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eNewsletter - March 14, 2008
The Paul Wellstone Mental Health and Addiction Equity Act of 2007
Thanks to all of your tireless advocacy and the advocacy of allied organizations, the U.S. House of Representatives has approved the Paul Wellstone Mental Health and Addiction Equity Act of 2007, H.R. 1424, by a 268 to 148 vote. Over 3500 advocates used our Online Advocacy Action Center to place a call as part of our National Call-in Day the day before the vote!
221 Democrats and 47 Republicans voted for passage of the bill. To find out how your Representative voted, click here. Please take a minute to thank your Representative today! If he or she voted yes. If he or she voted no, please take a minute to express your disappointment.
On the day of the vote, there was a well-attended press conference and rally on the steps of the Capitol. Speakers included House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), House Leader Steny Hoyer (D-MD), former first Lady Rosalyn Carter, David Wellstone, and the champions of the bill – Representatives Patrick Kennedy (D-RI) and Jim Ramstad (R-MN).
Then, the action moved to the floor of the House of Representatives. H.R. 1424 enjoyed strong bi-partisan support, with 274 co-sponsors. The bill had been through an arduous and unusually complex process before it came time for a vote, with hearings before three House committees, each of which voted out the bill.
There was a very lively debate about the bill. We’ve included a few remarks here. Members of Congress spent over two hours debating the bill – talking about addiction and recovery as well as mental illness.
The next step will be negotiations between members of the Senate, which passed S. 558, the Mental Health Parity Act, last year and the House. It’s still too early to tell whether a conference committee, with representatives from each body, will be formed or if members will get together informally to negotiate differences between the bills. Here’s a chart that describes the differences between the two bills. We’ll keep you posted about developments and next steps.