IV
106TH CONGRESS
1ST SESSION
H. RES. 19
Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives with respect to the
seriousness of the national problems associated with mental illness and
with respect to congressional intent to establish a ‘Mental Health Advi-
sory Committee’.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
JANUARY 6, 1999
Mrs. ROUKEMA (for herself and Ms. KAPTUR) submitted the following
resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Commerce
RESOLUTION
Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives with
respect to the seriousness of the national problems asso-
ciated with mental illness and with respect to congres-
sional intent to establish a ‘Mental Health Advisory Com-
mittee’.
Whereas mental illness is not a character flaw, but a tangible
and treatable illness as real as epilepsy, hypertension,
cancer or heart disease;
Whereas great strides are being made in the diagnosis and
treatment of mental illness;
Whereas there remain gaping holes in the network of Fed-
eral, State and local services designed to identify and
treat people with mental illness;
HRES 19 IH
Whereas millions of Americans suffer from the debilitating
effects of serious mental illnesses;
Whereas, more and more, America is witnessing violence re-
sulting from untreated mental illness and a failed policy
of deinstitutionalization without any proper community
follow-up;
Whereas, all too often, we hear of situations where an indi-
vidual with a mental disorder has not received adequate
treatment and has reacted violently and endangered him-
self or herself, or, tragically, taken the life of another;
Whereas such a situation occurred at the Capitol last year
when officer Jacob J. Chestnut and Special Agent John
Gibson tragically lost their lives;
Whereas last year alone, over 1,000 homicides were directly
attributable to improperly treated mental illnesses;
Whereas far too many lives are being lost because our coun-
try and our communities are not providing early diag-
nosis, adequate protection, or treatment to individuals
with mental illnesses;
Whereas although the treatment of the mentally ill is pri-
marily a function of the separate States, there is a sig-
nificant sharing of costs between the Federal Government
and the States for such treatment, and there are some
joint responsibilities of the Federal Government and the
States for such treatment;
Whereas Federal issues involving the mentally ill fall under
the jurisdiction of several committee jurisdictions, includ-
ing Education and the Workforce, Ways and Means, Ju-
diciary, Commerce, Veterans’ Affairs, Appropriations and
Banking through such issues as Medicaid/SSI, housing,
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nondiscrimination, prison care, health coverage, the men-
tal health block grants;
Whereas overlapping legal and administrative authorities with
respect to the diagnosis and treatment of mental illness
make reform of the current system very complex;
Whereas it is necessary to conduct an in-depth analysis of the
effectiveness of mental health block grants and of the
Federal prison costs attributed to mental illness; and
Whereas it is also necessary to conduct an in-depth analysis
of issues relating to reciprocity between the States: Now,
therefore, be it
Resolved, That it is the sense of the House of Rep-
resentatives that there should be established a ‘Mental
Health Advisory Committee’ that would be responsible for
probing the serious national dimensions of the mentally
ill, including determining the extent to which individuals
with mental illness are not receiving proper treatment and
the extent to which violence is resulting from the lack of
such treatment and prepare a report to the Committees
of jurisdiction outlining options for more effective diag-
nosis and treatment.
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