United States-Jordan Defense Cooperation Extension Act

Mr. Chair, I have an amendment at the desk.

Mr. Chair, I want to speak on this amendment, which provides some additional funding for assisted outpatient treatment.

The underlying bill has in it $15 million, and we are asking for it to be raised to $20 million. First of all, I want to say where the money is coming from. This is within the budget of SAMHSA. This is not new spending. It is not additional spending. But over my years of investigating mental health in the United States and the conditions, and then led to my introduction of the Helping Families in Mental Health Crisis Act, which, by the way, this House passed 442-2, this level of funding was authorized in the bill. It is already authorized there. It is to come from the SAMHSA account, not new spending.

Let me describe what assisted outpatient treatment is. Understanding that there are about 60 million Americans with mental illness, and 10 million have severe mental illness, it is important to note that our prisons are filled with people who have mental illness. On some level, 60 to 80 percent of people in jail have a mental illness. That is no place to be treating someone. But, unfortunately, they may have a crime they committed, and in many cases it could simply be vagrancy, it could be other issues, too, where they may have become violent, they may have had other problems associated with that, but a person with mental illness is 10 times more likely to be in prison than to be in a hospital bed.

We don't have enough hospital beds. Ninety percent of the psychiatric hospital beds in this country have been closed down since the 1950s. Now we need 100,000 more, but instead what we do as a society, we throw them in prison.

A few years ago, when New York passed Kendra's Law, when a young woman was killed by a mentally ill person, they realized that had he been in treatment, it likely never would have happened.

So rather than having someone, if we can't put them in a hospital, can't get

them treatment, the idea of assisted outpatient treatment is, when a patient can be stabilized by remaining on their medication, by having their counseling, perhaps supportive housing, supportive education, supportive employment, their life can turn around.

So what happens is, a court, a judge, protecting this person's own rights, civil rights on every level, will say to this person: I am not going to involuntarily commit you to a hospital. Your crime doesn't rise to the level--it is not a felony or something like that--it doesn't rise to the level of prison, but what they say is: We are going to require, however, that you stay in treatment, require that you take your medication, that you stay in counseling, and you do other things as prescribed by the court.

Now, most States allow this, but here is the problem: in many counties in America, they don't have the ability to pay the administrative costs to handle this. So this amendment provides a mechanism whereby people can do this.

So understand, the assisted outpatient treatment is a civil-legal procedure whereby a judge can order an individual with a serious mental illness to follow a court ordered treatment plan in the community.

Here is another thing about this: Does it work? And the answer is yes. In a Duke University study of the New York AOT program, it said 90 percent of the people said that AOT made them more likely to keep appointments or to take medication; 88 percent said they and their case manager agreed on what is important for them to work on; 87 percent of them said they were competent in their case manager's ability to help them; 87 percent had fewer incarcerations; 83 percent had fewer experienced arrests--and the point is, they had an increased number of arrests prior to being in AOT, and then afterwards it declined precipitously.

Eighty-one percent said AOT helped them get and to stay well; 77 percent fewer experienced psychiatric hospitalizations; 75 percent reported that AOT helped them gain control of their life; 74 percent fewer experienced homelessness; 55 percent fewer experienced suicide attempts or physical harm to themselves; 49 percent fewer abused alcohol; 48 percent fewer abused drugs; 47 percent fewer physically harmed others; 46 percent fewer damaged and destroyed property; and costs were cut in half.

This small amount of money--and believe me, it would cost perhaps 10 or 20 times more to really do this thoroughly--is there to help people in mental health crisis. We could either continue to throw people in jail, continue to see crimes happen--and by the way, when a mentally ill person is in prison, 80 percent of them get no treatment. We put them back on the streets and the problems occur again.

The House passed this. It came out of committee unanimously. We need to do this for America. We don't want to read more statistics on a mentally ill person who harmed someone, primarily because they were not in treatment.

This is our opportunity to save lives. This is our opportunity to do something about this. And I do ask that the House pass this small amendment out of an existing budget, no new spending, to provide an additional $5 million for assisted outpatient treatment.

Madam Chair, I reserve the balance of my time.

Madam Chair, I reserve the balance of my time.

Madam Chair, I just want to say, investing in the AOT program, Congress says it is worth it to ensure the most vulnerable among us have the treatment they need, instead of being in ERs, or jails.

This pilot is extremely important. It saves money. It saves lives. And for Members to reflect back on this, I hope they would rather say: I helped fund a program known to save lives. SAMHSA has been reported many times by the GAO to waste a lot of money. This saves lives, and I urge people to vote for this amendment.

Madam Chair, I yield back the balance of my time.

Madam Chair, I demand a recorded vote.

Madam Chair, before I discuss this amendment, I would just like to take a minute to offer my and all of our condolences to honor the memory of Congresswoman DeLauro's dear mother, Luisa DeLauro, who passed away at the age of 103 this weekend. As Congresswoman DeLauro always said, her mother was a fearless champion for women's equality, and I hope that tonight we can really think about Congresswoman DeLauro, her family, and her mother, and offer our sincere condolences to her.

Madam Chair, I rise in opposition to this amendment which would shift an additional $5 million away from SAMHSA's existing mental health programs. In the bill under consideration today, SAMHSA's mental health programs, they are already cut by $231 million. That is a 20 percent cut

Unfortunately, this amendment would further reduce funding for critical SAMHSA programs such as Mental Health First Aid, Suicide Prevention, and the National Child Traumatic Stress Network. We need to be increasing support for mental health services, not robbing Peter to pay Paul by shifting funds from one program to another.

Now, by profession, I am a psychiatric social worker, and I founded a community mental health center. Believe me, I personally know the impact and the need, the unmet need, for additional funding for mental health services.

As my colleagues and I have noted, the allocations approved by the committee are approximately $5 billion below the nondefense level allowed under the Budget Control Act. That is $5 billion down.

We have the resources available, yet the majority refuses to allocate them to support critical programs such as mental health and substance abuse services. This bill is $5 billion below the fiscal 2017 funding level.

That is why Members are being forced to rob critical programs to transfer funding to other programs. We need to negotiate a bipartisan budget deal that lifts the sequestration caps and provides significant funding for mental health and substance abuse programs for individuals who need them.

Madam Chair, I urge my colleagues to oppose this amendment.

Madam Chair, I claim the time in opposition to this amendment.

Madam Chair, this amendment cuts $5 million from the account that funds, mind you, Head Start, Runaway and Homeless Youth grants, and the Community Services Block Grant, among other critical programs, and uses it to provide $5 million in new funding for the Infant Adoption Awareness Training program. Now, this program did not receive funding in fiscal year `17.

Women should have access to all options when considering the impacts of an unintended pregnancy, of which one is adoption. But we should not ignore the irreplaceable role of preventing unintended pregnancy by providing education and health services.

The underlying bill limits women's access to care by prohibiting funding to the Title X Family Planning program, a program specifically created to ensure women have access to high-quality family planning services to prevent unintended pregnancies and access reproductive care services. By denying women access to comprehensive family planning and preventative health services, the bill would have a devastating impact on women and families, especially low-income women and women in rural communities.

In 2014, Title X Family Planning centers helped women avert 904,000-- that is 904,000--unintended pregnancies. Without the services provided by these Title X clinics, the rates of unintended pregnancy in the United States, unplanned birth and abortion, each would have been 33 percent higher, and the teen pregnancy rate would have been 30 percent higher.

In addition, Title X providers are required to offer pregnant women the opportunity to provide information and counseling regarding all of their options--all of their options--in a neutral, nondirective, and factual manner, including adoption. For some women, adoption services and counseling may be the best option. But we must ensure that every woman has access to all options and is allowed to make the choice that is best for her and her family.

Unfortunately, this bill represents yet another missed opportunity to get serious about reproductive health and preventing unintended pregnancy in this country. This amendment uses funding from other programs in the Children and Families Services account that are critical to the well-being of children, women, and families as an offset for this new program. Funding for Head Start, the Domestic Violence Hotline, programs that help serve and protect runaway and homeless youth, among others, are at risk.

Madam Chair, I oppose the amendment, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Chair, as I close, while this amendment focuses on adoption services, we cannot ignore what is missing from this bill and from this process, and that is an opportunity to vote on the amendment to fund Title X Family Planning. We must restore funding for family planning services; invest in a comprehensive approach that prioritizes health promotion, education, services, and care; and an approach that includes sex education programs, better access to birth control, and reproductive health services.

I am extremely concerned about the cut that this amendment imposes on the Children and Families account at HHS. I oppose this amendment. This is cutting funds from Head Start, Runaway and Homeless Youth grants, and the Community Services Block Grant, among other critical programs.

Mr. Chairman, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 2646) to reauthorize the United States-Jordan Defense Cooperation Act of 2015, and for other purposes, as amended.

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days within which to revise and extend their remarks and to include extraneous materials on this measure.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. Speaker, I want to thank Chairman Royce and Ranking Member Engel for their support for this measure and for their leadership in helping to bring H.R. 2646, the United States-Jordan Defense Cooperation Extension Act, to the floor today.

I also want to thank my friends and colleagues Nita Lowey, Ted Deutch, Hal Rogers, and Adam Schiff for joining me in introducing this bill.

This is a strong bipartisan bill that underscores the importance of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan in helping both of our nations work toward achieving shared goals of security and stability in the Middle East.

It acknowledges what we have all known for many years, and that is that His Majesty and the kingdom are indispensable allies in the fight against radicalism and terror in the region.

Jordan and its military have played important roles in many of our counter-ISIS operations, and in many ways our relationship with Jordan has served as a force multiplier and has allowed the coalition to make all the positive gains that we have made over the past year or so.

But that would have not been possible without a robust foreign military financing--FMF--program that we have in place with our allies in Jordan. That is why in 2015, Mr. Speaker, I introduced and the President signed in 2016 the United States-Jordan Defense Cooperation Act.

This bill authorized the administration to enter into a memorandum of understanding--MOU--with Jordan.

Why?

To increase our military cooperation with Jordan and to provide the kingdom with increased FMF assistance.

It also allowed Jordan to be included in a list of close and trusted allies that are eligible for streamlined and expedited defense sales.

Why is that important?

Because Jordan is on the front lines in the fight against terror and we rely heavily on Jordan's cooperation.

That bill also authorized the administration to increase our economic support for the kingdom. We recognize the great contributions that Jordan has made in response to the Syrian refugee crisis. Since the Assad regime began its campaign of destruction, murdering over half a million people in the process, millions of Syrians have fled their war- torn nation. Hundreds of thousands, if not over a million, Syrians have crossed over the border into Jordan seeking refuge from the fighting. For a country of just a few million in population, an influx of this magnitude would strain the government's already limited resources.

Yet, Jordan recognized the need to provide refuge to those fleeing the murderous Assad regime and its cronies; the Putin regime; and Iran and its proxy, the terror group Hezbollah. We, in return, recognized the strategic importance of Jordan's security and stability. That is why we must ensure that the kingdom does indeed have the resources that it needs, both in the fight against terror but also in support of the larger refugee population.

That memorandum of understanding was signed 3 years ago this week, and it ran through fiscal year 2017. Unfortunately, Mr. Speaker, Jordan's current and future security and stability are far from guaranteed. Most of the refugees remain, and despite having made great progress in defeating ISIS, the terror threat is far from being eliminated.

That is why I authored this bill before us today, along with this bipartisanship coalition of colleagues, to extend the provisions of the original United States-Jordan Defense Cooperation Act for another 5- year period through 2022.

We need to enhance Jordan's military capacity and its local economy significantly, and it is my hope that our two governments will soon enter into a renewed memorandum of understanding--MOU--at an increased level that meets the needs of the kingdom.

In addition to extending the provisions of the Defense Cooperation Act, this bill provides for the establishment of a Jordanian Enterprise Fund. An enterprise fund would attract private investment and help entrepreneurs and small businesses create jobs in a way that would foster sustainable economic development in Jordan for the long term and in a self-sustaining fashion.

Mr. Speaker, Jordan's security and Jordan's stability, they are both vital not just for our ally, but they are vital for the region and for our own national security interests. It is vital that we send a strong bipartisanship message of support. I urge my colleagues to support this measure.

Mr. Speaker, I yield the remainder of my time to the gentleman from California (Mr. Royce), our esteemed chairman, and I ask unanimous consent that he be allowed to control that time.

Madam Chair, I have an amendment at the desk.

Madam Chair, I rise in support of my amendment No. 156.

Over the past 25 years, infant adoptions have decreased, and only about 1 percent of pregnant women choose adoption. While there are approximately 2 million couples waiting to adopt in the United States, there were only 18,329 domestic infant adoptions in 2014.

Unfortunately, too many women who have encountered unplanned pregnancies report not receiving adequate information about adoption. Everyone facing an unplanned pregnancy should have access to timely, accurate, and noncoercive information about adoption that helps them make their own fully informed decision.

In 2000, Congress authorized the Infant Adoption Awareness Training Program. This program awards grants to adoption organizations to train healthcare workers who offer health services to expectant mothers and are trained to provide adoption information and referral.

In the year 2000, the program annually delivered training to an estimated 10,000 healthcare workers nationwide. This program was phased out in 2010.

This bill funds adoption awareness programs at $39.1 million. My amendment designates $5 million of that funding to restart the Infant Adoption Awareness Training Program with the goal of ensuring that expectant mothers have access to timely, accurate information about adoptions.

I also support the administration's effort to fund activities to improve hospital-based adoption support services for our expectant mothers. I urge them to continue this hospital-based program to ensure that mothers who wish to make an adoption have access to comprehensive support throughout the entire adoption process.

Adoption is a bipartisan issue, and it is vital that individuals who are providing health services to expectant mothers are trained to properly provide adoption information and referral.

Madam Chair, I urge adoption of this amendment.

I yield to the gentleman from Oklahoma.

I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Chairman, I thank the gentlewoman. I do share her concern. That is why we are asking for $5 million of the $39.1 million be used to give expectant mothers the opportunity to learn fully and make a decision based on what they want to do. It is about education. It is about making them fully aware.

But this is about adoption. This is not about anything else. This is not about taking anything away from anybody. This is about giving them the opportunity to understand the options that they do have in an unplanned pregnancy.

Mr. Chairman, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Chairman, I appreciate the gentlewoman's comments. What this is really about is 2 million couples willing to adopt children in the United States. It is hard for me to stand here today and say that it would be a much different world if people were really given the opportunity to understand what their options are and be able to fulfill the wishes of over 2 million couples in the United States who are looking to adopt a child. I think that is incredibly important, and I don't understand why we couldn't look at something like that and say this is about adoption. That is all it is about.

Now, this is fully endorsed, by the way, by the National Council for Adoption.

At this time, I would also offer my condolences to Ms. DeLauro for the loss of her mother. She is a fine lady, and I am sure that, no matter what, she will look back on the years she spent with her mother and cherish every one of those.

Mr. Chairman, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

We are here, really, to reaffirm a very important commitment that we have to one of our closest partners in the Middle East, and that is Jordan. I think all of us agree that, over the generations, it has been astounding the way Jordan has always offered safe haven and refuge through the generations to others.

This bill gives us an opportunity to continue that close working relationship that we have with Jordan because, as we know, Jordan is locked--has been locked--in a struggle with ISIS, or Daesh, as they call it in that part of the world. They have been involved on the battlefield, and this bill addresses both the military and economic elements of the close relationship we have with Jordan.

As they valiantly fight ISIS, Jordanians have struggled to absorb, most recently, more than 1 million Syrian refugees; and they are doing this, obviously, while coping with a tough economy, with an overburdened infrastructure, and with high unemployment for their youth. I have been to some of the schools in Jordan to see the Jordanians as they once again reach out a hand of friendship to help those who are in this predicament.

Although Jordan has successfully worked with the Millennium Challenge Corporation and the World Bank to address some of the economic challenges, it really has not been enough to create the level of vital economic growth needed in the circumstances that Jordan is in.

Economic opportunity and prosperity in Jordan are one element of our bulwark against extremist groups, against the Iranian regime, the IRGC, who seek to spread chaos and destruction, and as ISIS seeks to spread death.

In addition to supporting existing efforts, including regional water and energy projects that bring needed resources and will bring increased cooperation between neighbors, this bill calls for the establishment of an enterprise fund for Jordan. This is a measure previously authorized, previously funded by this body, and this fund will help create economic opportunity through private-public partnership, through investments in small and medium enterprises, and it will also create market development in Jordan.

Although not a familiar measure to many, enterprise funds have already been very successful in Tunisia, and we have seen that. We have seen that success.

Mr. Speaker, I want to thank our colleagues for their support for this measure for our ally and friend, Jordan, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

In closing, I would like to thank my colleagues. I would like to thank the ranking member of the Foreign Affairs Committee, Mr. Engel, but I would also like to thank Mr. Eagle over there, Brendan Boyle, and I would

like to thank Ileana Ros-Lehtinen as well.

Jordan, of course, is a key partner in our struggle against ISIS and against the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps and other destabilizing actors in the Middle East. This bill supports our joint efforts on the battlefield and will help Jordan achieve much-needed economic growth.

Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support this bill and, once again, extend the arm of friendship to our closest partner, Jordan.

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that the gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. Brendan F. Boyle) be allowed to reclaim his unused time, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.