Mental Illness Research

Floor Speech

Ms. KAPTUR. Mr. Speaker, with the tragic shooting at Fort Hood this past week, our country has once again been ravaged by the convergence of mental instability and gun rampages.

As President Obama did today, let us honor those lost to this terrible tragedy--Sergeant First Class Danny Ferguson, Sergeant Timothy Owens, and soldier Carlos Lazaney--and continue to pray for the injured as they recover, as well as all those in uniform who serve our Nation.

As this is now the second shooting at Fort Hood in recent years, Americans and we, in Congress, must again ask ourselves: Isn't it time for a national conversation on untreated mental illness?

As a member of the Appropriations Defense Subcommittee, we must use this moment to support early diagnosis, as well as pathbreaking neurological research, building on the President's BRAIN Initiative. We must probe the undiscovered functions of the human mind and human performance.

Advanced research and treatment will benefit both our deserving veterans and all Americans who struggle with the unknown reaches of the unquiet mind.

Again, I lend my support to honor the heroes lost at Fort Hood, and I implore my colleagues to make certain this latest tragedy is, indeed, the last tragedy. Let us measure up to this worthy challenge.

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