we invest in universal childcare and universal pre-K, we are ensuring
our kids are growing up and are nurtured in the most nurturing
conditions imaginable, and they are less likely to experience the
stress and trauma that I talked about.
When they don't experience the stress and trauma, their prefrontal
cortex develops properly, which leads to better education and economic
outcomes and keeps them off the school-to-prison pipeline.
Investing in our mental health is a matter of national security. If
we really care about foreign countries and how they are maybe
responding to us and spying on us and kicking our butts when it comes
to technology, when we invest in all Americans, especially the most
vulnerable ones, we are going to
[[Page H2870]]
have incredible economic, social, and health outcomes on the back end.
I thank Representative Jackson for his leadership and for allowing me
to say a few words.
Mr. JACKSON of Illinois. Mr. Speaker, I thank the Honorable
Congressman Jamaal Bowman for those insightful words.
Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Rhode Island (Mr. Amo).
Mr. AMO. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to discuss an issue that is
critically important for Rhode Islanders and for all Americans: the
need for greater investment in our mental health care system. The topic
is timely, of course, especially as we recognize May as Mental Health
Awareness Month.
Here in Congress, we have a duty and responsibility to act on mental
health. We must reduce the stigma associated with mental health while
ensuring that it is both taken seriously and seriously addressed.
That is why I am proud to join my colleagues in the Congressional
Black Caucus tonight as we shine a light on the current state of mental
health in America. Together, we are committed to reducing disparities
and access, expanding coverage for mental health care, and reversing
trends that have worsened over the past few years.
First, we must be clear-eyed about the numbers. Right now, one out of
every five Americans is struggling with mental illness. Think about
that. These are our neighbors, friends, coworkers, and loved ones.
Yet, as we acknowledge that mental health conditions are far more
common than we think, we must recognize that different communities have
different levels of access to treatment. As I have said, one out of
every five Americans lives with a mental illness, a number that remains
roughly equal when broken down amongst race and ethnicity. However,
despite Black communities reporting relatively equal rates of mental
illness, the percentages of them receiving mental health services
register far lower than their fellow Americans.
Mr. Speaker, it is clear that mental health is an issue that does not
discriminate. It does not see color or background, and it affects
struggling Americans the same. Yet, access to care is not the same for
all Americans. Simply put, the barriers are higher for Black Americans,
whether it is because of stigma for seeking help or lack of accessible
and affordable providers.
It is clear that we must do more to bring down those barriers. After
all, if we are to live up to the words of our founding document,
``life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness,'' then we must close the
racial disparities in coverage and treatment, particularly as Americans
are experiencing rates of loneliness so high that the Surgeon General
has declared it a public health crisis.
Congress must lead by example. To that end, I am proud to lift up
legislation that would expand investments for mental health in schools
and reduce racial gaps in treatment. I thank Congresswoman Bonnie
Watson Coleman for her leadership on the second point.
However, I would be remiss if I didn't mention my home State of Rhode
Island as a model to be aware of. I am thankful for the work of
committed nonprofits like the Mental Health Association of Rhode Island
and the National Alliance on Mental Illness, Rhode Island.
Our State was recently named the fifth best State for mental health
care in America, but that is not enough.
Over the past year, we have seen enormous progress on this front due
to increased State-level advocacy and initiatives that ensure and
increase access.
Yet, as we highlight these protections being codified into law, we
must keep up our efforts to close the equity gaps in our system.
Every American, no matter the color of their skin or the background
that they come from, deserves to be treated with dignity and respect.
Every patient, regardless of what they are struggling with, deserves
the support and services they need to live their best lives. By asking
and listening to each other, by arming ourselves with the facts, and by
using them to push for greater access to care, we can make a real
difference in the mental health of Americans all across our country.
Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleagues, again, for their leadership and
for hosting this critical Special Order tonight.
{time} 2100
Mr. JACKSON of Illinois. Mr. Speaker, I thank the Honorable
Congressman from the great State of Rhode Island, Congressman Gabe Amo,
for his remarks.
Mr. Speaker, I rise tonight because in the midst of the sound and
fury of our current political climate, there remains a profoundly
unaddressed and underestimated crisis raging in the hearts and homes of
this country's African-American citizens.
It is a melancholy truth that too often what ails the hearts and
minds of Black people in this Nation goes unnoticed. Thankfully, May is
Mental Health Awareness Month, and we are therefore afforded the rare
opportunity to acknowledge and address the mental health of African
Americans as we would any other health crisis that threatens our
quality of life.
While it is true that the mental health of any community must be of
grave importance, since none of this Nation's social or economic
benefits can truly be appreciated apart from peace of mind, in the case
of African Americans, however, the effects of the long history of
systemic and outright political terror must be of singular importance.
It must be of singular importance because life has become more
complicated, alienation has become more common, and political violence
has become more threatening. The times in which we live necessitate a
greater emphasis and consideration of the mental health of this
country's most vulnerable citizens.
At a time when social media proliferates our lives with doomscrolling
and mean world syndrome, we would be foolish to underestimate the
impact and influence of what living in the digital age happens to be
doing to our minds.
I rise tonight because it is time for us to raise greater awareness
about the confluence of mental health issues stalking two generations
of African Americans like never before.
I rise tonight because we must henceforth remove the stigma of openly
dealing with a public health issue we cannot avoid. The time for our
accommodating silence must come to an end. The time for us to assign
shame is over.
The time for us to portray Black people as super-human protagonists
who move through the American drama unbothered and unaffected must be
challenged in every way. Black people are as human as everybody else.
We suffer from death, dread, disease, and despair like every other
community. We may be strong and we may be resilient, but we are not
without the scars and stripes that any community with our history would
have to bear.
Perhaps there was a time when we were unaware of what the effects of
mental health were doing to our very lives and our bodies, but now we
know that one out of every five American adults are now suffering from
some mental health crisis or concern.
We know that in the United States of America, 21 percent of African
Americans reported struggling with mental illness, and we also know
that just 39 percent of them received the mental health services that
they deserve.
Subsequently, it should not surprise us that in recent years the
suicide rate among African-American young people has increased faster
than other racial or ethnic groups. It should not surprise us that
young people across racial lines are suffering with anxiety, various
forms of dysmorphia, and other issues at rates never seen before in the
long history of this great country.
According to the Department of Health and Human Services minority
office, African-American adults are more likely than White adults to
report persistent symptoms of emotional distress, such as sadness and
feeling like everything is an effort. In fact, according to the same
findings, Black adults living below the poverty line are more than
twice as likely to report serious psychological distress than those
with more financial security.
What this shows us is that the negative mental health of Black people
in this country is often the result of a devious and devastating
confluence of issues. That is to say, members of the
[[Page H2871]]
Black community, in addition to dealing with social media, the human
predicament, and a history of repression, must also face the kind of
structural racism that creates barriers to being able to access the
care and treatment they both need and deserve.
It is no wonder, then, that only one of every three African Americans
living with a mental illness receive any kind of treatment at all. Only
one in three. Additionally, in 2020, it was reported that 10 percent of
African Americans still do not have health insurance and are among the
chronically uninsured. Even with the Affordable Care Act firmly in
place--and thank God that we have it--we must do more to get members of
the Black community insured. They need both access and the
affordability of care.
It should not be the case that just a little over 10 percent of the
Black community still cannot get the medical services they require. The
overall survival of Black people in this country is far too contingent
and tenuous for them not to have this one area of certainty in their
life, access to care and mental health care.
Needless to say, without insurance, treatment for mental illness is
as unlikely as it is statistically uncommon. These are some of the
unique challenges Black people face in an effort to live beyond the
choking grip of mental illness, and that is why this month of awareness
is so important.
The victims of mental illness should not have to fight this battle
alone. They should not have to struggle in the shadows of American
life, and Black people in this country who struggle with mental illness
should not have to bear this cross with crowns of thorns while all the
world goes free.
If every community is susceptible to the vicissitudes of mental
illness, then certainly every community should have equal access to the
things that make for peace.
The current disparity in access to care is as unacceptable as it is
un-American. I say to every African American suffering from mental
illness, you have nothing to be ashamed of. You have done nothing
wrong. You are not guilty of anything, and you need not be shamed into
greater levels of unnecessary suffering.
Let the word go forth from this moment forward, mental illness is a
health concern compounded by social factors and not the result of a
deficiency in character or personal responsibility. People are not
suffering from mental illness because they are bad people. And to be
sure, people are not suffering from mental illness because they are
somehow ethically weak or deficient in their capacity to try harder, as
it were.
We have to stop assigning responsibility to the victim when it comes
to mental illness the way we used to do with drug addiction and the
like. Mental illness could care less about how emotionally strong or
morally consistent you are. There is a reason why we call it an
illness, and we call it an illness because all of us are potentially
susceptible to falling victim to it under the right set of tragic
conditions and circumstances.
To the millions of people in America, and particularly to the
millions of African Americans, who are suffering from mental illness, I
see you, I hear you, I honor your courage, I value your life.
Perhaps, most of all, I stand in solidarity with the possibility of
your healing. You are not alone in this time. Your struggle and your
sacrifices have not gone unnoticed, and we stand in this solemn place
to affirm the dignity of your persistent efforts to be heard and
recognized by your government.
I want you to know that your labor has not been in vain. Today, we
ask faith leaders in the Black community to help us remove the stigma
that prevents people from getting therapy and treatment. Church
leaders, mosque leaders, and synagogue leaders are essential elements
for the successful recovery of someone getting the help they need.
Prayer and spirituality can help in the effort to eradicate isolation
and give victims access to communities of healing, but these benefits
must be supported by proven treatments.
There is no reason the Black church and Black mental health
professionals cannot work together to bring relief and restoration to
the millions of Black people who need it.
{time} 2110
Today we call upon the formation of a broad and interdisciplinary
approach to mental illness that will not only address the problem but
also leave the dignity of the person intact because struggling people
are still people, citizens of this country.
Men and women who, in spite of the difficulties they face, are no
less worthy of our love and our devotion because this country is only
as strong as the weakest among us.
A country that cannot secure the health and well-being of the weak
will never be able to protect and sustain the longevity of the strong.
I am convinced that we must do everything in our power to support the
expansion of culturally competent care.
In fact, this government should incentivize the practice of creating
an army of Black mental health professionals who work on the front
lines in this emerging war because whether we know it or not, the
future of this Nation and our communities might well depend upon it.
This is not a crisis in the making. This is a crisis already amongst
us, and what we do about this issue might well determine the direction
of this meandering Republic in days and years to come.
Let us gather the best of the American spirit to accomplish this
work. Let us summon the proverbial angels of our better nature.
Let us join hands and lock arms and dedicate our resources so we
might preserve all notions of domestic tranquility and let the
oppressed go free.
Mr. Speaker, you have heard from my distinguished colleagues about
the topic of mental health and all issues of great importance to the
Congressional Black Caucus, our constituents, Congress, and all
Americans tonight.
Mr. Speaker, I thank you for your kindness, and I yield back the
balance of my time.
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