U.S. Rep. Carlos Curbelo, R-Fla., paired up with U.S. Rep. Grace Napolitano, D-Calif., on Tuesday to unveil a proposal creating a special postage stamp to help mental health research.
Curbelo and Napolitano brought out the “Mental Health Awareness Semipostal Stamp Act.” If passed, proceeds from the sale of the stamp would benefit the National Institute of Mental Health’s Brain Research through Advancing Innovative Neurotechnologies (BRAIN) Initiative.
On Tuesday, Curbelo took to the House floor to make his case for the bill.
“Neurological and psychiatric disorders have exacted a tremendous toll on our society,” Curbelo said. “Despite the great scientific strides being made daily in neuroscience research, the underlying causes of conditions like Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, autism, epilepsy, schizophrenia, depression, and traumatic brain injury remain unsolved. For true breakthroughs to occur, researchers require additional data to better treat these conditions.
“To address this, the previous administration announced the Brain Research through Advancing Innovative Neurotechnologies Initiative in 2013,” Curbelo added. “Known as the BRAIN Initiative, this collaborative public-private research project will advance our understanding of how the brain functions as researchers work to map the brain and study how individual cells interact in both time and space. The data generated from this research will help scientists fill in the gaps in our current understanding and provide unprecedented opportunities for exploring how the brain enables us to record, process, utilize, store, and retrieve vast quantities of information. This information will also provide researchers with a better understanding of mental illness and post-traumatic stress disorder in hopes of better treating these diseases and reducing the number of suicides each year. I was pleased that the 21st Century Cures Act, which I supported here in the House and was signed into law, authorized $1.51 billion for this important research.
“To help accelerate this project and raise public attention to this initiative, today I introduced the Mental Health Awareness Semipostal Stamp Act with Representative Grace Napolitano to raise awareness for this important cause,” Curbelo said in conclusion. “This would come at no cost to taxpayers. Revenues generated from the sale of a specialized postage stamp would be directed to the National Institute of Mental Health to further this ambitious program that has the potential to revolutionize neurological and psychiatric care all around the world.”
“We must continue to do everything we can to reduce stigma and encourage more people to seek the lifesaving mental health care they need,” said Napolitano, the chairwoman of the Congressional Mental Health Caucus. “The Mental Health Awareness Semipostal Stamp moves us toward this goal by bringing visibility to mental health and by funding critical research of mental illness, increasing our ability to prevent, detect, and treat it. I am proud to again join Congressman Curbelo in promoting increased awareness and study to ensure mental health gets the attention it needs and deserves.”
READ MORE FROM SUNSHINE STATE NEWS
Why Shouldn't Corcoran and Oliva Huddle with the Kochs?
State Colleges Facing Year of 'Stagnation' and 'Lost Opportunity'
