Washington – As the U.S. House of Representatives passed an overhaul of federal mental health policy on Wednesday, Sen. Chris Murphy pressed for a Senate vote on a similar bipartisan bill he has sponsored with Republican Sen. Bill Cassidy of Louisiana.
"The House took an important step today to expand treatment and prevention programs for the 44 million Americans battling mental illness," said Murphy and Cassidy in a joint statement. "The bill voted on today isn’t perfect, but the fact that it passed overwhelmingly is proof that there is broad, bipartisan support for fixing our broken mental health system ... We urge Senate leaders to take action and make this issue a priority before the 114th Congress comes to an end.”
On a 422-2 vote, the House approved a bill sponsored by Rep. Tim Murphy, R-Pa., a clinical psychologist who had been tapped by GOP leaders to investigate mental health treatment in the wake of the Sandy Hook shooting in December of 2012.
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