Providing for Consideration of H.R. Lgbtqi+ Data Inclusion Act; Providing for Consideration of H.R. Advanced Research Projects Agency-Health Act; Providing for Consideration of H.R. Restoring Hope for Mental Health and Well-Being Act of and for Other Purposes
Floor Speech
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Ms. PELOSI. Madam Speaker, in his State of the Union Address this year, President Biden laid out his powerful ``Unity Agenda.''
This inspiring vision encompassed areas of broad bipartisan agreement on four of the biggest challenges we face.
And today, I proudly rise in support of legislation that forges important progress on three of the President's ambitious and unifying goals:
improving mental health and addressing the opioid epidemic, with the Restoring Hope for Mental Health and Well-Being Act;
and intensifying the fight against cancer, with the Advanced Research Projects Agency-Health Act.
Today, the House will pass a package of critical resources to address our Nation's twin crises of mental health and the substance use disorders.
The CDC estimates that more than half of American adults will be diagnosed with a mental illness or disorder at some point in their lifetime.
At the same time, more than two million Americans suffer from an opioid use disorder--and our Nation has seen a 30 percent spike in overdose deaths from 2019 to 2020.
Families and communities are being torn apart--and we must act now.
Our Restoring Hope for Mental Health and Well-Being Act strengthens and expands more than 30 essential, life-saving initiatives: from crisis response, including the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline; to treatments helping combat the opioid epidemic; and to behavioral health services for our children, to name just a few.
Let us salute the unyielding leaders of the Bipartisan Addiction and Mental Health Task Force: who have moved us all with their powerful personal stories of these issues have touched their lives.
And thank you to Energy & Commerce Chairman Frank Pallone for helping steer this crucial package to the Floor.
At the same time, the House will today pass legislation to supercharge our Nation's Cancer Moonshot.
Our hearts break for the hundreds of thousands of American families each year who lose a loved one to the scourge of cancer.
Six years ago, then-Vice President Biden inspired our Nation with his bold and personal leadership in the fight to defeat cancer.
And this year, as President, he has proudly reignited this ambitious initiative: redoubling our Nation's efforts to slash the cancer death rate in half over the next 25 years.
Thanks to the determined leadership of Congresswoman Anna Eshoo, the ARPA-H Act will accelerate innovation in medicine and technology: harnessing the power of American ingenuity; and fueling new breakthroughs in the search for a cure.
In doing so, we will take an important step to save lives--not only from cancer, but from additional devastating diseases such as ALS, Alzheimer's and diabetes.
In his inspiring State of the Union Address last March, President Biden called on the Congress to ``show the Nation that we can come together and do big things.''
And today, the House proudly answers that call--with strong, popular legislation that the American people want and deserve.
So I urge all Members to join together in a strong ``aye'' vote for these bipartisan bills, so we can prove that Congress still works For The People.
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