Bill Text: NJ SR98 | 2012-2013 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Commends efforts of President Obama's administration to improve access to mental health care.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2013-01-28 - Introduced in the Senate, Referred to Senate Health, Human Services and Senior Citizens Committee [SR98 Detail]
Download: New_Jersey-2012-SR98-Introduced.html
Sponsored by:
Senator M. TERESA RUIZ
District 29 (Essex)
SYNOPSIS
Commends efforts of President Obama's administration to improve access to mental health care.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
As introduced.
A Senate Resolution commending the efforts of President Obama's administration to improve access to mental health care as part of its multi-faceted effort to enhance public protection against acts of violence.
Whereas, In the wake of the tragic events in Newtown, Connecticut, on December 14, 2012, President Obama, on December 19, announced the formation of a task force, to be headed by Vice President Biden, in order to develop policy recommendations in an expeditious manner to enhance public protection against such acts of violence and other assaults on the public that have occurred throughout this nation with disturbing regularity and often devastating consequences for the victims of these heinous acts and their families, relatives, friends, and communities; and
Whereas, The task force has been charged by the President to work with experts in a variety of related public policy areas and to expeditiously develop recommendations that will form the basis for policy proposals, to be included by the President in his State of the Union address to the United States Congress and the American people in January, 2013, as part of his broader second-term agenda; and
Whereas, The task force is supported by the efforts and expertise of the Attorney General and the Secretaries of Education, Health and Human Services, and Homeland Security; and
Whereas, The task force has been directed by the President to formulate a multi-faceted response to what is a multi-faceted national problem, and a significant part of its focus is on examining ways to improve access to mental health care in the United States and developing recommendations to achieve that purpose; and
Whereas, The challenges that the task force confronts in developing its recommendations are those that must be faced as part of any broad-based effort to provide better and more accessible mental health care in this country and reduce the threat of violence by those suffering from serious mental illness; and
Whereas, These challenges include: identifying mental health conditions with known connections to violent behavior; overcoming societal stigma about obtaining help for mental health conditions; increasing access to effective treatment; and the maintenance of persons with diagnosed mental health conditions, including the provision of social services, housing, education, training, and employment, as well as ensuring the rights of children with mental health conditions and their families as those children age and enter into adulthood; and
Whereas, At the same time as it focuses on these issues, the task force also seeks to identify and develop more effective ways to make it more difficult for persons with mental illness to acquire weapons that may be used in acts of violence against the public; and
Whereas, The President and his administration are to be recognized for their concerted and determined effort to address the various aspects of the problem of public violence that has touched Americans throughout our land, and especially to improve access to mental health care at a time when government budgets for mental health programs and services at the local, state, and federal levels must compete with other programmatic expenditures for scarce public resources; now, therefore,
Be It Resolved by the Senate of the State of New Jersey:
1. This House commends the efforts of President Obama's administration to improve access to mental health care as part of its multi-faceted effort to enhance public protection against acts of violence, and respectfully urges expeditious action by the federal government to support those efforts, including such legislative action as may be required by the United States Congress.
2. Duly authenticated copies of this resolution, signed by the President of the Senate and attested by the Secretary of the Senate, shall be transmitted to the presiding officers of the United States Congress, each of the members of the Congress elected from the State of New Jersey, and the President and Vice President of the United States.
STATEMENT
This Senate Resolution commends the efforts of President Obama's administration to improve access to mental health care as part of its multi-faceted effort to enhance public protection against acts of violence, and respectfully urges expeditious action by the federal government to support those efforts, including such legislative action as may be required by the United States Congress.
