[Congressional Bills 103th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S.J. Res. 61 Reported in Senate (RS)]
Calendar No. 82
103d CONGRESS
1st Session
S. J. RES. 61
_______________________________________________________________________
JOINT RESOLUTION
To designate the week of October 3, 1993, through October 9, 1993, as
``Mental Illness Awareness Week''.
_______________________________________________________________________
May 27 (legislative day, April 19), 1993
Reported without amendment
Calendar No. 82
103d CONGRESS
1st Session
S. J. RES. 61
To designate the week of October 3, 1993, through October 9, 1993, as
``Mental Illness Awareness Week''.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
March 10 (legislative day, March 3), 1993
Mr. Simon (for himself, Mr. Akaka, Mr. Breaux, Mr. Bumpers, Mr. Coats,
Mr. Cochran, Mr. Cohen, Mr. Domenici, Mr. Dorgan, Mr. Durenberger, Mrs.
Feinstein, Mr. Glenn, Mr. Heflin, Mr. Inouye, Mr. Johnston, Mr. Levin,
Mr. Lieberman, Mr. McCain, Mr. Mitchell, Ms. Moseley-Braun, Mrs.
Murray, Mr. Pell, Mr. Reid, Mr. Sarbanes, Mr. Specter, Mr. Stevens, Mr.
Wellstone, Mr. Bradley, Mr. Shelby, Mr. Metzenbaum, Mr. Biden, Mr.
Thurmond, Mr. Sasser, Mr. Hatch, Mr. Murkowski, Mr. Lautenberg, Mr.
Pressler, Mr. Riegle, Mr. Grassley, Mr. Craig, Mr. Moynihan, Mr.
Danforth, Mr. Warner, Mr. Ford, Mr. Graham, Mr. Helms, Mr. D'Amato, Mr.
Conrad, Mr. Wofford, Mr. Chafee, Mr. DeConcini, Mr. Byrd, Ms. Mikulski,
Mr. Jeffords, Mr. Simpson, and Mr. Dole) introduced the following joint
resolution; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on the
Judiciary
May 27 (legislative day, April 19), 1993
Reported by Mr. Biden, without amendment
_______________________________________________________________________
JOINT RESOLUTION
To designate the week of October 3, 1993, through Octo- ber 9, 1993, as
``Mental Illness Awareness Week''.
Whereas mental illness is a problem of grave concern and consequence in the
United States and it is widely, but unnecessarily, feared and
misunderstood;
Whereas on an annual basis 40,000,000 adults in the United States suffer from
clearly diagnosable mental disorders, including mental illness, alcohol
abuse, and drug abuse, which create significant disabilities with
respect to employment, school attendance, and independent living;
Whereas more than 11,200,000 United States citizens are diagnosed with
schizophrenia, manic depressive disorder, and major depression, and
these individuals are often disabled for long periods of time;
Whereas 33 percent of homeless persons suffer serious, chronic forms of mental
illness;
Whereas mental illness, alcohol abuse, and drug abuse affect almost 22 percent
of adults in the United States in any 1-year period;
Whereas mental illness interferes with the development and maturation of at
least 12,000,000 of our children;
Whereas a majority of the 30,000 American citizens who commit suicide each year
suffer from a mental or an addictive disorder;
Whereas our growing population of elderly persons faces many obstacles to care
for mental disorders;
Whereas 20 to 25 percent of persons with AIDS will develop AIDS-related
cognitive dysfunction and as many as two-thirds of persons with AIDS
will show neuropsychiatric symptoms before they die;
Whereas mental illness, alcohol abuse, and drug abuse result in staggering costs
to society, estimated to be in excess of $273,000,000 each year in
direct treatment and support and indirect costs to society, including
lost productivity;
Whereas the Federal research budget committed to the National Institute of
Mental Health, the National Institute of Alcoholism and Alcohol Abuse,
and the National Institute of Drug Abuse represents only about 1 percent
of the direct treatment and support costs of caring for persons with
mental disorders, alcohol addiction, and drug addiction;
Whereas mental illnesses are increasingly treatable disorders with excellent
prospects for amelioration when properly recognized;
Whereas persons with mental illness and their families have begun to join self-
help groups seeking to combat the unfair stigma of mental illness, to
support greater national investment in research, and to advocate an
adequate continuum of care from hospital to community;
Whereas in recent years there have been unprecedented major research
developments bringing new methods and technology to the sophisticated
and objective study of the functioning of the brain and its linkages to
both normal and abnormal behavior;
Whereas research in recent decades has led to a wide array of new and more
effective modalities of treatment (somatic, psychosocial, and service
delivery) for some of the most incapacitating forms of mental illness,
including schizophrenia, major affective disorders, phobias, and phobic
disorders;
Whereas appropriate treatment of mental illness has been demonstrated to be
cost-effective in terms of restored productivity, reduced use of other
health services, and lessened social dependence; and
Whereas recent and unparalleled growth in scientific knowledge about mental
illness has generated the current emergence of a new threshold of
opportunity for future research advances and fruitful application to
specific clinical problems: Now, therefore, be it
Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United
States of America in Congress assembled, That the week of October 3,
1993, through October 9, 1993, is designated as ``Mental Illness
Awareness Week''. The President is authorized and requested to issue a
proclamation calling upon the people of the United States to observe
such week with appropriate programs, ceremonies, and activities.