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(ambient music)

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A lot of issues that we 
care about and are active in

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there's absolutely 
a personal connection.

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It's personal, our family, 
from my very first date

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with my wife Angela.

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She shared with me
her experience in growing up

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as not just a daughter 
to a single mother,

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but as her mother's 
caretaker and advocate.

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My mother suffers from...

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or her diagnosis, I should say,

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is a a bipolar I
schizoaffective disorder

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So a pretty severe diagnosis.

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Just having learned and been inspired 
by Angel's experience over the years

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and her familiy's

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really rallying around in support 
of my mother-in-law.

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It...

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Drove home the lesson 
that she's she's doing well.

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We could say she's thriving.

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So if there's hope for her,
there's hope for almost anybody.

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We know that there's certainly 
significant need around the country

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for improved mental health support.

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The need for better access
to mental health services

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and care, you know...

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By the numbers, it was an epidemic 
before the covid-19 pandemic.

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But Covid really put
a spotlight on the need

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and exacerbated the crisis.

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And so, it was with a sense of urgency

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that we wanted to raise 
the conversation, the priority level,

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In Congress and particulary
here in the Senate.

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(upbeat music)

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Sure.

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Well a lot of credit frankly goes
to not just my colleagues,

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Senator Tina Smith, 
on the Democratic side,

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but to my Republican colleague, 
Senator Tillis and Senator Ernst.

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The four of us, sort of, 
the founding chairs of this caucus.

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It was important to make it bipartisan.

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Far too often issues become 
very partisan very quickly

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and it makes it harder 
to make progress...

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as a result.

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but, you know, mental health 
challenges know no boundaries.

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It's not a red State issue,
it's not a blue State issue,

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it's a people issue.

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And...

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I give them credit 
for recognizing that.

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and it was interesting

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as soon as we approach 
the conversation about the idea

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the first thing, just, like, you know,
your first question to me

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the first part of my response

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was not statistics and, 
you know, position papers

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but personal stories,
personal connections

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And it's become one of 
the first priorities of this caucus,

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how do we use this
as a platform

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for people to share their story?

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and in so doing, 
both deliver the message

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and maybe a little inspiration 
for anybody out there

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to share theirs.

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you know, one of the 
big challenges that we have

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in improving 
mental health in America

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is overcoming stigma.

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there's still far too many people

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that are either too embarrassed
or shy or reluctant

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to come foward and ask for help 
when they need help,

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because of the stigma 
around mental health.

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We are working hard

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And, again, this is something 
I learned first from my wife Angela.

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When somebody hurts their leg

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we don't hesitate to go

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"get a check out by a doctor 
maybe you need an x-ray"

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if, you know, you're
suffering from a heart attack,

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there's no shame in going 
to a doctor and to a hospital

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and in getting 
the care that you need.

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But when it comes to

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when something 
may be wrong with the brain

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you know, a very precious organ

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there's still that stigma.

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so we need to 
overcome that stigma

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and a lot of that is by, 
you know, leading by example

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and willing to share our stories

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and being very public 
about experiences and...

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You know, that's one of 
the first goals of the caucus.

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(cheeful music)

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The first thing I point to

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is the first bill that 
we've introduced as a caucus.

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Recently the country 
rolled out a 988 system

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similar to 911,

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a dedicated number,
easy to remember,

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that anybody can call 
if you need somebody to speak to

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if you're in a crisis

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or observe somebody in a crisis.

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There's somebody 
available to talk 24/7

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English or in Spanish,

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or to text with, 24/7 
in English or in Spanish

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to help walk you through a situation

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whether it's a crisis or not.

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(upbeat music)

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You know, sort of big picture

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other priorities for the caucus are

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number one:

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The Safer Communities Act

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that was passed and signed into law

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a couple years ago now,
almost two years ago now.

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included a huge amount of funding

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for mental health services 
across the country.

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This was the bill that came after 
the shooting in Uvalde, Texas

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You know, some important pieces 
when it comes to gun safety

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that were approved 
on a bipartisan basis,

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but this investment 
in mental health programs

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is hugely significant.

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So why not make sure that
those dollars are moving

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quickly, appropriately,
strategically, responsibly

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but quickly as well,

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because of the need
that's out there.

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And then the last piece 
I'll just mention right now

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is our bipartisan recognition

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of the need to have a plan 
when it comes to workforce.

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If we're encouraging more people 
to seek help when they need it,

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to overcome the stigma 
and reluctance to seek help

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then we need to make sure that there's 
enough psychiatrists, psychologists,

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and counselors and therapists.

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You know, all the folks who work 
in the mental health space

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to be able to provide that support
and to provide that level of service.

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So having a a plan with some antenas
for a workforce development

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is another priority.

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(upbeat music)

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One of the things that we recognize

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is not every person 
with a mental illness is homeless.

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Not every person experiencing 
homelessness has a mental illness

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but there's significant,
significant overlap.

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And so a lot of the strategies at
the grassroots level will reflect that.

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You know, for all the emphasis there is 
on additional need for housing,

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particularly affordable housing
and transitional shelters,

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that is important.

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But it's really hard for...

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to bring somebody in 
from the outdoor sustainably,

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if we're not also providing
the mental health support

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that they need.

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(upbeat music)

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So funding we'll go to the States
and we'll work with the States

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to recognize what are 
the priority areas in California,

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you know, not just Los Angeles
not just San Francisco

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but from San Diego 
to Sacramento to Fresno.

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I don't know a medium
to large size city

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that doesn't have this challenge 
of utilizing mental health services

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as a core strategy in...

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supporting the unhoused population
come into affordable housing.

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(upbeat music)

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Separate from the pocket itself

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I have my own piece of legislation that

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would seek to advance
through Investments

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uh a culturally competent

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and linguistically competent Workforce

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as I mentioned earlier with more

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encouraging more people to seek help

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when more people seek help we need to

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make sure that we have the capacity to

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provide that support uh and not just

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more uh doctors and counselors

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therapists Etc but the the workforce

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that uh have the language and cultural

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competency to uh best serve that diverse

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[Music]

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population uh yes so again the the

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funding uh approved through the uh safer

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communities act from uh almost two years

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ago has significant amounts of the

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mental health uh dollars dedicated to

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schools you know it's a uh been a

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longtime effort to try to maintain a

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nurse in every school right whether it's

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Minister medications or you know putting you know Band-Aids on pets

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ddddd

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this is the father 
of three boys speaking.

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You know, it'd be a dream scenario

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to have a counselor 
or a therapist at every school

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or, ideally, even a Wellness Center.

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They're relatively new concepts 
in the United States

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but those that are proven to be
very helpful to students and communities

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But with resources 
we can expand that model

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much sooner rather than later.

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(cheeful music)