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AMHCA received the following message from the
office of Senator Paul Wellstone (D-MN) concerning mental health parity
amendment pending before the conference committee on the Labor-HHS-Education
Appropriations bill. Please take a moment to read this alert and take
action. The fate of mental health parity is at stake.
ALERT!! ALERT!! ALERT!! ALERT!! ALERT!!
ALERT!! ALERT!! ALERT!!
On behalf of Senator Wellstone,
I am writing to alert you that the fate of mental health parity
legislation is hanging in the balance, and your voice of support is
urgently needed today.
Despite the strong support of 244 House members and 67 Senate
cosponsors, House Leadership continues to oppose the fair treatment of
people with mental illness. The Mental Health Equitable Treatment Act
was passed in the Senate as part of the Labor-HHS-Education (LHHS)
Appropriations bill (H.R. 3061), and its fate is being decided right now
by LHHS conferees. The conferees are supportive of mental health parity,
but the House Republican conferees have said they are feeling enormous
pressure from House Republican
Leaders who are telling them to stop this bill.
We need your help. Please call members of the House Leadership (listed
below) and demand that they remove their opposition to the passage of
mental health parity legislation. Also, call the LHHS conferees
(also listed below) and let them know that you back their support for
mental health parity, and that they should not be prevented from voting
their conscience in support of fairness in treatment. Each of these
members can be reached by calling a toll-free parity "legislative
hotline" at 1-866-PARITY4
(1-866-727-4894).
S. 543, the Mental Health Equitable Treatment Act, was developed with
the full bipartisan support of 67 cosponsors, and passed out of
committee, 21-0 in August, 2001. Approximately 9 million federal
employees currently enjoy full mental health treatment parity. Fairness
in treatment for those with mental illness is long overdue.
We must not let House Leaders stop the passage of this critically
important bill that the majority of Congressional members and 154
organizations representing millions of Americans want. Please
do not delay. Many of you know how hard Senator Wellstone and Senator
Domenici have fought for this legislation. Just as many any of you know
how the problems of those with mental illness touch the lives of those
who are supported through the work of your organizations, and how badly
this legislation is needed.
Call today. Call now. This cannot wait.
HOUSE REPUBLICAN LEADERS
Chairman Bill Thomas (R-CA)
Chairman John Boehner (R-OH)
Chairman Bill Tauzin (R-LA)
Speaker Dennis Hastert (R-IL)
Rep. Dick Armey (R-TX)
Rep. Tom DeLay (R-TX)
CONFEREES ON THE LABOR-HHS-EDUCATION APPROPRIATIONS BILL
SENATORS:
Tom Harkin (D-IA)
Ernest Hollings (D-SC)
Daniel Inouye (D-HI)
Harry Reid (D-NV)
Herbert Kohl (D-WI)
Patty Murray (D-WA)
Mary Landrieu (D-LA)
Robert Byrd (D-WV)
Alren Specter (R-PA)
Thad Cochran (R-MS)
Judd Gregg (R-NH)
Larry Craig (R-ID)
Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-TX)
Ted Stevens (R-AK)
Mike DeWine (R-OH)
REPRESENTATIVES:
Ralph Regula (R-OH)
C.W. Young (R-FL)
Ernest Istook (R-OK)
Dan Miller (R-FL)
Roger Wicker (R-MS)
Anne Northup (R-KY)
Randy Cunningham (R-CA)
Kay Granger (R-TX)
John Peterson (R-PA)
Don Sherwood (R-PA)
David Obey (D-WI)
Steny Hoyer (D-MD)
Nancy Pelosi (D-CA)
Nita Lowey (D-NY)
Rosa DeLauro (D-CT)
Jesse Jackson, Jr. (D-IL)
Patrick Kennedy (D-RI)
Beth Powell
AMHCA Director of Public Policy and Professional Issues
801 N. Fairfax Street, Suite 304
Alexandria, VA 22314
703-548-6002, ext. 105
www.amhca.org |
