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During my
trip home to Nevada last week, I met with Nevada’s State
Legislature, small businesses and banks, health care leaders,
and struggling families to discuss the federal government’s
efforts to get our economy back on track.
 Nevadans
are hurting right now, as our unemployment and foreclosure rates
are among the worst in the nation. Fortunately, I made certain
that Nevada benefitted greatly from the Economic Recovery and
Reinvestment Act that President Obama just signed into law. It
puts us on the path to recovery by cutting taxes for our working
families and creating tens of thousands of jobs here in Nevada.
To read more about how Nevada benefits from the Economic
Recovery and Reinvestment Act,
CLICK HERE to read my fact sheet.
Last
Wednesday, I had the honor of addressing both houses of Nevada’s
Legislature. I told them that the Economic Recovery and
Reinvestment Act is expected to create 34,000 jobs in our state,
90 percent of them in the private sector. Putting Nevadans back
to work is the critical first step to fixing our economy, and
I’m committed to working with our state officials to provide an
economic boost while also ensuring transparency and
accountability to Nevada’s taxpayers. Click on the picture below
to watch my speech to the Nevada Legislature:
After
speaking to the Legislature, I met with my Blue Ribbon Panel on
Energy in Carson City. We discussed ways to finance renewable
energy projects, educate and train Nevada’s workforce for these
high-tech jobs, and develop and expand our energy transmission
capacity. The first thing I did when I came back to Washington,
DC was
announce a major piece of legislation that will create jobs
in Nevada building energy transmission lines connecting our
clean, renewable natural resources with the country’s electrical
grid.
Last Tuesday,
I addressed small business owners at the Nevada State Bank
Symposium in Las Vegas. I discussed job creation and tax cuts
delivered through the economic recovery package, and how they
will help Nevada’s economy. For small business owners, this
legislation delivered $636 million for lending through the Small
Business Administration Business Loans Program.
Also on
Tuesday, I was privileged to take part in the announcement of a
joint venture between Cleveland Clinic and the Lou Ruvo Brain
Institute. This joint venture can do so much not only for
Nevada, but for people throughout the world. Debilitating
diseases Alzheimer’s, Huntington’s, Parkinson’s, and ALS affect
families throughout our state and our country, and this
partnership is an enormous step toward better detection and
treatment. The project is also another step in our effort to
bring high-tech jobs to Las Vegas.
Thank you for reading this update. While our economy is
struggling, I am working every day to help get it back on track.
Please
visit my website for more information.
Reid Meets With Henderson
City Officials
Nevada
Senator Harry Reid met today with officials from the City of
Henderson. The officials spoke with Reid about development and
renovation projects including a solar energy facility and
highway improvements to Interstate 15. Reid met with Mayor Jim
Gibson, City Councilwoman Gerri Schroder, City Manager Mary Kay
Peck, City Attorney Shauna Hughes, and Director of
Intergovernmental Services Terri Barber.
Senator Harry
Reid and Henderson Mayor Jim Gibson discuss improvement projects
for the City of Henderson.
Reid Testifies On Nevada
Tribal Efforts To Prevent Suicide Before The Indian Affairs
Committee
Nevada
Senator Harry Reid testified before the U.S. Senate Committee on
Indian Affairs on today,
(February 26, 2009.)
Reid
spoke on the bipartisan work to advance federal suicide
prevention and mental health parity. He also discussed organized
prevention programs and Nevada’s tribal efforts to identify and
treat vulnerable individuals.
Below are
Reid’s remarks as prepared for delivery:
“Chairman
Dorgan and Vice Chairman Barrasso, it is a pleasure to be with
you today and to have the opportunity to testify before this
Committee. I appreciate this Committee’s interest in the issue
and commitment to prevention efforts.
This is a
very personal matter for me.
Thirteen
years ago, I attended a Special Committee on Aging Committee
hearing focused on mental illness among the elderly. At that
hearing, Mike Wallace, the anchor for “60 Minutes,” came forward
to testify about his depression.
I was so
impressed by his courage – his ability to speak publicly about a
problem he had and the treatment he received. I commended him
for speaking about a condition that many people associate with
weakness – a stigma which still persists today. It was during
this hearing that I learned unmanaged depression can result in
suicide. And for the first time, I found the courage within
myself, to share with my colleagues in the Senate, that my
father had killed himself at age 60.
At a
follow-up hearing devoted entirely to the issue of senior
suicide, I spoke again about my dad’s suicide. By that time, I
also realized that suicide was a national problem – and
particularly bad in Nevada. My father was not alone – and
neither was I.
Following
these hearings, I was contacted by a couple from Georgia, Elsie
and Jerry Weyrauch, who had lost their adult daughter to suicide
and founded the Suicide Prevention Advocacy Network to raise
awareness about the issue.
With their
encouragement, I proposed Senate Resolution 84 (105th
Congress, 1997), which declared suicide to be a national
problem, and sought to make suicide prevention a national
priority. The resolution passed unanimously and was followed by
a similar resolution in the House.
After former
Surgeon General David Satcher was confirmed, I invited him to
approach suicide as a national public health issue, and he did.
In 1998, he convened a conference in Reno. The Reno Conference
brought together experts from all over the country to address
the problem of suicide. By the time they were finished, they
had come up with a national strategy for suicide prevention.
This gave the
issue real momentum. In 2001, The U.S Department of Health and
Human Services published its National Strategy for Suicide
Prevention, which provides a blueprint for suicide prevention in
the United States. In 2002, the Institute of Medicine published
its report; “Reducing Suicide: A National Imperative.”
As a result
of these calls to action, we have suicide research centers,
suicide hotlines, and the National Suicide Prevention Resource
Center. This Center is designed to provide states and
communities with evidence-based strategies for suicide
prevention. Importantly, the Center collaborates with many
organizations, like the One Sky Center represented here today by
Dr. Dale Walker,
to promote widespread implementation of the National Strategy.
In 2004,
under the leadership of former Senator Gordon Smith who lost his
21 year-old son to suicide, the Garret Lee Smith Memorial Act
become the first law to address youth suicide prevention. Many
of us here today, including you, Mr. Chairman, and Senators
Akaka, Johnson and Murkowski, sponsored this legislation because
of its potential to help communities and families save lives.
During the
last session of Congress, we made some significant steps forward
as well. We passed the Paul Wellstone and Pete Domenici
Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act. We passed
legislation that would lower the Medicare coinsurance for
outpatient mental health.
And, under
your leadership, Mr. Chairman, the Senate passed the Indian
Health Care Improvement Act Reauthorization Amendments. Our bill
would have authorized Indian Health Services, tribes, and tribal
health providers to establish a behavioral health prevention and
treatment plan and create an Indian youth tele-mental health
program in suicide prevention, intervention and treatment
efforts. I look forward to working with you and our colleagues
to pass this legislation in the 111th Congress.
We have made
tremendous progress since that first congressional hearing in
1996 when no one wanted to talk about suicide. We have come a
long way. I am amazed at what a few congressional hearings can
do to bring needed attention to such an important issue.
But we still
need to do more, and we need to focus on populations that are
particularly at risk, especially Native Americans and Native
American youth.
Mr. Chairman,
you know that the suicide rate for Native Americans between
15-34 years old is more than 2 times higher than the national
average and is the second leading cause of death for this age
group. The fact that the rate of suicide among youth on Indian
reservations is greater than any other youth population is a
real crisis.
While my home
state of Nevada has one of the nation’s highest rates of suicide
among young adults, the data suggests that American Indians and
Alaska Natives living in Nevada are even more likely than
non-native Nevadans to consider, attempt and die from suicide.
While some of Nevada’s tribes have begun the difficult task of
implementing strategies identified in the Indian Health
Service’s Suicide Prevention Plan, we must help them and our
most vulnerable Native people get care and support they need.
To further
this goal, I support the efforts of federal agencies,
public-private partnerships, tribes and others who develop and
provide suicide prevention and treatment programs. The Indian
Health Service has individually and in partnership with the
Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA)
at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and tribes
developed and implemented a Suicide Prevention Initiative. In
recent years, SAMHSA’s direct funding, grants and partnership
opportunities has generated research and supported programs in
the field.
I also
support programs and places -- like Boys and Girls Clubs, tribal
community buildings, native language nests and schools -- that
build community, provide after-school programming, and
strengthen the social fabric. These programs improve the mental
health and esteem of native youth. We have one Boys and Girls
Club in Nevada, on the Walker River Paiute Reservation, and we
have one youth treatment center, on the Pyramid Lake Paiute
Reservation. I suggest we need more of both in Nevada and
throughout the country to successfully address the needs of our
young people and tribes.
Mr. Chairman
and members of the Committee, thank you for your commitment and
attention to this epidemic and your dedication to improving and
saving the lives of all Native Americans, particularly our
youth. “
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