Greg Walden

Mr. WALDEN

Mr. WALDEN. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Madam Speaker, I rise today in support of H.R. 5469. This is the Pursuing Equity in Mental Health Act, and it is sponsored by Representative Watson Coleman. It helps address suicide and mental illness in youth for minority and underserved communities. Despite improvements in health equity, disparities in mental health care persist. The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality has reported that racial and ethnic minority groups in the United States are less likely to have access to mental health services and less likely to use community mental health services, but more likely to use emergency departments and more likely to receive lower quality care. Poor mental health care access and quality ultimately contribute to poorer outcomes, including suicide among these populations. These issues are especially acute in minority youth populations. H.R. 5469 would help address these disparities. It authorizes grants targeted at high-poverty communities for culturally and linguistically appropriate mental health services. It supports mental health disparities research, requires the studying of the impact of smartphones and social media on adolescents, and authorizes the Minority Fellowship Program to support more students of color entering the mental health workforce. Madam Speaker, I would like to thank the majority for taking the time to work with us to get this bill in a really good place. It is an important initiative, and I am pleased to see it getting a vote on the House floor today, Madam Speaker. Madam Speaker, I urge my colleagues to join both the chairman of the committee and myself in supporting this legislation, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. WALDEN

Mr. WALDEN. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Madam Speaker, I rise in support today of H.R. 1109. This is the Mental Health Services for Students Act, and it is sponsored by Representatives Napolitano and Katko. This bill authorizes the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration's Project AWARE grants. Madam Speaker, these grants support State educational agencies, in partnership with State mental health agencies, in increasing awareness of mental health issues among school-aged youth, providing training for school personnel to detect and respond to mental health issues, and connecting students with behavioral health issues and their families to needed services. By supporting partnerships between the State and local systems to promote the healthy development of students, these grants increase access to mental health services for school-aged youth, ultimately reducing youth violence, substance use disorder, and suicide. I am glad we are addressing mental health services for children. Their schooling and whole worlds have changed so much over this year. It is important that they can easily access mental health services. I urge my colleagues to support this legislation. I don't believe we have any other speakers, Madam Speaker, so I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. WALDEN

Mr. WALDEN. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. I rise in support of H.R. 2519. This is the Improving Mental Health Access from the Emergency Department Act of 2020 sponsored by our colleague from California, Dr. Ruiz. The bill authorizes Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration award grants to emergency departments for the purpose of supporting follow-up services to patients who present in the emergency department experiencing a mental health crisis. Now, according to SAMHSA's National Guidelines for Behavioral Health Crisis Care, there is a disconnect in the provision of follow-up services regarding what comes next for a patient experiencing a mental health crisis in an emergency department. If a patient comes in with appendicitis, the emergency physician can call a surgeon. If the patient has a rash, the emergency department has a roster of dermatologists and clinics, and, in many cases, the physician can even make an appointment for that patient. Sadly, tragically, these same partnerships don't always exist if the patient has mental health issues. By authorizing grants to support programs that help those treated at the emergency department expeditiously transition to follow-up care, this bill would remove those barriers to care for those who experience an acute mental health crisis. And we think it will reduce the stigma, and, ultimately, it will save lives. I ask my colleagues to join us in supporting this legislation. Madam Speaker, I don't believe we have any other speakers on this legislation, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. WALDEN

Mr. WALDEN. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Madam Speaker, I rise today in strong support of H.R. 4861. This is the Effective Suicide Screening and Assessment in the Emergency Department Act that was introduced by Representative Bilirakis, whom we will hear from in a minute, and our friend Congressman Engel. Before I talk about the legislation, I would say what a joy and privilege it has been to serve on the Energy and Commerce Committee with Mr. Engel. He is an incredible individual, cares deeply about his constituents, and works hard on their behalf. Moreover, Congressman Engel has been one of those people who is always kind and thoughtful to all of us on both sides of the aisle and works to put the interests of Americans first, both on the Energy and Commerce Committee and in his incredibly important and powerful role as chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee. Congressman Engel has served America and New York well, and while we haven't always agreed on every issue, we have never been disagreeable, and I wish him and his wife Godspeed in whatever is next in his career. This legislation would authorize a grant program to improve the identification, screening, assessment, and treatment of patients in emergency departments who are at risk for suicide. Consideration of this bill could not come at a more pressing and important time. As we have said before on these matters, the COVID-19 pandemic and the resulting economic downturn have impacted the mental health and well-being of all Americans. In fact, a recently released report by the Well Being Trust and the American Academy of Family Physicians predicts that, because of the pandemic, an additional 150,000 Americans could die of ``deaths from despair,'' meaning deaths from suicide or drug or alcohol misuse. Emergency departments are key locations to intervene and assist those who may be contemplating taking their own lives. As past research identified, one in every eight emergency department visits in the U.S. was related to a mental health or substance use disorder. By creating grants for emergency departments to develop policies for screening those at risk of suicide and enhancing their post-discharge care coordination, this bill would improve our frontline healthcare providers' ability to intervene when someone is in crisis, ultimately reducing deaths from despair, especially during this difficult time. I would urge my colleagues to join the chairman of the committee and myself and our colleagues who put so much time and effort and work into crafting this legislation to support it, pass it, and let's get it into law. Madam Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. WALDEN. Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Bilirakis), a real leader in the area of healthcare and especially mental health services improvement.

Mr. WALDEN. Mr. Speaker, I have no other speakers on our side of the aisle, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. WALDEN

Mr. WALDEN. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of H.R. 7293, the Suicide Training and Awareness Nationally Delivered for Universal Prevention, or STANDUP, Act of 2020. It was introduced by our Energy and Commerce Committee colleagues, Representative Peters, who I know we are going to hear from soon, and Representative Bilirakis, who we are also going to hear from. This legislation addresses a key measure in promoting suicide awareness and prevention training among students and young Americans. Sadly, for the last decade, suicide has been the second leading cause of death for Americans ages 10 to 24 and the 10th leading cause of overall deaths in the United States. Tragically, this epidemic has only worsened during the COVID-19 epidemic. Suicide is preventable, and initiatives that empower students with knowledge of the warning signs and resources for prevention are critical in addressing these trends. We believe, through this legislation, Project AWARE grantees would be empowered to establish school-based suicide awareness and prevention training programs, which will improve student awareness of mental health issues while connecting at-risk individuals to needed health services. So as we approach the end of September, our nationally recognized Suicide Prevention Awareness Month, it is critical that we continue addressing our Nation's challenges in preventing youth suicide and promoting the mental health and wellness of all. Mr. Speaker, I urge support of this legislation, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. WALDEN. Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Bilirakis).

Mr. WALDEN. Mr. Speaker, I have no other speakers on my side of the aisle on this legislation. I urge its passage, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. WALDEN

Mr. WALDEN. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in strong support of H.R. 3539, the Behavioral Intervention Guidelines Act, introduced by Representatives Ferguson, Burgess, Kennedy, and Panetta. This important bill authorizes the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration to develop best practices for establishing and using behavioral intervention teams in elementary schools, secondary schools, and institutions of higher education. Behavioral intervention teams are multidisciplinary teams that support students' mental health and wellness by identifying students experiencing stress, anxiety, or other behavioral disturbances, and conducting intervention and outreach to these students to help manage risk. These teams are already active in some educational institutions such as Texas Tech University and the University of California, Los Angeles. By acting in a proactive manner to assist students and to connect them with needed resources, behavioral intervention teams help schools create a safe environment for their students and improve mental health outcomes in young people. I urge support of this legislation. Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to the gentleman from Georgia (Mr. Ferguson), the deputy whip of the House on the Republican side of the aisle, one of the authors of this important legislation.

Mr. WALDEN. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. I thank my colleague for his work on this important legislation. I want to turn now and use the remainder of the time to recognize the fact that we all work hard on our legislation, but it doesn't get all the way here and all the way through without terrific staff. We are blessed on the Energy and Commerce Committee by having really terrific staff, from top to bottom. But today, I especially want to recognize and thank Mike Bloomquist, my staff director at the Energy and Commerce Committee. He has served as staff director of the Energy and Commerce Committee Republicans both during the 115th Congress and the 116th Congress. He previously served as committee deputy staff director, general counsel, deputy general counsel, and then as general counsel to the 2011 Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction. He has spent time in private law practice, at the Committee on Science, and in the Office of the Solicitor at the U.S. Department of the Interior. He has been an invaluable leader of the Energy and Commerce Committee staff. He is a trusted counselor. He is a sought-after mentor and a go- to resource for staff and Members alike, both on and off the committee. He will be leaving us at the end of this month to pursue private- sector endeavors. But I just want to say, he has been a real friend to me, a real counselor to me, and an incredibly solid leader for our team. He has helped us shepherd major legislation through the House, which has undoubtedly improved the lives of Americans, through his time as a public servant. I think we all wish him the very best in his new endeavor and are thankful to his wife, Christie, and their three daughters for lending us their dad so often on nights and weekends and for phone calls, text messages, and more phone calls from me, day and night. He has just been terrific to work with. We wish him Godspeed in his next endeavor. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. WALDEN

Mr. WALDEN. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of H.R. 4439, the Creating Hope Reauthorization Act, introduced by our colleagues, Representative Butterfield and Representative McCaul. This bill extends the pediatric priority review voucher program for an additional 4 years. This program, which has had bipartisan support since it was first created in 2012 with the passage of the Food and Drug Administration Safety and Innovation Act, aims to incentivize the development of therapies to treat rare pediatric diseases. The pediatric PRV program has already proven successful in encouraging innovation. In fact, 22 therapies have been approved for the treatment of 18 rare pediatric diseases since its inception. However, we still have a long way to go. Nearly 95 percent of all rare diseases do not have an FDA-approved treatment, leaving many patients with no options. This long-term reauthorization of the program will provide certainty to those currently developing or considering investment in innovative therapies to treat rare pediatric diseases. Bipartisan bills that encourage biomedical innovation like the one we are considering today mean continued hope for children and their families that, one day, there will be a treatment and that there will be a cure. So, Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support this important legislation, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. WALDEN. Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Bilirakis).

Mr. WALDEN. Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to the gentleman from Texas (Mr. McCaul), who is a serious leader on this issue and has been for a long time.

Mr. WALDEN. Mr. Speaker, I want to thank my colleague from Texas for his great leadership on this issue. I encourage our colleagues to vote for this bill, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. WALDEN

Mr. WALDEN. Madam Speaker, I thank Congressman Davis for yielding. To Karen Shimkus and the family, thank you for sharing John with all of us for so many years. Thank you for your warmth and friendship as well. I am told that John is a big fan of the movie ``Tombstone.'' As the former chairman of the committee, now ranking member of the committee, there are a couple of great quotes out of ``Tombstone'' that I think sum up for many of us who have the pleasure to serve with him and see his passion for his district, see his passion for his community, see his passion for good policy. One of them would be when Kurt Russell said: ``Tell him the law is coming. You tell 'em I'm coming and hell's coming with me.'' When you want somebody at your side fighting for a cause, that sums up John Shimkus. Russell also said: ``You called down thunder. Well, now you've got it.'' As we have tackled these issues and we have watched John stand up for the people that sent him here, we know that he is by their side. And he not only brings the passion, but he brings the intellect and he brings deep principle to every fight. So, John, we wish you and Karen and the family well. God speed in your next endeavor, my friend.

Mr. WALDEN

Mr. WALDEN. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. In closing, and I, again, I think I outlined pretty clearly some of our concerns with this measure. I think there is a lot we could find common ground on in the energy picture, certainly for working Americans and especially those dealing with the pandemic. But raising costs and increasing delays is not part of what we can support. I urge opposition, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. WALDEN. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Madam Speaker, I just want to say in response to my friend and the words that he read, the groups he has identified, the notion that they would have these statements about wildfires in the West when, for 20 years, I have battled them to try to get more active forest management in our Western forests, and they oppose nearly everything we have tried to do to get our forests back into balance with nature. It is just a bit absurd today, as someone who has seen the devastation, and then seeing their politics and the fundraising they do off this and the scare tactics they level, and then the destruction that occurs to habitats, wildlife, forests, and forested communities. And they stand in the way of it all. So the gentleman can have them. Madam Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Johnson).

Mr. WALDEN. Madam Speaker, I claim the time in opposition to the amendment.

Mr. WALDEN. Madam Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Weber), the distinguished member of the Committee on Science, Space, and Technology.

Mr. WALDEN. Madam Speaker, point of parliamentary inquiry.

Mr. WALDEN. Madam Speaker, I thought we had gotten past where we couldn't reconsider, that was part of the motion, and so a recorded vote was not in order.

Mr. WALDEN. Madam Speaker, I appreciate my friend from California's comments, especially about the smoke and his sympathy for the folks all across the West, and especially in the Pacific Northwest. I am a native Oregonian and, tragically, we have been choking on smoke for a very long time, for decades and decades, as these forest fires have burned unnaturally because fuel concentrations are unnatural. You know, we did a great job as Americans with Smokey the Bear and putting out fires. For 100 years we have fought fire. The problem is that in the last 50 years there have been court decisions, lots of litigation, lawsuits to stop active forest management. We lost tens of thousands of jobs that used to take place in our rural forested communities of people that would go out and tend to our forests. When they would harvest, they would replant. If there was a fire, they were on the scene to help put it out. All that went away through litigation and lawsuits. In the early 2000s, I worked with then-President Bush to pass the Healthy Forests Restoration Act, to allow us to get in, at least in the wildland-urban interface, and thin out these unnatural stands, get them back in balance with nature. The Forest Service tells us today 63 million acres of our national forests, America's people's forests, are at high risk of fire. It is out of balance. We have 7 million of those acres in my home State of Oregon. 7 million acres. We treat something like 2 million a year. Under President Trump and his administration, they have taken this seriously and they have increased the amount of thinning that is going on out there to reduce the fuel load by 20 to 25 percent over what it was when he took office. Timber harvest is up, too, but you can't catch up at that rate because forests are very dynamic, they continue to grow, they continue to die. I have forest scientists who will tell me in some parts of my State there are literally 1,000 trees on an acre, where in historic times there might have been 10 or 12. See, fire naturally would come through and thin out on a regular basis, and then humans interceded, and said, Well, we are going to stop fire. And for a long time, they weed-managed it and thinned the forest, and now all that kind of went by the wayside as well. And, tragically, now the U.S. Forest Service budget, more than half of it goes to fight fire. We have had to set up enormous funds to fight fire. It didn't used to be that way, and now our citizens suffer from the smoke. In my home State of Oregon, the 10 worst air quality cities in the world were in Oregon. Oregon. The smoke was so bad when I drove from southern Oregon, where tragically, one of these fires--it was not a forest fire, it was a grass and brush fire that got away with an unusually strong wind, and it just became a blowtorch, and most likely was started by arson. That fire destroyed more than 2,600 housing units and deeply, sadly, most of these were mobile homes, mobile home parks, and low-income housing. The poorest of the poor got hit the hardest. This was not forest, this was between a freeway and a highway, and it just took off. It was dry, because, you know, in the West we dry out in the summer, unlike back here where they get rain with a thunderstorm. But this wasn't even lightning-caused. Meanwhile, in the canyons off the great Cascade Mountains, fire started up there, we don't know how and, in some cases, again, this high wind may have triggered it with power lines or something of that nature. People lost their homes, habitat destroyed, communities that had been there forever, wiped out, lives lost. So, indeed, we have this situation where, with climate change, drought, disease, bug infestation, and a neglected forest, conditions are ripe for destruction. They are ripe for fires like this. But if you care about--and I think we all do--about the planet and about the climate and about reducing emissions, then it is a failure of this Congress, under Democrat rule, to not move forward with the legislation our colleague, a Yale forestry graduate, Bruce Westerman, has put forward, to go in and more actively treat these forests to get them back in balance with nature. And, more importantly, when 70 percent of the carbon emissions from a fire occur afterwards from the dead and decaying material that is left behind, we should be going in like Tribal governments do, county and State governments do, they go in and manage their forests by removing the burned, dead debris, where it makes sense, and while it still has value, and they replant a new, healthy forest. I think we can all agree, new green trees sequester carbon better than dead, dying ones. Science is on our side in this matter, but the politics have not been on our side in the West. So we have not been able to make progress on changing Federal law that would actually make our forests and forest communities healthier and safer, more economically dynamic, and reduce emissions and fire and smoke. I have choked on that smoke the last 10 days, as have my constituents and, sadly, we sent that smoke all the way to Europe and around the globe, and none of us wants to repeat that. So, hopefully, we can put old battles behind us. We can do something to treat American's great forests and get them back in balance. We can go in and remove burned debris while it has value, creating jobs in our most impoverished counties, and plant new, green, healthy forests for the next generation. Indeed, that is our obligation and our duty, and we should do more. Madam Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. WALDEN. Madam Speaker, may I inquire as to how much time is remaining.

Mr. WALDEN. Madam Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from California (Mr. LaMalfa), my friend and colleague, a real leader on natural resource issues.