WASHINGTON – Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley said today that the committee will hold a hearing on January 26, to discuss mental health issues as they relate to the criminal justice system. The hearing is scheduled to begin at 10 a.m. in room 226 of the Dirksen Senate Office Building.
The Mental Health and Safe Communities Act, authored by Senator John Cornyn, will serve as the basis for discussion at the hearing. Witnesses will be announced at a later date.
Grassley said that the need and desire to address mental health issues in the country has bipartisan support. He said that Cornyn’s bill is a good starting point for the discussion in the Judiciary Committee to look at how improvements can be made to the various parts of the system to better respond to crises, identify people with dangerous mental illness, provide necessary treatment, and enhance the background check system.
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