For their steadfast efforts to improve America's mental health, the National Mental Health Association will award four members of Congress with Legislator of the Year awards: Senator Mike DeWine, R-Ohio; Representative Tim Murphy, R-Penn; Rep. Grace Napolitano, D-Calif; and Sen. Gordon Smith, R-Ore.
"The commitment demonstrated by Sens. DeWine and Gordon and Reps. Murphy and Napolitano is not only commendable, but absolutely necessary to the work of mental health advocates," said Michael M. Faenza, NMHA President and CEO. "Advocates nationwide appreciate their continued work to improve the lives of millions of Americans with mental health problems."
Sen. DeWine is earnest in his determination to improve the lives of people in need. He serves on four major committees in the Senate and 12 subcommittees, including the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Subcommittee, where he provides important leadership through his chairmanship. As chairman, he is guiding the subcommittee as it develops legislation to reauthorize and expand the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. Sen. DeWine also understands the tragic criminalization of mental illness: he authored and won Senate passage of a bill to authorize funding for a range of programs aimed at collaboration between justice and mental health systems.
Sen. Smith is not only an important leader on mental health issues, but has helped shatter the stigma surrounding mental illness. Sen. Smith became a portrait of courage when, after his son committed suicide last year, the Senator talked openly about his son's battles with mental illness and the role that mental illness often plays in suicide. In addition, Sen. Smith is a strong mental health advocate and cosponsor of the Paul Wellstone Mental Health Equitable Treatment Act, the Keeping Families Together Act, the Pathways to Independence Act, two major suicide prevention bills, and the Families Opportunity Act, which passed the Senate last month. He also helped defeat proposed cuts to Medicaid.
Reps. Murphy and Napolitano are co-chairs of the Congressional Mental Health Caucus, a 70 member caucus that is an instrumental advocate for mental health issues. As co-chairs, they help give mental health issues the visibility, urgency and bipartisan support needed to heighten awareness and stimulate needed legislative action. These representatives are effective in identifying critical gaps in access to mental health care in the veterans' health care system. And, most recently, have led the caucus to rally support for legislation aimed at ending the criminalization of mental illness. Reps. Gordon and Napolitano are a powerful team.
Rep. Murphy is deeply committed to addressing the health care needs of veterans and children, and, as a psychologist, he is one of the few health care professionals in Congress. Although Rep. Murphy has been in Congress for a short time, he brings six years of health care leadership from the Pennsylvania State Senate, where he authored the state's Patients' Bill of Rights law.
Rep. Napolitano reestablished the Congressional Mental Health Caucus. She advocates strongly for veterans' mental health issues and is working on legislation to improve the Department of Veterans' Affairs' services. Rep. Napolitano is a leader in the fight for mental health parity and suicide prevention and works to address the mental health needs of children, older adults and people of diverse ethnic and racial heritages.
NMHA will present the Legislator of the Year awards on June 10 at 8:30 a.m. during the 2004 NMHA Annual Conference's Advocacy Day Breakfast at the Hyatt Regency on Capitol Hill.
For more information, or to contact National Mental Health Association, see their website at: www.nmha.org
