The unions, and republicans being opposed to many of their initiatives . It would seem like they may be making a mistake giving exclusively to democrats. If they give contributions to republicans as well, it would weaken the republican position on moving on Something Like minimum wage. They said we are going to contribute to a handful of republicans because we think they could be the most open to working with democrats, and break some of the logjam weve seen in congress. It might help their effort in generating some goodwill here in washington. And moving on some of their top priorities. Can we speculate that this is since 2012,percent can we see more sense before election day . It seems to be working for them. They seem to be happy with it. Atms to be at list least making people talk about the minimum wage increase. It makes for great visuals, it has the potential to expand their membership. Im sure we will see more. Thanks for both of you being here this week. [captioning performed by national captioning institute] [captions Copyright National cable satellite corp. 2014] cspan campaign 2014 debate covers coverage continues today with kay hagan and her republican opponent tom tillis. Followed by the california governors race between democratic incumbent jerry brown and republican nominee neil cash carried at want rock. At 2 00, the connecticut governors debate. 2014, more than 100 debates for the control of congress. The National Alliance on Mental Illness held its convention in washington, d. C. , the opening session focused on health care legislation. Speakers included former congressman Patrick Kennedy and Virginia State senator creigh deeds. And singer demi lovato, who spoke about her own experience with being diagnosed with bipolar disorder. The session was about 50 minutes. [applause] hello, everyone. Welcome to our national convention. I am so excited to see all of you here today. Welcome to our national day of action. I hope you are ready to take some action. We Want Congress to act and so, today, our supporters here and around the country are going to be calling, emailing, tweeting, and visiting capitol hill. When you visit capitol hill, i want you to remember that you are part of the nami movement. We are a movement of people dedicated to providing help and hope to all of those affected by Mental Illness. A movement that demands a more caring and a Better Mental Health care system that provides help to us when we need it, and where we need it. [applause] a movement that rages against homelessness, emergency rooms, jails, and prisons. We have had too much of it and we want it to change. [applause] and a movement that fights or recovery for people with Mental Illness. For jobs, for homes, for families, and for friends. For the ability to use all of your gifts and all of your talents. [applause] this movement will Tell Congress today that it is time to act, and we will be supported and inspired by our speakers today. The first probably needs no introduction but i will give him one anyways. Patrick kennedy served eight years in congress until 2011, representing Rhode Islands first district. He was the leading champion of the national Mental Health parity bill which was passed in 2008. [applause] he has been the recipient of namis highest honor, the service award, and continues to be a leading voice for Scientific Research and the transformation of Mental Health care. Patrick is all of those things, but he is so much more. He is a beacon of hope for all of those who struggle with Mental Illness and addiction. I had the privilege the summer of visiting a peerrun Dropin Center in chicago on 47th street. I got a really warm welcome but they cannot wait to tell me about their visit from Patrick Kennedy and what a difference he made by telling his story in such a heartfelt way, the way he always does, and one of them said it best. He said, he is one of us. That is how we feel at nami. Patrick is one of us, has been a great friend to nami, those in the Mental Health community, and we want to welcome our great friend Patrick Kennedy. [applause] thank you very much. [applause] well, when i was in congress, i got used to that standing ovation. [laughter] now that im out of congress, i would just stand here and soak it in. I am in recovery. And not only recovery from [applause] i am in recovery from being in politics. [laughter] let me just say from the outset how great mary has been in terms of hitting the ground running and really coming in. Talk about trying to drink water from a fire hydrant. She came in at a time that is going to be the most formative time in Mental Health advocacy in the last 50 years and we could not be more proud to have you as executive director of nami. [applause] ron homburg, andrew sperling, terrific policy team getting you ready to go to go to the hill. Your whole nami team is exceptional. I have had the honor of working with them for many years. Let me just first say, to demi lovato, i told her backstage, she is already a hit. We know she has produced a lot of hits, but she is already a hit star with all of us because she is willing to stand up in the lights and say she is one of us, too. [applause] my sixyearold daughter loves skyscraper. I tell you, you are our skyscraper when it comes to standing up tall, when things are falling around us because of the stigma and discrimination against the dull health. To have someone like you willing to take a stand mean something to all of us and we are really grateful that you are here. [applause] now, most of you have heard of my uncle, president john kennedy. But one of the things that president kennedy was known for was his book profiles in courage. If he were alive today and were adding another chapter to that historic book, he would include senator and mrs. Creigh deeds in that book. [applause] senator, like my family, your tragedy was exhibited in public in a way that should not have to be for any family. And instead of running away from the problem, you ran toward it, and you took your own devastating, incomprehensibility personal tragedy, and you show the light of your own familys experience, facing a fragmented, uncoordinated Health Care System, which was the responsibility of us all to do better on and showed what the ultimate consequences of that failed system is through the loss of your son. And you, more than anyone, have helped america understand what is at stake if we do nothing to repair this broken Mental Health system. Senator deeds and mrs. Deeds, we owe you a debt of responsibility to fulfill your mission, to fix the system so that it does not have to be fall any other family like it in your own. And for that we are very grateful for your leadership. [applause] president kennedy, in 1963, talked about the Civil Rights Act this way. He said, who amongst us would trade the color of their skin and be content with those who counsel patience and delay . At the time, they said we can take another 10, 15 years to implement civil rights. Its ok, lets take our time. That means one thing to a it mean something entirely different if the color of your skin is darker. Who amongst us would trade places with that person, and be content with those who tell us wait. Now is not the time. We face a similar moment in history today. Because this is an issue that is a civil rights issue. It is about the discrimination against our brothers and sisters simply because of the immutable fact that their illness that their illness, as immutable as the color of their skin, is an illness of the brain as opposed to an illness of any other organ in the body. Shortly after president kennedy put the civil rights bill before congress, he took on another civil rights bill, the community Mental Health act, and he said, the mentally ill need no longer be alien to our affections or beyond the help of our communities. [applause] have you ever heard something so clear in terms of what we need today . The mentally ill need no longer be alien to our affections, or beyond the help of our communities. Pretty simple, isnt it . Pretty basic. Now, you are all going to go up to the hill and you are going to advocate or simple things. Making sure that families are part of the treatment plan, planning for their loved ones, just as they would be if their loved one was coming out of the hospital for any other physical illness. [applause] you are going to go up there and say, those with brain illnesses, dont they deserve the same coordinated care as any other chronic illness that is out there, and why shouldnt our Health Care System reflect the desire to optimize care by making sure that it is coordinated for the benefit of the patient. This is Pretty Simple stuff, my friends. [applause] you are going to go up there and talk about the fact that this is simply about treating the brain like any other organ of the body. [applause] now, we could spend all day, as you often do at your nami meetings, going through the litany of discriminatory practices embedded in federal law and federal regulation. It is replete with discrimination. So rather than letting the congress get lost in the details, make sure, as Mary Giliberti did in her article, we keep it simple, my friends. This is not complicated. Treat Mental Illness the same as every other illness and we will make an enormous difference in tackling the challenges that face us. [applause] but how do we treat it . If this were cancer, there would be a revolution in this country. If this were diabetes, there would be a revolution in this country. The way we pay for Mental Health care today is we say to the mentally ill and those with addictions, come back when you have stage 4 cancer. That is what we would say to them. Come back for treatment when you need your legs and be tainted utated as a diabetic. We would not think of saying that to anyone with diabetes or anyone with cancer, and we should not be saying it to those that suffer from Mental Illness and addiction. [applause] and then we say, well, these problems are two great. We cannot get our arms around them. They are intractable and incurable. Wait a second here. If you let cancer metastasize to stage 4, yes, it is pretty difficult to treat. If you let diabetes get to be where you need an amputation and you lose your site, yes, it is a pretty terrible disease to cure and fix. But if you intervene on first onset of schizophrenia, first onset of addiction, and put in place the kind of preventative measures that we would put in place if it were any other chronic illness, we would have a different trajectory and people would not be forced to have their illness pathologized because of lack of care and the untreatment of the mentally ill that goes on for too long and creates too much disability and too much mortality. This is a simple issue. [applause] so we need to be clear with congress on our vision for a new Mental Health system. We cannot allow them simply to move deck chairs on the titanic. You understand what im saying . We cannot let them make this decision about commitment and forced this or that. You know what . If you treated someone early in their illness, they would be forced to take the high levels of medication that day and that have to take because you never take care of them until their illness becomes pathologized. And then they would not have the side effects and they would not have the compliance issues. This is a simple issue. Treat it like every other issue, treated early, treated aggressively. You will save lives, you will save disability and we will all as a society be better off for it. [applause] now on the commitment issue, the most controversial out there commitment to what . Why dont we have the same expectations and standards for care for the mentally ill that we expect for every other physical illness . We should not be committing people to substandard care or lack of evidencebased treatment. But on the issue of commitment, i know about it personally. My brother and sister took guardianship of our mother. So no one needs to talk about these issues to me because, like my mother, i have serious depression and bipolar, and like my mother, i struggle with addiction and alcoholism, and like my mother, some day, god for bid, my children have to save my life, i want them to step up to the plate and save their fathers life, like i saved my mothers life. [applause] so, i come back to it. You got my refrain. This is simple. Just treat these illnesses as if they were any other illness and apply those standards to this set of illnesses. The biggest challenge we are facing and i will wrap with this is political will. That political will is a reflection of the lack of understanding, and its the result of cultural indifference and bigotry which feeds the prejudice and discrimination that affects those with Mental Illness like myself. So my proposal would be like the Civil Rights Act, we had the Voting Rights act to define what he meant by civil rights. Then we had to pass the Fair Housing Act to define what he meant by civil rights, then the fair employment act to define what we meant i civil rights. I hope we dont have to go around and begin to define what is common sense, what is basic, and that is, like my friend tim murphy said, treat one another with dignity and respect. If you do that, the rest of it will fall into place. [applause] and i will conclude with this. My father was known for compromises. No one said my father capitulated. My dad was a champion and a stalwart for the liberal cause, but when it came to advancing the National Interests not just his party interests, he worked with orrin hatch and mike and see and john mccain, and all of them. Because at the end of the day, this is about making progress, not making perfection the enemy of the good. [applause] so i would say, lets make sure hhs and department of labor enforce, implement, monitor compliance of Health Insurance plans to make sure they are meeting the federal laws requirements. This is simple stuff. Follow the law. And lets make sure the federal government follows the law. Not only will we hold Insurance Companies accountable, but we will hold medicaid and our own Public Health system accountable to the federal law. [applause] to my republican friends, this is easy. Just do whatever one says. Follow the laws. You pass laws, and now youve got to live by them. Apply it to medicaid. If youre my democratic friends, say, apply the law to these managed Care Organizations who like to impose financial limitations on those suffering from Mental Illness. Follow the law. Lets monitor compliance, and then lets do the other things that we know will make a difference in deinstitutionalizing people from the new institutions, so they can finally get the respect they deserve. [applause] and we have a moment of time now, because the newest population within our ranks are returning veterans from iraq and afghanistan suffering from the invisible wounds of war. Any member of congress have said, those are the mentally ill and those people with addiction. They are not a Popular Crowd around here, because they dont stack up in the measure meant of political power in this town. Tell them that what we have been fighting for our whole lives is now what is necessary to save the lives of our returning heroes, and there should not be a democrat or republican out there who says no to the addenda agenda that you take up to capitol hill today. Thank you very much. [cheers and applause] thank you so much, patrick. I told you our speakers today would be inspiring. Im happy to introduce to you now a wonderful leader, interim president jim payne and longtime advocate. [applause] good morning. Im so happy to be here. Its such an exciting morning. Thank you, mary, and i joined Patrick Kennedy on behalf of the board in saying how glad we are that you are serving as executive director. Im deeply indented indebted to our special guest here, and of course saddened at the circumstances that sometimes bring any of us in this room together. I will say that im happy at this particular moment, though to in a moment introduce my friend, betty greer. My name is jim payne. I am from virginia and active with nami Northern Virginia. Betsy greer, a long time Northern Virginia affiliate leader, together it is our privilege to join me present our next speaker with the Richard T Greer advocacy award, named in honor of betsys late husband, who was the first director. [applause] 2014 marks namis 35th anniversary. Richard greer served as its third fulltime employee and its first director of government relations. That was back when the National Office was a one bedroom apartment on massachusetts avenue. Those were the days when our loved ones were being discharged from psychiatric hospitals and returned to their home communities. They were extremely ill, but their families had no skills or support to care for them. In those times, Richard Greer did not usually come home for supper until 8 00 or 9 00 in the evening, answering cal