[May 31, 2005]

      The Washington Post on Monday examined how Sen. Gordon Smith (R-Ore.) and other members of Congress are working to expand mental health programs and increase Medicaid funding following the deaths of family members with mental illnesses. According to the Post, after Smith's son committed suicide in September 2003, Smith became a member of the "little-known 'fraternity of sorrow'" in Congress, in which Senators and House members who have lost mentally ill family members work to pass legislation aimed at combating mental illness. Smith and his colleagues succeeded in establishing a three-year, $82 million program to provide suicide-prevention counseling for students and other young adults, and they continue to work to increase Medicaid funding for mental illnesses (Birnbaum, Washington Post, 5/30).

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