Youth Mental Health

Floor Speech

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Ms. TLAIB. Madam Speaker, I thank the ever-amazing partner in good trouble, Congressman Bowman, for hosting this Special Order hour on one of the most critical issues facing our Nation, youth mental health.

As a mother of two young boys, I know that there are few people who see this mental health crisis amongst our children quite like our teachers and our educators. They are on the front lines of it every single day, and it is in no way an exaggeration to say America's teachers are the ones saving lives in the face of a tidal wave of trauma and grief brought about by many crises impacting our young people today.

From COVID-19 to schools turning into war zones, severe economic hardship, and an education system that continues to be underfunded for a number of issues that, again, our kids are dealing with, we are seeing that trauma is at the center of it.

I know according to the National Alliance on Mental Illness, 57.8 percent of Michiganders from the age of 12 to 17 who have experienced depression did not receive any care in the last year, and high school students with depression are more than two times more likely to drop out than their peers.

These are just a few of the compounding traumas impacting our young people today. These traumas have stolen our children's sense of safety and our children's support systems. So, the fact that the rates of youth in mental health distress have skyrocketed should be a surprise to no one, especially not anyone in this body.

We have failed to address gun violence. We have failed to protect basic human rights. We have failed to ensure that every child in the richest nation on Earth has access to the clean air, safe water, and healthy food that they need to grow and thrive. We have failed to truly address childhood poverty.

Instead of investing in schools, combating poverty, and taking action on reducing violence, this body continues to double down on failed approaches.

I know I continue to be asked in my community: What good is another 100 F-35s when our children go to sleep on empty stomachs? What is the point of spending more money on militarization of our communities than any other country spends on defense instead of making sure that our children have safe drinking water and that they are not exposed to lead and PFAS?

While our children are crying out for help as loud as they can, over in the Senate, their elected leaders, many of whom have been bought and paid for by the fossil fuel lobby, are working hard to--you guessed it--sell out their chances at a livable future and improve the lives of many of our folks in the future.

This body, this Congress, isn't just failing to address this youth mental health crisis. It is turbocharging it.

I know in my community, we have the most polluted ZIP Code in the State of Michigan, 48217, where we see high rates of asthma. When I go read to children in the third grade class during March Reading Month, I ask how many children there know what I do for a living, and they don't know, usually, and I have to give them a civics lesson. I tell them that I am trying to fight for clean air. I ask them: ``How many of you have asthma or are suffering from asthma?'' A third of the class always raises their hands.

I ask them: ``It hurts to have an asthma attack, doesn't it? It is hard to breathe. Isn't it hard to breathe?'' They shake their heads.

Every day, we fail. We fail them by not taking action on climate for a livable future.

Please know this: Our children cannot learn if they are hungry, but they also cannot learn if they are breathing dirty air, if they are being poisoned by lead-infested water, so we must take action.

I know that we also have failed to enact real, meaningful gun control that our children can be proud of, that our teachers can feel is meaningful and that it actually does keep them safe.

Every day that we have failed to enact bold reforms to resurrect and protect our democracy is a day closer to dooming our children to a fascist future where their rights are stripped from them.

This isn't new for our communities, but I know for many of the young people of color in my community, the LGBTQI youth, our immigrant youth, our religious minorities, these failures have been amplified by the horrifying pandemic of racism, bigotry, and hate that has exploded in our country.

Make no mistake, the crisis of hate facing our country is 100 percent the result of continued political motivation that is literally a factor in pushing elected officials and social leaders in spewing out fear rather than trying to address the root causes of the issues that our children are facing.

I know the only solution here is fundamental overhaul of what we govern. We must put our children before corporations, people before profits, and community solidarity before hate and fear.

Madam Speaker, I cannot thank my colleague enough for his incredible leadership. Sometimes it is our lived experiences that we bring into this Chamber that give us the passion and inspiration to work hard. I am so honored to be able to serve with somebody that not only was a principal but is also a father himself and understands and has been on the front line and seen the lack of action in this body for our youth mental health crisis in our country.

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