Durbin Blasts Republican Budget Cuts, Questions National Institutes Of Health About Treating Trauma, Mental Illness In Youth

Hearing

"I've been proud of this subcommittee and what it's achieved in terms of funding for NIH research. The two percent figure sent to us by the [Biden] Administration is a true disappointment, and I'm going to tell the President as much. But the idea that the Republicans have suggested in the House that a 20, 25 percent cut in NIH funding is scandalous.

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When we look at the scourge of mental illness in this country, particularly as it affects young people now in extraordinary numbers and percentages, could you give me some kind of point of reference as to how much is being invested in mental health and mental illness as opposed to physical illness?

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Many of the cities across America faces what Chicago faces with gun violence, particularly for young people. I went to the Cook County juvenile facility where teenagers are being held waiting for trial, many of them accused of murder… They've created a high school in the building for these teenagers... When I ask the counselors, what do you find when you sit down and talk to these young people who are on trial for murder and accused of gun violence? They say they find the full [array] of mental illness, but the one recurring theme is trauma. They've been exposed to trauma in their lives, and it really changes the way that they look at the world. Senator Capito and I have a bill on this issue -- looking at trauma, ACEs.

It just seems to me that when we talk about youth mental illness, this is the most obvious, front-line challenge that we face. What should we be doing now, that we're not doing, when it comes to trauma exposure?"

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