Class Action Fairness Act of 2004

CLASS ACTION FAIRNESS ACT OF 2004

Mr. REED. Mr. President, I join my colleagues, Senators SMITH, DODD, DEWINE, and REID, to discuss the Garrett Lee Smith Memorial Act which will be introduced today. I thank and commend them.

I particularly commend Senator GORDON SMITH. We are here today literally because he has worked tirelessly to bring this legislation to the Senate floor, to work with us and to advocate strenuously that this legislation come to the floor of the Senate today. It is rightfully designated the Garrett Lee Smith Memorial Act.

Garrett, unfortunately, struggled for years and sadly took his own life last September. We heard this afternoon the heartfelt words of his father talking about this wonderful young man. We all sense that as Garrett struggled, he did it with loving and caring parents.

As my colleague Senator DeWine pointed out, the Smiths have taken their pain and transformed it into purposeful action to ensure that other families and other young people do not have to suffer and endure even today the pain that lingers at the loss of this fine young man, and I thank the Senator for his leadership and for his decent and gallant heart.

We are here today because we are responding to an extraordinary problem, a problem that seems to many of us to be difficult to comprehend: why a young person, in the prime of life, with so much ahead, would take their own life.

Sadly, suicide takes the lives of over 4,000 children and young adults each year. It is now the third leading cause of death among 10 to 24 year olds in America. The rate of suicide has tripled from 1952 to 1995. Yet despite the astounding statistics, we still do not fully understand what is driving so many young people to the extreme of taking their own life.

What we hope to achieve with this legislation is to show them that there is an answer, that suicide is not the way out, that there is help for whatever is troubling them, and that they can live lives that are full, happy, and complete.

A Chronicle of Higher Education survey found that rates for depression in college freshmen are on the rise. Without treatment, the Chronicle points out, depressed adolescents are at risk for social failure, social isolation, promiscuity, self-medication with drugs and alcohol, and suicide. That is a description of failure, not a description of successful living.

A 2003 Gallagher's Survey of Counseling Center Directors found that 85 percent of counseling centers on college campuses are reporting an increase in the number of students in need of services.

Mr. President, 81 percent were concerned that increasing numbers of students are there with severe psychological problems; 67 percent reported a need for more psychiatric services, and 63 percent reported problems with growing demand for services without an appropriate increase in resources. That is why, working with Senator DeWine, working with my colleagues Senator Dodd and Senator Smith, we have incorporated in this act support for college counseling centers. It is not coincidental that Garrett was beginning his first year at the University of Utah, had left home, was in a new environment, was struggling with all of the powerful forces of independence and of change young people experience when they go off to school. That is a particularly vulnerable time.

We understand college is a time of great intellectual development, but it is also a time of extraordinary personal and interpersonal growth and change. When children go off to college, we need to make sure they have the support they need during this critical transitional period.

Additionally, there are many adults going to college and they have a particular dilemma of balancing their studies with their family responsibilities. Yet campus after campus lacks the resources to support their counseling staffs to deal with these real issues, these real psychological issues.

Part of what we seek to do through the Garrett Lee Smith Memorial Act is ensure colleges and universities around the country have the resources to reach out to students, to provide essential mental and behavioral health services, and to educate families about potential signs of trouble.

Part of this process is not only treating the youngster, it is making parents aware of these signs so they can intervene successfully and in a timely fashion. Our colleges and universities are struggling to address the wide range of problems experienced by students-drug and alcohol problems, eating disorders, depression, schizophrenia, suicide attempts. With insufficient resources, many schools offer limited or very cursory services to students. We hope to begin to change that with this legislation.

We hope through this legislation to begin to shine a light on the growing problem of youth suicide. This legislation provides resources and technical assistance to States to develop and implement robust early intervention and suicide prevention strategies across the Nation. It also seeks to address the overwhelming need for mental and behavioral health services on college campuses, as I have discussed. This is an important bipartisan measure and a tribute, a fitting tribute to Garrett and to the faith and dedication and decency of the Smith family, GORDON and Sharon.

I again express my thanks to Senator Dodd and Senator DeWine. When you look at legislation in this body that attempts to provide practical support and help to young people, you usually find two names on the legislation-DODD and DEWINE. It is always a privilege to join these gentlemen.

I also want to thank Senator HARRY REID, who spoke movingly of his own experience, the death of his father through suicide. Senator DON NICKLES similarly gave a moving tribute to Sharon and GORDON. Let me also thank Dr. Harsh Trivedi, a fellow in my office, a psychiatrist who is now on a fellowship up in Boston. He did most of the work on the Campus Care and Counseling Act, which is the legislation incorporated in this act. I also thank Lisa German of my staff, who does so much to help us on these issues, and also Catherine Finley on Senator Smith's staff, who has been of remarkable help and assistance.

Let me thank the leadership, Senator Daschle, Senator Frist, Senator Reid, Senator Nickles, because they let us bring this bill to the floor today to move forward to pass it.

This is an example of the kind of work we can do when we work together, the kind of work the American people demand of us. It is, as I said, a fitting tribute to Garrett and I hope an enduring tribute to his father who worked so hard to get it to the floor today and to pass it.

I yield the floor.