Support Mental Illness Research and Services

I am writing to urge you to vote in favor of the FY 2008 Labor-HHS-Education funding bill (S 1710) and the critical investments it makes in mental illness research and services.

It is especially important that the Senate support the increases in this bill for the medical research funding at the National Institutes of Health (NIH).

In recent years, NIH funding has failed to keep pace with the cost of medical research inflation.  As a result, we are now losing opportunities for advances in basic scientific and clinical research.  

This is especially important for the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH).  S 1710 includes a $43.4 million increase for NIMH, bringing overall funding up to $1.436 billion.  

This increase is critical for continuing the advance of new discoveries into the genetics of schizophrenia, as well as biomarkers for bipolar disorder and major depression that will lead to newer, more effective treatments.  

The Senate must continue this investment in biomedical research.

I also urge you to support funding in S 1710 for critical mental illness supportive services at SAMHSA including:
-- the proposed $4 million increase for suicide prevention programs under the Garrett Lee Smith Act,
-- the $11 million increase for services in supportive housing for individuals moving from chronic homelessness,
-- the proposed $13 million increase for the Mental Health Block Grant in the House version of S 1710, and
-- restoration of proposed cuts to the jail diversion program at the Center for Mental Health Services (CMHS).

Finally, it is critically important that Congress provide the Social Security Administration with sufficient funding to address the record backlog in disability determinations and appeals.

Thank you for your support for mental illness research and services funding.